The New York Jewish community had the privilege of welcoming Maran HaRishon LeTzion, HaRav David Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Israel, for a brief but significant visit that included meetings with prominent Torah leaders and culminated in a major gathering at the new Beth Gavriel Center in Queens.
HaRav Yosef, one of Israel’s leading halachic authorities, is widely known for the monumental 21-volume Halacha Berura series on the Shulchan Aruch, along with numerous other Torah works. Despite the relatively short duration of the visit, the Chief Rabbi maintained a packed schedule, meeting with leading rabbanim, strengthening longstanding relationships, and addressing hundreds with words of Torah and inspiration ahead of Rosh Hashanah.
Throughout much of the visit, HaRav Yosef was accompanied by Queens’ own Rabbi Ilan Meirov, director of Chazaq, together with several of the Rishon LeTzion’s close followers.
Among the prominent Torah leaders visited by HaRav Yosef was Chacham Yosef Harari-Raful shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Ateret Torah and one of the leading rabbinic figures of the Syrian Jewish community. The Chief Rabbi also met with HaRav Yitzchak Yisraeli, Dayan and Chief Rabbi of the Bukharian Jewish community, as well as the Skverer Rebbe.
The visit reflected HaRav Yosef’s deep connection to the many communities that make up New York Jewish life, while providing opportunities for substantive discussions with rabbinic leaders representing a wide range of traditions.
A major highlight came when hundreds gathered at the newly opened Beth Gavriel Center in Forest Hills for a special evening presented by Chazaq and Beth Gavriel.
The appearance carried particular significance for the local Bukharian community, which has watched Beth Gavriel grow into one of Queens’ most active centers of Torah, tefillah, education, and communal programming. The new facility provided a fitting setting for a gathering centered on Torah leadership, communal responsibility, and spiritual preparation for the approaching Yamim Nora’im.
A Message Of Responsibility At Beth Gavriel
HaRav Yosef addressed the large audience with words of chizuk in preparation for Rosh Hashanah, speaking not only about personal spiritual growth but about the responsibility each individual carries toward others.
During the evening, the Rishon LeTzion congratulated Beth Gavriel’s leadership, including Rabbi Shimunov, Eliyahu Koptiev, and Simcha Elishaev, on the completion of the impressive new center. HaRav Yosef offered a heartfelt brachah that the institution continue to serve as a source of Torah and strengthen Jewish life throughout the community for many years to come.
The Chief Rabbi also offered a special blessing to the leadership of Chazaq, headed by Rabbi Ilan Meirov, and encouraged the organization to continue its extensive outreach work, particularly its efforts on behalf of Jewish students attending public schools.
That mission has been personally close to HaRav Yosef for many years. For more than a decade, the Rishon LeTzion has guided and encouraged Chazaq’s leadership in its efforts to connect Jewish public-school students and their families with Torah education, Jewish identity, and greater involvement in Jewish communal life.
Over the years, Chazaq has expanded its programming well beyond Queens, reaching thousands of children, teens, and families throughout the United States. The relationship with HaRav Yosef has provided the organization with both rabbinic guidance and encouragement as those initiatives have continued to grow.
Perhaps the central message of the Chief Rabbi’s Queens address was that Jewish responsibility cannot end with oneself.
HaRav Yosef urged those gathered not to focus exclusively on their own Torah learning and spiritual development, but to recognize the influence each person can have on family members, friends, neighbors, and the broader Jewish community. Every individual, the Rishon LeTzion emphasized, possesses some ability to inspire another Jew and strengthen that person’s connection to Torah and Jewish life.
It was an especially resonant message as Rosh Hashanah approached. Personal growth, HaRav Yosef explained, must also inspire a willingness to look beyond oneself and take responsibility for the spiritual well-being of others.
Although the Chief Rabbi’s time in New York was brief, the visit left a lasting impression. From his meetings with distinguished Torah leaders to the large gathering at Beth Gavriel, HaRav Yosef brought together several segments of New York’s diverse Jewish community around a common message of Torah, unity, responsibility, and outreach.
For the hundreds who gathered in Queens, the appearance of Maran HaRishon LeTzion was more than simply a visit by one of the Jewish world’s foremost Torah authorities. It was an opportunity to enter the new year with a renewed understanding that strengthening Jewish life begins with personal growth — but must ultimately extend far beyond it.
Chief Rabbi Of Israel HaRav David Yosef Makes Special Visit To New York
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