Congregation Zichron Eliezer has thrived under the leadership of Rabbi Avrohom Weinrib and his devoted rebbetzin

For the past ten years, Congregation Zichron Eliezer of CINCINNATI, OHIO, has thrived under the leadership of Rabbi Avrohom Weinrib and his devoted rebbetzin. Last week, as the shul celebrated the tenth anniversary of their beloved rav’s installment, an address by Rabbi Yaakov Robinson, rav of Beis Medrash Mikor HaChaim and menahel of Midwest Agudath Israel’s vaad harabbanim, began with an intriguing question: In his epiphanic dream, Yaakov Avinu envisioned a ladder. But why a ladder? Why not steps? Rabbi Robinson suggested that a ladder is unique in that in order to climb it, your hands must reach above your head. Your head symbolizes your consciousness, the limitations dictated by logic’s projection. But the hands can reach above that, defying logic, accomplishing feats that our minds have long rendered impossible. “Your rav and rebbetzin,” Rabbi Robinson concluded, “have done exactly that. They reached well beyond their heads, pursuing dreams, and achieving goals that no one could have imagined possible.” And isn’t that really a message to all of us, no matter where we live — to keep climbing, ascending the ladder, step by step, hand over head?

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 903)