As a Rabbi, I am used to leading a community. The conferences I attend often include many Rabbis and we bring back to our communities best practices in how to engage our constituents. Yet, this year has been an eye opening experience as I personally have learned from each one of you as being part of a community of leaders.

 There is not another forum I can imagine where we can draw on the diversity of our expertise to learn about AI, Jewish and non-Jewish relations, combatting antisemitism, and simply have worldly conversations where we develop relationships that strengthen each of our lives.

This Sunday we commemorate the 17th day of Tammuz, marking the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, leading to the destruction of the Temple on the 9th of Av.

Our tradition teaches that this is also the day when Moshe broke the tablets as he witnessed the people worshipping the Golden Calf.

While we commemorate the beginning of this difficult time in Jewish history, it is also a moment where we have the opportunity to repair the world with connectivity of the human soul.

Each of us came to VOP as individuals in the aftermath of October 7th, yet we walked out of the hotel in Haifa as a family.

When we read the haftarah this Shabbat from the prophet Micah, we conclude with these words, “Do justice, love goodness, and walk modestly with God.”

When I think of this prophetic charge, I immediately go to our sacred VOP community. Our Sinai Temple community in Los Angeles has benefited greatly from the relationships built in this space. Fellow Group 8 member Shiran Mlamdovsky Somech of Generative AI for Good recently spent a Shabbat during the 12 Day War in Los Angeles, teaching our community, young and old how AI will help shape the next generation for the better. In just a few weeks, Noam Meirov, from Sharaka, will bring a delegation of Muslim voices from the Abraham Accords countries to Sinai Temple to share what the future does and can hold for us.

And this Chanuka, as our Sinai Temple community travels to Israel, Team 8’s Naftali Aklum will share his story of Ethiopian Jewry with our community looking to dive deep into the fabric of Israeli society.

I know I am not the only one who sees the prophet Micah’s words coming to fruition in front of our eyes. As we enter these three weeks, may the holiness of the VOP community continue to do justice, love goodness, and walk modestly with God.”