Rabbi Larry Rothwach is one of the most respected pulpit rabbis in America. He’s been the rabbi of Congregation Beth Aaron in Teaneck for over twenty-two years. During that time, he watched twenty percent of his community make aliyah. They’d call him from Israel and tell him the same thing: we love it here, but we miss having a shul that’s really a community, a rabbi who knows our names, a kehilla that’s there for us in moments of joy and crisis. Now he’s making aliyah himself to build exactly that - a new community called Meromei Shemesh in Ramat Beit Shemesh. He’s also the Director of Professional Rabbinics at RIETS, which means he’s been training the next generation of American rabbis in pastoral care and community leadership - work that overlaps deeply with what we do at Barkai for Israeli rabbis. Today we talk about what American communities have that Israeli ones often lack, whether that model can actually take root in Israeli soil, and what it means to start over and build something from nothing at a stage in life when most people are slowing down.

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Amit and Arik Baron are a “mixed” couple—one became religious, one didn’t. More common than you’d think. Ami Baram, founder of Hitkashrut Zugit—an organization that supports these couples—shared just before October 7th that about 20% of Israelis are moving closer to religious observance while 13% are moving further away. A full third of our people are in flux.

In this clip from the upcoming Defining Moments podcast, Arik and Amit offer a surprising insight: their kids are the answer. Children from these marriages grow up bilingual—fluent in both religious and secular worlds.

What if we learned from them? What if we trained ourselves to speak both languages? We’d all be better off. הפקה: DABRU לפרסום ושיתופי פעולה צרו קשר במייל- info@dabru.biz הפקה: DABRU

Welcome to Defining Moments. I’m Rabbi David Fine. Today’s guest is Rabbi Josh Broide, a walking contradiction in the best possible way. After 25 transformative years in Boca Raton—holding numerous important community positions—Josh made aliyah to Israel this past summer. He’s thrilled to be living his Zionist dream while remaining passionately committed to the community he served in South Florida. Josh has dedicated his life to a singular vision: bringing Jews closer to Jewish life and helping Jews of all backgrounds truly get along with one another. He’s the rabbi who literally rolls out a red carpet for first-time visitors to shul, who received the Jerusalem Unity Prize from the President of Israel for his work in bringing community together, and whose boundless warmth, energy, and creativity have touched thousands of lives.