Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on November 30, 2020

In one sense, Rabbi Joshua Gerstein has come a long way from his roots in a traditional Conservative American Jewish home. In another way, those exact roots are what started him on his journey.Growing up, he saw his parents gradually become more religiously observant. Both of his grandfathers were active in pro-Israel causes, and Gerstein was blessed with a strong sense of connection to Israel as a state, country and as the Jewish homeland.He was 10 when he made his first visit to Israel, but it was his bar mitzvah trip that changed everything.I remember looking around and feeling an overwhelming sense of belonging. In Lancaster, you felt the odd man out. [In Israel], no one is looking at you funny when you go to the park with matzah in a bag.As a 13 year-old boy, seeing all the hayalim [soldiers] and police officers, [I understood that] along with a country comes the responsibility of these things. Being part of the Jewish community means being part of the country and all that entails.Young Joshs awareness that a Jewish country requires Jews to take responsibility for running the country was a foreshadowing of his adult life.Like so many Zionist youth, he came to Israel the year after graduating from high school. Intending to return to the US for college, the March 2008 terrorist attack at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva changed the course of his life.

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Continued here:
Making aliyah allows one young rabbi to break out of the American bubble - The Jerusalem Post

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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