Almost eight years ago I was asked to become a Magid Shiur for Daf Yomi in a simple little Shtieble in Manhattan Beach. The first night, only a few men attended but after 5 minutes I felt a camaraderie and warmth here as if we knew each other for a lifetime. A few weeks later I was invited to come back on a Shabbos and meet with the entire Kehillah and the rest is history.

Baruch Hashem, I have been privileged to join a group of Balei Battim with a vision and a mission, and for 8 years we have worked hand-in-hand to make this beautiful seaside community a place where young families can come to live and bring up children in a frum environment that is blessed with a feeling of Achdus and Ahavas Hashem that is incomparable anywhere else.

Since I came here we have grown so much we are literally bursting at the seams, and we are now engaged in a major expansion effort. Also, over the past eight years we have developed several ongoing shiurim and a successful chavrusah program so that the words of Torah can be heard in our Bais Medrash day and night all week long.  

Two things I am most proud of are the establishment of a Community Kollel, Kollel Zichron Aryeh Leib, dedicated in memory of my dear friend R’Aryeh Leib Stefanski zt’l, a great Talmud Chachom and an even greater Baal Midos, and our Torah Tuesday shiur that is now regularly attended by 50-80 men and women every week. What makes this weekly shiur so special is that over the past two years we, as a Kehillah, have been zoche to celebrate over a dozen siyumim to commemorate the completion of a Tractate of the Talmud on Tuesday nights.

In and of its own, this is no small accomplishment. However, what I take great pride in is that, for the most part these siyumim are being made by men in our Kehillah who have only recently began to learn Torah in our various chavrusah programs. Seeing the joy that radiates from their faces and the pride shared by their family and friends is a Kiddush Hashem that makes all our efforts worthwhile and motivates us daily to accomplish even more.    

As we read in Mishlei, “there is a time and a season for every purpose under heaven.”  We have just started to plant seeds in the community and we are truly blessed that we are beginning to see the Peros, the fruits of our labor. So I invite you all to join us here at "The Shtieble" in our quest to spread Yiddishkeit and a feeling of Achdus throughout Manhattan Beach and the surrounding Jewish communities.