His Sacred Mission

For Rav Moshe Kupetz, who passed away this past Sunday, 8 Adar, that book would have been the Torah he taught to a wide assortment of Jews in Manchester and beyond, and the key would have been the one to unlock hearts of all ages.

He was a pivotal resource for so many Jewish schools — the full range of mosdos chinuch, where he knew his sacred mission was to teach all students with unconditional love and acceptance.

In the last 35 years, from the time I took up a rabbinical position in the region, Rav Kupetz came as a blessed presence into my life. Due to his senior status as a true talmid chacham who was also world-wise, insightful, and even funny, I was drawn to him as a mentor and a guide.

I shared with him my vision of developing my rabbinical position at the Whitefield Hebrew Congregation by introducing the concept of a community kollel as an in-house academy of Torah learning. He answered my call to become a senior rabbinical trustee of the organization and helped in shaping and fostering its growth over many years. In the early years he’d attend the beis medrash every day to learn b’chavrusa, all along giving of his time his energy, his experience, serving in the role of trustee till his last day.