Some 1,300 men and women converged upon Ateres Chaya Hall in Borough Park to attend an event sponsored by Agudath Israel’s KnowUs division.
The goal of the event, titled Dina D’malchusa Dina, was to raise awareness of how, as Torah Jews, we can uphold the highest standards of ethical and financial rectitude, especially when interacting with secular society.
It is a longstanding priority of the Agudah to attune the community to areas where extra vigilance and ehrlichkeit can be exercised. In fact, the event was modeled after similar asifos that took place years ago, also preceding Tisha B’av, a time reserved for introspection of our place in golus.
The standing-room only crowd was riveted by addresses by Rabbi Avrohom Schorr, Rav of Bais Medrash Nezer Gedalyahu; Rabbi Binyomin Eisenberger, Rav of Bais Medrash Heichal Hatfilla; as well as by Rabbi Aaron Lipskar, Chief Executive Officer of the Aleph Institute; and renowned criminal defense attorney Mr. Benjamin Brafman. The evening was chaired by the Agudah’s Executive Vice President, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel.
Rabbi Schorr implored the large gathering to strengthen the quality of living with histapkus and acceptance of Hashem’s adnus, and exposed how underlying weaknesses in these areas can lie at the root of challenges in the implementation of dina d’malchusa dina.
Rabbi Eisenberger, through an odyssey of ma’amorei Chazal, explicated the singular midah of Klal Yisroel’s ne’emus: where we are pleasant not only in our own eyes, but also in the eyes of those who behold us.
Rabbi Aaron Lipskar described the “preventative pidyan shvuyin” that we can undertake, and recounted, employing moving anecdotes, various legal and psychological checks that can help one avoid legal disaster.
Finally, Mr. Ben Brafman closed the remarkable evening by weaving wit and deep legal wisdom to instruct how one can avoid trouble that may not present itself as such, and the amazing impact that seemingly small positive actions can have.
The event also featured audiovisual presentations by the Aleph Institute, an organization which supports incarcerated, military, and institutionalized persons and their families and by the Living Kiddush Hashem foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing every Jew to their mission of creating a kiddush Hashem in every interaction.
R’ Chaim Gross was a visionary who helped spearhead the original asifos decades ago, entreating us to act in consonance with v’asisa hayashar v’ hatov, a movement now reenacted and grown.
In an amazing stroke of hashgocha pratis, which the organizers only recently became aware of, the event occurred precisely on R’ Chaim’s 13th yartzeit.
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