Aish Essentials
What they run
I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer with your family and friends.
This time of year has always fascinated me. Many schools, yeshivas, and seminaries slow down during the summer months. Hallways become quieter, classrooms empty, and campuses prepare for the excitement of Elul and the coming year.
A few days ago, someone stopped me after noticing a steady stream of young women walking in and out of our seminary building. They looked at me with a puzzled expression and asked, “I thought the seminary was on break.”
I smiled and explained that during the summer our Aish Aspire program is in full swing. Young women from across North America and around the world, many with very little Jewish background, fill our classrooms every day. They are discovering the beauty of Torah, asking thoughtful questions, celebrating Shabbat together, and beginning a journey that will shape the rest of their lives.
Even more remarkable is what happens during Bein Hazmanim, those precious weeks between Tisha B’Av and Rosh Chodesh Elul when many yeshivas and seminaries pause their regular programming. Aish continues learning. The classrooms remain full. The Beit Midrash is alive with the sound of Torah. New students continue to arrive. Jews continue to discover their heritage.
Aish has always believed that inspiration should never be limited by a calendar. A Jew’s spiritual awakening rarely follows a semester schedule. Sometimes it begins with a question asked late at night. Sometimes it begins with a conversation over Shabbat. Sometimes it begins with a class online or a friend who extends an invitation. Whenever that moment comes, we want Aish to be ready.
Torah never takes a vacation, and neither does the Jewish soul.
The Mishnah teaches, “Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it.” Every generation encounters new questions and new challenges, yet the wisdom of Torah continues to provide clarity, direction, and purpose. The Torah is as relevant today as it was when it was first given at Har Sinai.
What is on
Enjoy Aish’s unique approach to understand your Judaism on a deeper level. Open for men and women, you can drop in for one class, a day, a week, or a month.
Discover our world-famous Essentials classes at the Aish World Center in Jerusalem. RSVP here!
Who is there
Mr. Hytman is the Chairman of Aish as well as the Chairman and Founding Partner of Project Inspire, one of Aish’s fastest growing programs. Stuart has been involved with Aish for over 30 years. He was the president of Aish’s Toronto branch for six years and has also served on the boards of the Village Shul Aish Learning Centre as well as other local yeshivas and shuls in Toronto.
Stuart graduated as a dentist from the University of Toronto in 1989 and was in private practice until 2002, when he left to become the President of his family real estate business, ALMAD investments.
A Trustee of the Mayberg Foundation, Mr. Mayberg is an active community volunteer and philanthropist, serving on international, national, and local boards. He is a member of Aish’s Executive Committee Board, and Hillel board Chair at his alma mater, George Washington University.
His career spans over 38 years in the financial services and investment industries. Currently, he is CEO of CyLogic Inc. a cloud computing infrastructure and endpoint protection provider. He is a co-founder and principal of ProShares and ProFunds, Exchange Traded Funds, and Mutual Funds where he served as President. In 1986, he co-founded National Capital Companies, LLC and managed its financial services hedge fund. Mr. Mayberg also spent more than a decade working on inner-city urban renewal projects helping low-income working families purchase affordable homes.
He has a preference for entrepreneurial philanthropy and counts among his and his foundation’s most impactful initiatives the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project, Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, The Mayberg Center for Jewish Education Leadership at George Washington University, Securing America’s Future Energy, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Louis Mayberg is CEO of CyLogic LLC a Department of Defense-level cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure provider focusing on Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies. He is also a co-founder and principal of the Advisor to ProShares and ProFunds, the exchange traded funds and mutual funds where he served as President for 15 years. Mr. Mayberg co-founded National Capital Companies, LLC, and previously managed National Capital’s financial services hedge fund.
Jake has been involved with Aish for over 20 years, and has been an Aish International Advisory Board member for many of them. Jake is Chairman and CEO of the Aronov Corporation, a diversified real estate company which since 1952 has been active in the development, acquisition and management of retail, multi-family, office and warehouse properties in twenty two states.
He also invests in privately owned non-real estate companies through Myrtlewood Capital which he operates as its President.
Getting there
My week began at the Jewish Agency Board of Governors meetings in Tel Aviv, where I joined Jewish leaders from around the world who dedicate their lives to strengthening our people.
Everywhere I travel, regardless of the community or denomination, someone inevitably pulls me aside to share a story about how Aish changed their life or the life of someone they love. Those conversations never grow old. They remind me that the true impact of Aish cannot be measured simply by the number of students who have walked through our doors.
This week, we celebrated two graduations in the Erber Family Gesher programs. On Sunday evening, we held our banquet for the young women. On Monday evening, we celebrated the young men before they returned home. These programs have become an essential part of Aish over the past decade.
Rabbi Elliott Mathias, Rabbi Daniel Rowe, and Rabbi Isaac Oziel led AISH’s Living Legacy Experience through Poland, bringing participants to the Warsaw Ghetto, Treblinka, Majdanek, the Krakow Ghetto, and Auschwitz Birkenau. Most participants came expecting to learn about the Holocaust. They left with something much deeper. They left with Jewish pride.
Over the past several months, Aish has also been facing significant financial pressures due to the strength of the shekel against the weakening U.S. dollar. The impact has been substantial. During this time, I have witnessed something incredibly moving: the overwhelming generosity and partnership of our community.
On Shavuos night, Jews across the world stay awake learning Torah, some throughout the entire night until sunrise. Here at the Dan Family Aish World Center, the building will remain open all night long. Classes will be taking place throughout the night.
I recently saw an online commentator reminiscing about the old days when children played in the streets, and neighbors knew one another, contrasting it with today’s world, where everyone stares endlessly at their phones. Someone responded that this still exists every Saturday in traditional Jewish communities.
I spoke this week with my dear friend Rabbi Warren Goldstein, who founded the Shabbat Project and has inspired so much of the world to reconnect with Shabbat. We both agreed how unprecedented and meaningful this moment feels.
Photographs
