EMET Hosts A Couples Event Featuring Rabbi Shafier 

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On Saturday night, January 27th, 2018, the long-awaited couples event with Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier took place, organized by the famed Emet Outreach organization. Because of some rough weather at the beginning of this month, the shiur was postponed. Finally, with a packed crowd of almost 200 people, the event became a reality and was it real! Once everyone made their entrance at Beit Gavriel’s main floor there were hardly any seats left in the room. With five sushi men manning the open sushi bar, Sushi Tokyo was able to roll up many different tantalizing rolls and salads to add extra excitement to the evening. As everyone patiently and respectfully came to the bar it was a pleasure to see many familiar faces from all over the Queens area. I saw friends from Rego Park, Forest Hills, Jamaica Estates, Fresh Meadows, Kew Gardens, Kew Gardens Hills and other neighborhoods. I think that if it were not “Yeshiva week” with many still on vacation, we would have had to extend to the second floor and do a live video conference of the event. The event was impressively filled
to capacity.

Rabbi Akiva Rutenberg, CEO of Emet Outreach, introduced the evening and the people involved in setting up the night’s program. He mentioned the various programs that Emet is involved in on a weekly basis. The Emet Leaders Fellowship program, a 10-week in-depth course which teaches young Jewish men and ladies the various aspects of Judaism, runs in 5-6 locations per semester. Rabbi Rutenberg mentioned how Beit Gavriel has been so instrumental, since the inception of the Emet, in facilitating the various programs that they run off-campus. 

Rabbi Shafier, as always, was amazing and funny but exactly on target. Rabbi Shafier started the shiur with a fundamental Rambam about husband and wife. A husband is supposed to love his wife as he loves himself and respect her more than he respects himself. A wife is supposed to respect her husband exceedingly, treating him like a king or a prince. Rabbi Shafier clearly explained these fundamental words to the audience. If each one of us were to abide by these rules there would not be shalom bayit issues. Typically, however, in a marriage, each spouse waits to see how the other side is going to treat them and the waiting game lasts for decades. Another important point mentioned by Rabbi Shafier is that men and women are intrinsically different from each other. Because of this difference it is very difficult to understand each other’s feelings and actions. If a couple understands these concepts and internalizes them, it will make it much easier for married couples to coexist in a harmonious manner.

Emet is not just a group of rabbis who set up couples events and mother-daughter paint nights. They are an institution that turns lives around. They work with each individual personally to light their spark in Judaism on their own level and at their own pace. I have seen their work for almost a decade. They have extreme patience transforming young adults who have no background in Judaism, turning them into upstanding Jewish souls. Many at the event were couples who have passed through the gamut of Emet’s programs as individuals and are now proudly sitting with their spouses and reaping
the fruits.

After the event I spoke with Rabbi Rutenberg and I told him about the conversation at the table at which I had been seated. Many were wondering about the secret to the success of Emet events. I questioned Rabbi Rutenberg about this and his reply was absolutely amazing. He said that Emet has a wonderful vision. He said that the Emet team tries to tackle every event with the heart. When it comes from the heart it ensures success. He mentioned how just this past week 17 young men were hand-picked to go to Arizona for a learning and touring trip. Four rabbis accompanied these 17 young men, not to keep them on high security, but to give them individualized attention so that each person feels special. The same thing was done with a group of 19 girls who went to Miami, Florida this month.

This is what Emet is all about. It’s about forming relationships that go far beyond the shuls and the colleges. It’s about connecting one Jewish soul at a time to its source, the Creator of all.