Jews with Views – Sukkot-Simchat Torah 5786
Which person inspired you to pursue a career in Jewish leadership?
BY ELIAV SABAN
It was not one person who inspired me to pursue a career in Jewish leadership, but rather my chanichim. Throughout my experiences as a madrich, Rosh Eidah, and mefaked, they have consistently challenged me, motivated me, and given me purpose. Their questions, curiosity, and passion for growth push me to keep striving as a leader and as a Jew.
I often see my own struggles from youth reflected in their actions and decisions, and this recognition inspires me to walk alongside them in their journeys. Their perseverance reminds me daily why Jewish leadership is vital – not as a title or position, but as a responsibility to support the next generation of Am Yisrael.
This generation, navigating advanced technology, complex social structures, and an ever-present search for connection with HaKadosh Baruch Hu, inspires me with their honesty and determination. The way they bring sincerity and depth to their learning and relationships shows me what avodah can truly look like. Their growth and yearning for meaning give me the strength to get up each morning.
My chanichim continue to inspire me, and they are the reason I have chosen a life dedicated to Jewish leadership.
Eliav Saban is originally from Toronto, Canada. He made Aliyah after his first year at Yeshivat Hakotel and served as a tank commander in the IDF. Eliav returned to yeshiva to finish his Hesder service and is currently in kollel continuing his Torah studies, and a participant in the Mechanchim program of the Religious Zionist Shlichut Center founded by Mizrachi. He serves as Chapter Director of the Jerusalem Chapter of NCSY Israel.
BY RIVKA MAZAL TAUBER
The person who inspires me in Jewish leadership is the Lubavitcher Rebbe. He shows me that leadership doesn’t happen in the big moments, but when I fully show up to another person. Making a difference is about the small moments of connection – looking out for another Jew and helping them express their essential connection with Hashem.
The Rebbe teaches me that when I know alef, it becomes my job to share it with someone who doesn’t yet. To me, that means my qualifications are not something outside of me, but whatever I know in this moment, wherever G-d placed me, with whatever tools I have available to share light onward.
The Rebbe shows me that Jewish leadership is our ability to look at the world with hope for what we all can become, and how to live every single day a little more in that world through our actions, love of another, and belief in our shared destiny.
Rivka Mazal Tauber is a Chassidut and Tanach teacher in Jerusalem. She is currently a participant in the Mizrachi Lapidot program.
BY ARI LEVISOHN
In his commentary on Parashat Matot, Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch highlights a surprising halacha: a child is empowered to create a binding vow even a year before they reach bar or bat mitzvah. He explains that these childhood vows are “resolutions uttered secretly, known only to G-d, but they are often decisive for a lifetime. The rich contents of the life of a noble man or noble woman are often only the ripened fruit of a resolution vowed to G-d in the dawn of youth.”
Much has been written about Rav Hirsch’s lifetime of accomplishments preserving and advancing Torah Judaism during the peak of the Enlightenment, but it is less well known that he was merely a teenager when he resolved to dedicate his life to this mission. He hadn’t yet worked out the “how,” but he was already clear on the “what”: to reveal the light and heart of Torah that had been neglected – or perhaps never fully uncovered. In many ways, the next six decades of his life were simply a relentless effort to fulfill that youthful vision.
I think about this often as I pursue a career in Jewish leadership. I hope I can live up to my own youthful visions to shine a light on the Torah, yet I know that I am also continuing, in my own small way, those same dreams first kindled by the young Rav Hirsch.
Ari Levisohn is studying for semicha at Yeshivat Siach Yitzchak and through the Musmachim program of the Religious Zionist Shlichut Center founded by Mizrachi. He also hosts “Tehillim Unveiled,” a podcast uncovering the depth of Sefer Tehillim.
BY SARA GREENFIELD
There are two people who inspired me to pursue a career in Jewish leadership, both never officially having any special title. One I know very well, and one I never had the zechut to meet.
The first is my father, who lives his life based on his ideals. He is not a rabbi nor has he ever been on any synagogue board, but he has left a lasting impact on my hometown community simply by his essence. (I could list endless examples but that would take up the word count!)
The second is Sarah Schenirer. She, too, was a woman not interested in fancy titles. She simply wanted women to learn Torah. Her ability to live on her ideals, while simultaneously maintaining her humility, is so inspiring to me.
Sara (Schatz) Greenfield is the director of JLIC Sherut, a new initiative of JLIC Israel that helps Anglos doing national and army service find support and community during those years. She is also a proud member of the Shalhevet program of the Religious Zionist Shlichut Center founded by Mizrachi. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Kobi.
BY LAVI PELES
We are both in Torah leadership positions today thanks to our families. My wife’s family went on shlichut in Connecticut and my family went on shlichut to Manchester twice, then established a community for new immigrant students in Givat Shmuel.
Through active education, personal example, and quiet action, our parents instilled in us a love for the Torah, people, and Land of Israel. Two recent stories illustrate this well:
A few weeks ago, someone knocked on Chana’s parents’ door in Jerusalem. When they opened it, they shouted excitedly: “Reuven!” It was their student from their shlichut in Connecticut over twenty years ago. Without phone numbers or confirmation they still lived there, he had remembered their address and decided to visit during his trip to Israel. Even after two decades, he saw them as cherished friends rather than just religious leaders.
As children, we were raised to build the largest sukkah possible during Sukkot, hosting as many family, neighbors, friends, and guests as we could. One year the sukkah was bigger than our house! Even after the holiday, there was no rush to dismantle it; it continued as a center for hosting and connecting.
This education is deeply ingrained in me. Last year, while serving with tanks in a Lebanese border forest, I pushed for building a sukkah there, bringing religious and secular soldiers together. Though camouflaged and small, it was adorned with children’s drawings. Between operations, sitting inside, we felt that “all Israel is worthy to sit in one sukkah.”
Lavi Peles and his wife Chana live in Jerusalem at Midreshet Nishmat, where Chana studies at the Midrasha and is the student coordinator. Lavi studies at the Manhigut Toranit program, in partnership with World Mizrachi, when not serving in reserves (over 300 days with the 205th Armored Brigade).