The Chavrusas: Lion and Rabbi Moshe Kovalski, Jerusalem City Hall
Learning Gemara doesn’t normally involve negotiating airport-style security, with armed guards checking ID before waving you through. But then most people aren’t Rabbi Moshe Kovalski, heading for a chavrusa on the sixth floor of Jerusalem City Hall with Mayor Moshe Lion.
It’s a quiet Friday morning in Kikar Safra. The workweek is winding to a close and the cleaning crews are busy in the airy office suite. A meeting of municipal officials ends and the mayor lights up when he sees his chavrusa and mentor of many years.
“Hitga’agati lecha — I missed you,” the kippah-wearing Lion says, beaming.
Sitting together at the broad desk that once hosted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Moshe Lion and Rabbi Kovalski make an unusual pair. The big, genial mayor, whose prominent CPA firm made him a wealthy man who could afford to pursue a career in politics, has now been at the helm of Yerushalayim for a year. Next to him, the rav of the Sochatchov shtibel in Bnei Brak doesn’t look like an obvious choice of learning partner.
Create a free account to keep reading.
