Along the road called life, HaKadosh Baruch Hu places people in our paths who will forever change the journey we take and the destiny we create for ourselves.
Two such people are Rabbi Dovid and Mrs. Ettie Rosenbaum. Giants not just of Torah and spirituality, but also of integrity and character. Though they tower a head and shoulders above many, they are graced by humility and full of a beautifully gentle spirit.
From being a twelfth-grade student of Rabbi Rosenbaum’s brilliant Talmud classes, his major role in helping Rabbanit Devorah Halevy and I get married, his being the Sandak at our Elchanan’s Berit Milah, traveling with Mrs. Rosenbaum who adorned our children’s bedroom with a beautiful Mezuzah upon their birth – Rabbi and Mrs. Rosenbaum are always just a call away to be listening ears and guides for all things in our lives, loving us in the undeserving way in which parents love their children.
When Shiviti was born and Kehillat Shaar HaShamayim created, it was them that we dialed for advice on navigating the intimidating inner-workings of the American rabbinate of the twenty-first century and Jewish communal work. In every subsequent meeting, such as this past Sunday evening, the Rosenbaum’s always inquire as to the well-being of our congregants and students around the world. In a truly heartwarming fashion, they care about each and every one of them as if they are their own.
It was a true honor to sit together as a family once again, and bask in their aristocratic presence. May HaKadosh Baruch Hu bless them with long life, health, joy, and only Nachat from us – their lifelong students, Amen!