During my formidable years in the icy tundra of Baltimore, no one did more for me and my Sephardic education than Rabbi Yehezkel Ezra and his wife, Rabbanit Rebecca Ezra.
From welcoming me to their home almost every single Friday night for five years, to sharing with me what a house full of love, joy(, and books!) looks like, they were a constant source of inspiration of warmth that made me feel so at home – away from home.
If you wish to understand just how much of an influence this home had on me? It was Rabbi Ezra who showed me the writings of Rabbi Benzion Meir Hai Uziel for the first time in my life at the age of fourteen…and I have never stopped since. That is something that every Shiviti member receives the benefit of every single day in our Bet Midrash!
It was a tremendous Zechut to spend time in their home, and Rabbanit Devorah Halevy and I wish them a a Mazal Tov on the upcoming wedding of their son Moshe – whom I studied Mishnayot with when he was in the fifth grade – though we will regretfully be unable to attend. To many more Semachot!