Rabbi Moshe Schmerler, director of RAA/IGUD; Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice president of RAA/IGUD; Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, chairman of RAA/IGUD Presidium; New York State Senator Marty Golden; Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, host of the event and member of RAA/IGUD Presidium; Rabbi Yaakov Klass, member of RAA/IGUD presidium and Torah editor of the Jewish Press.

On Thursday evening, July 12, the Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim (RAA/Igud) hosted New York State Senator Martin Golden at its monthly rosh chodesh conference at the Ahi Ezer Yeshiva Congregation in Brooklyn, where Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, RAA/Igud presidium member, serves as the spiritual leader.

The Rosh Chodesh Av conference was sponsored by Rabbi Hanania Elbaz in memory of his distinguished father, HaGaon HaChacham Shalom ben HaGaon HaChacham Chaim Elbaz, zt’l. Also paying tribute to their father were Rabbi Yaakov Elbaz and Rabbi Meir Elbaz. Rabbi Eliyahu Elbaz, rabbi of the Sephardic Lebanese Congregation of Brooklyn, will be hosting next month’s RAA/Igud 30th annual Chai Elul Siyum HaShas and Convocation on August 28. The Elbaz family is renowned for their Torah scholarship and community service, with a proud lineage of rabbis who served the Sephardic community for centuries in Morocco and in the United States.

In honor of Chacham Shalom Elbaz, z’tl, Rabbi Hanania Elbaz, Rabbi Yaakov Elbaz, Rabbi Yaakov Klass, presidium member of the RAA/IGUD and Torah editor of the Jewish Press, and Rabbi Aharon Zeigler, rosh ha’kollel of Agudath Achim presented learned Torah insights. The point most highlighted was how Chacham Shalom Elbaz, zt’l, is fondly remembered not only as a Torah scholar but also as an ish shalom, a man of peace, who helped preserve shalom bayit, family harmony, for countless Jewish families.

At the Rosh Chodesh Av conference, New York State Senator Martin Golden, a longtime friend of the Jewish community, presented a legislative update on key issues affecting the Jewish community such as school aid, housing availability, and public services. As a family man, Senator Golden understands the needs of families struggling to make ends meet in the current economic reality. He further understands the particular needs of the Jewish community, as its members strive to provide quality education and other vital services. The senator’s presentation was well-received and the rabbis in attendance were honored that the senator took time out of his busy schedule to address this conference.

At the conference, Rabbi Moshe Weiner, the rav ha’machshir of the Aleph K, the Kashrut division of the RAA/Igud, gave a kashrut update on the organization’s commitment to follow the highest, universally accepted standards. Rabbi Gil Student, the director of the Halacha Commission of the RAA/Igud, presented the monthly halachic challenge that engages the organization’s members to creatively address contemporary religious issues. In the months of Tammuz and Av, in which Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, RAA/Igud is focusing on laws related to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel.

Also participating in the rosh chodesh conference was Rabbi Yehoshua S. Hecht, presidium chairman of the RAA/Igud; Rabbi Mendy Mirocznik, executive vice president of the RAA/Igud; Rabbi Moish Schmerler, director of the RAA/Igud; Rabbi Dovid Katz, director of development/menahel of the RAA/Igud; and Rabbi Chesky Blau.

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