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David
Shapell College Building Dedication
Transcripts
of Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky's Speeches at the Dedication
of the David Shapell College Building:
Opening Dedication Speech;
Closing Remarks and Presentation to the Shapell Family.
Opening Dedication Speech
Zeh Hayom
Asah HaShem, nagilah v'nismicha vo. This day has been
given to us by G-d, let us rejoice and celebrate it.
We welcome David and Fela, Rochelle, Ben and Susie,
Irv (and we miss Karen, who wasn't able to make it),
Jennifer as the representative of the Shapell grandchildren,
our alumni, our students and our staff, and dear relatives
and guests of the Shapell family. It is a pleasure
and an honor to be here to pay a long overdue debt
of gratitude  to
David and Fela for their vision and their generosity
in providing the dedication grant that enabled this
beautiful and functional building to house such a
wonderful institution of Torah study and Jewish values.
There is a telling Jewish joke about an old lady at
a testimonial dinner. After about the fifth speech
extolling the praises of the honoree, she leans over
to her husband and asks in a loud whisper: "Tell me
Herby, if he's such a good guy, why does he need so
many character witnesses?"
I apologize in advance to David and Fela. They don't
need me as a character witness, and I know their first
preference would be to pass on my dedication speech.
But, David and Fela, this is an institution of Jewish
education. And much of Judaism is not learned in the
study halls, but in the home, and in the marketplace
and in the real world , from role models who know
how to do it "Jewishly." So I ask your permission
to continue our job of educating the next generation
of Jewish communal leaders, of Jewish activists, and
Jewish educators by sharing with them some of the
things they need to learn from you about how to strengthen
Judaism, how to build the Jewish people, and how to
build Israel. During the next couple of hours - no,
my speech isn't going to last even ten minutes, but
there is more on the program! - I hope that our students
will draw inspiration from what they hear about you.
And along the way, that you and your family will draw
appreciation and nachas from what you hear about our
students and alumni.
First, a confession, David and Fela. You trusted me,
and I failed. I tried my best, but it just didn't
work. You embody the dictum "V'hatzneiah lechet im
Elokecha," walk before G-d with modesty. You shun
the limelight, you know that words don't accomplish
much, so let's just do it. I knew you wanted a modest
ceremony, with our students and a small group of alumni.
Of course, we couldn't invite some alumni and not
others. So we scheduled this event for the most inconvenient
time possible, in the middle of a regular work day.
With very little publicity, we were sure that this
would filter out all but a few dozen alumni.
As you see, our alumni outwitted us. They overcame
all the inconveniences and came out in numbers we
never expected, because, as many told me, they feel
a tremendous debt of gratitude to the David Shapell
College and Midreshet Rachel V'Chaya, and to you and your
family for providing such generous support to the
institutions that have played such a major role in
building their Judaism and their Jewish homes, and
that of so many of their friends in Israel and abroad.
This large turnout is a way for our alumni to say:
Thank you to us; thank you to David and Fela Shapell;
thank you to the Shapell family.
It is now eight years since we moved into this building,
the building that is finally called home to the David
Shapell College of Jewish Studies. Of course, many
people have asked me: Why is the dedication happening
so long after you moved in? While there are a number
of technical and logistic answers to that question
- the remodeling wasn't finished, then we couldn't
find a time when the entire Shapell family would be
in Israel at the same time, and on and on - I am believer
that everything has its proper time, and I was wondering
what was the significance of this time to hold a dedication.
Here are some thoughts. First of all, Israel is besieged
from without and from within, as the terrorist threat
is tangible on a daily basis, as the winds of war
between the US and Iraq blow fear in the hearts of
Jews everywhere, with the response being to stay away
from Israel in droves. In this environment, you and
your children and your grandchildren come with scores
of friends to celebrate your grandson's Bar Mitzvah
in Israel, to lend your support to the State of Israel,
to lend your support to the Jewish people in the Land
of Israel, to reaffirm that this the home of the Jewish
people, the future of the Jewish people, and that
nothing will affect your love and connection to this
land. Jews the world over can and should learn from
you this lesson of commitment and priorities; hundreds
of our alumni who have settled in Israel have learned
this lesson from you, and I hope that our current
students will learn this from you.
Another thought about the timing of this ceremony
revolves around the number eight. In Judaism, the
number seven represents the natural cycle, while the
number eight represents a level that transcends all
natural systems. Our covenant with G-d, Brit Mila,
is done on the eighth day, signifying our ability
to be the masters over our natural drives. Chanukah,
which we so recently celebrated, is the Jewish victory
over the forces of nature, the power of our eternal
values and holiness to conquer the mightiest physical
armies in the world. And it is clear that our survival
as a nation through two millennia of exile, our return
to the Land of Israel, the development of the State
of Israel, and the flourishing of Torah that you witness
in each of our students, are all signs of the transcendent
forces at work in the dynamic of the Jewish people.
Your presence here, sixty years after the destruction
of European Jewry; the presence of our students here,
having come for backgrounds and environments that
were distant from Torah, are living testimony to the
transcendat power of the Jewish people. While it wasn't
planned that way, it is appropriate that the we dedicate
this building after being here for eight years, representing
the spark of eternity that resides in each and every
Jewish heart, keeping it connected to the Jewish people,
and eventually finding its way back to our eternal
Torah.
There is a deeper reason, and it is one of the lessons
I would like the alumni to learn from David and Fela.
Our Rabbis teach us: Emor m'at va'sei harbeh. To paraphrase
- don't talk about it, do it. Let's see the results.
I spent a lot of time describing to David all the
reasons why the College needed to move into its own
building, what we could accomplish both institutionally
as well as educationally. David and Fela put their
trust in us, and helped us acquire and remodel this
beautiful building. But much of this trust was based
on expectations, not on results. Since moving into
this building, we have shown the results. We have
educated more students in the past eight years than
we did in the previous sixteen years. The quality
of our education, the contribution our alumni are
making to Israeli society and to its economy, the
scope of programs for our alumni, both here and abroad,
the stability of the institution - all these have
taken a quantum leap during the past eight years.
We have justified your trust in us, and it is with
that solid track record, with results in hand that
we stand before you and dedicate this beautiful building,
the building of the David Shapell College of Jewish
Studies, in honor of you, David and Fela Shapell,
in honor of your immediate family, and in honor of
the fifteen hundred young men and women representing
your extended family, who have built their lives on
the values of our eternal nation that are so dear
to you.
Presentation
to the Shapell Family and Closing Remarks
When Moshe
is negotiating with G-d, trying to excuse himself
from the awesome responsibility of attempting the
redemption of the Jewish people from Egypt, he asks
G-d: When I come to the Jewish people with the news
that G-d has sent me to redeem them, they will ask
"What is His Name?" What shall I say to them? Answers
G-d: Eh-yeh asher Eh-yeh." I Will Be As I Will Be.
Then He continues "Ko tomar lvnei Yisrael, Eh-yeh
shlachani aleichem." Tell them that the One Who will
Be has sent me. This seeming flip-flop in the change
of names is explained by Rashi. Eh-yeh asher Eh-yeh
means "I will be with them in this round of suffering,
as I will be with them in future rounds of suffering."
Moshe responds: G-d, why should I mention future rounds
of suffering - its bad enough that they are going
through this round of suffering. Answered G-d - yafeh
amarta. You are correct. Tell them that the One who
is with them in this round of suffering has sent you.
Ask the commentators the standard question in such
exchanges: G-d didn't think of it? Moshe had to tell
G-d? The answer given is that of course G-d thought
of it. Moshe misunderstood G-d's intention. G-d was
informing Moshe that there are lots of exiles and
suffering awaiting the Jewish people. But he didn't
mean for Moshe to tell the Jewish people more than
that G-d was with them during their present suffering.
But I have a question. Then why is this interchange
between G-d and Moshe in the Torah at all. What do
we learn from the misunderstood message that was not
communicated to the Jewish people?
Informing the Jewish people that they are destined
to confront many tragedies and difficult hours in
the future exiles was not appropriate at that time,
during the painful Egyptian exile. However, that knowledge
was to be critical for future generations of Jews.
The knowledge that G-d would be with us, promising
us redemption and a better future during each stage
of our darkest exiles - that knowledge has kept the
Jewish people going through our darkest hours.
It is the knowledge that the Jewish nation, G-d's
chosen people, will never be lost, that keeps Jews
going through their darkest hours. And with all the
questions we have on G-d, on the course of Jewish
history, on the fate of the wandering, suffering,
persecuted Jew - it was that vision that G-d gave
Moshe in Egypt, "eh-yeh asher eh-yah" - I am always
with you, as distant as I seem. I will never let go.
Just like a loving parent, where the love isn't always
obvious, KNOW that it is there, and that at the end
of the day, the Jewish nation will always survive.
As strong as the pressures may be on you to abandon
Me, says G-d, know that I will never abandon you.
As I stand here, before this group of devoted alumni
and motivated students, and before the honorable Shapell
family, I see the actualization of this idea in two
different directions.
Young men and women, many of whom had no Jewish education,
no knowledge of our eternal Torah, and minimal connection
with the land of Israel, have heard the faint voice
in the depths of their Jewish souls, drawing them
back to their people, back to their Torah and back
to their land. Forgoing what modern culture, their
peers, their societies have taught them is "the real
thing" - they have taken the bold step of coming to
Israel, sacrificing to study Torah, putting the needs
of the Jewish nation ahead of their personal needs,
and devoting time, effort and resources to build the
Jewish future.
This is a proof of Jewish eternity, that G-d is always
present in the most distant place that a Jew can find
him or herself.
The knowledge of Jewish eternity plays itself out
in another direction, too.
Over Shabbat, at the beautiful Bar Mitzvah celebration
of David and Fela's grandson, Andy, Fela shared with
Ruthie and me one of her greatest fears during the
darkest hours of the holocaust, even as they hoped
for an end to their terrible suffering in the concentration
camps. What was the fear? "After all this, would we
even be ABLE to have children?" Many people who suffered
the holocaust didn't WANT to have children, didn't
want to bring babies into this tragic world of unending
suffering. But Fela's only fear was that she wouldn't
be ABLE to have children. What is the source of such
a vision, such a dream? Only the absolute conviction
of Jewish eternity, of the ultimate triumph of Judaism
and the Nation of Israel over all the forces of nature.
The absolute conviction that netzach yisrael lo yishaker,
that the Eternal One, the source of the eternity of
the Jewish nation , will not be proven wrong. Only
such a clarity and conviction could enable a couple
coming out of the Holocaust to rebuild their family,
rebuild their fortune, and work relentlessly for five
decades to rebuild the Jewish nation, both in the
United States, and more importantly, in Israel, the
miraculous State of Israel that has always been so
dear to your hearts.
A short while ago, we were outside to dedicate this
beautiful building, the building of the David Shapell
College of Jewish Studies. But the building has no
Jewish future without the life that breathes within
this building. It is the rejuvenation and renewal
of our authentic Jewish values, of the lessons of
commitment, of service, of sacrifice for the Torah
and for the Jewish nation that we teach; The lessons
of mentschlechkeit and ethics that we instill in every
young man who walks into our doors, and every woman
who studies in Midreshet Rachel V'Chaya. Of the Kiddush Hashem,
the sanctification of G-d's name, that every one of
our alumni strives to radiate when they leave these
walls and go into the world to make their mark, to
make their contribution, to build another link in
the unending chain of Jewish eternity. That is what
will make this building such a special place.
As the "great Jewish philosopher," George Burns once
said: "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring,
close-knit family - in another city." Philosopher
George didn't know how true his statement was when
applied to the Shapell family - but in a very different
way than he meant. For we are all blessed to have
a large, loving, caring close knit family - and that
family is resides in TENS of cities. That family is
comprised of the hundreds and hundreds of men and
women that we together have helped educate, the we
have helped establish families and grow the Jewish
future.
As families do, we have prepared a Family Album of
photographs, a representative sample of the hundreds
of alumni families from all over the world. I firmly
believe, Fela, that your thoughts during the holocaust
"Will I ever be able to have children?" is what merited
you and David with the three beautiful children that
you have, your wonderful grandchildren, and the hundreds
and hundreds of other children that you have, as you
will understand in a minute
If you will allow me to read from the introdutory
page of the family album we have prepared:
A family album is a book that enables us to share
our memories and nachas with other family members
and friends.
David and Fela, Family has always been a primary value
in your lives. The values that you have passed on
from your parents to your children, and they to their
children, give you more pride and joy than any of
your many other accomplishments. This is the way it
should be. Judaism has always focused on building
the future, and it is families that carry our past
history and legacies into that future.
The Torah commands us (Devarim 6:7) "And you shall
teach the Torah to your children." Our Rabbis (in
the Sifri) have taught that this includes teaching
our students, who then become like children to us.
The Rabbis teach us another insight into the process
of studying and teaching Torah, which makes it distinct
from all other commandments. One who financially supports
the study and teaching of Torah is equated with the
ones who actually study and teach it. Your generous
and ongoing support of the Torah we have taught over
the past 25 years has enabled The David Shapell College
and Midreshet Rachel V'Chayato identify and nurture many
talented and devoted educators to teach Torah to men
and women whose parents weren't able to do so. Through
this process, our students have grown to become our
collective family, one that numbers over 1,500 children
"bli ayin hara".
We share this small sample of family photos, to enable
you to see how far your children have grown, how much
they have accomplished in their personal lives, and
how much they have contributed to Israel and to the
Jewish people. With our constant efforts to embody
the lesson of King Solomon "For the ways of Torah
are pleasant, and all its path are peace," we hope
you are proud of your extended family.
Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky, Dean
Rabbi Yitzchak Hirshfeld, Rosh Yeshiva
Rabbi Yitzchak Shurin, Rosh Midrasha
As is appropriate for a family album, we hope you
will all take it home, leaf through it, share it with
your friends, cherish what it represents, and draw
nachas from the Jewish future that together, our partnership
continues to build.
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