Conejo Chabad Celebrates the “Dawning of a New Day”

CALIFORNIA — More than 600 guests filled the elegant ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel Westlake on Monday, June 14, as Chabad of the Conejo celebrated a festive Banquet Gala themed “The Dawning of a New Day”. Evoking laughter and tears, the festivities provided entertainment and inspiration in abundance, but were moreover electrically charged by the overarching awareness that the Conejo Valley Jewish Community was entering a new era.

In the words of Rabbi Moshe Bryski, Director of Chabad of the Conejo, “Tonight we are writing a new chapter and charting a new course. As the building of our new edifice is well underway, we – all of us here – are witnessing and facilitating the Dawning of a New Day.”

With the celebration coinciding with the eve of the third of Tammuz, Yom Hilulo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the program began with Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon, Executive Director of Chabad of the Valley, sharing stories and insights illustrating how the Rebbe’s vision and foresight laid the groundwork for monumental accomplishments – from the micro to the macro.

The next segment of the program focused on the ongoing outreach and educational activities of Chabad of the Conejo. Presided over by Rabbis Yitzchak Sapochkinsky, Yisroel Levine and Shlomo Bistritzky, tributes were paid to the evening’s Honorees, Bernard and Deborah Warshauer, Rony and Michele Havive, and Samuel and Justine Raoof. Stirring video pieces were shown – one highlighting the powerful impact Chabad’s Friendship Circle is having on the special needs community; the other telling the story of its Sunshine Club and how it is providing seniors with a whole new sense of purpose and motivation in life. A large delegation of Sunshine Club members was in attendance at the banquet.

The entertainment highlighter of the evening was renowned comedian and TV star Elon Gold, who launched into one twist of hilarity after the other, most of it focused on the ironies of Jewish life – proving once again that no ethnic group knows how to laugh at itself better than Jews.

The final segment of the banquet program was highlighted by an address by Rabbi Moshe Bryski which many hailed as one of his most powerful speeches ever. Sharing personal stories, including that of his father’s miraculous survival of the horrors of the Holocaust, Rabbi Bryski put out the call to his community to be the “contractors of Jewish history” charged with a mission to rebuild that which was savagely torn and taken away from the Jewish people during that dark period.

“We must never again abide the physical destruction of our people,” he said, “but at the same time, we must not abide the spiritual destruction of our people, G-d forbid. Build and rebuild – that is what we must do. The way it was – in Chmielnik, in Biayelstok, in Lodsz, in Lubavitch, in Belz, in Lublin, in Warsaw, in Babroisk… That is how we must build right here in the Conejo – and better still!”

A dramatic video documenting the progress of construction on Chabad’s new Center for Jewish Life – from the digging and the laying of the foundation up to the current stage of the building’s framing – was then shown. Rabbi Bryski wrapped up the evening by calling upon those who have not as yet participated in the effort to seize the moment. “This is it. This is our time. This is a capital project that will change the course of history for this community – for all time. The only question that remains is whether or not you will you be a part of it… For decades to come, let it be engraved in stone for all to see that there were those who lived not only for today and for themselves, but when the historical crossroads were in front of them, took that plunge and made the big sacrifice to ensure and secure a strong and bright future for the greater Conejo Valley Jewish Community.”

With this rousing call to action reverberating in the air, all of the Chabad of the Conejo’s rabbis locked arms with Honorees Bernard Warshauer, Rony Havive and Sammy Raoof on stage as singer Jimmy Gamliel led the room in the singing of “Heenay Mah Tov Umah Naim” followed by “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav”. As Rabbi Bryski proclaimed, “No matter where on earth we, as Jews, may physically find ourselves, our hearts, our souls, are in Jerusalem – always and forever!”

For further information and dedication opportunities in the new Center for Jewish Life, contact Rabbi Moshe Bryski at Rabbibryski@chabadconejo.com or (818) 991-0991.

Contributions to the Banquet campaign supporting the programs and activities of Chabad of the Conejo are still being accepted. To participate, visit www.chabadgala.com

View the New Day video clip shown at the Gala below.