Baltimore, MD - Feb. 19, 2026 - Mazel tov Tiferes Yisroel, Rabbi Goldberger’s shul, on reaching 40 years! Your focus this year is on transformation. Can you tell us about that?
Rebbetzin Goldberger: My pleasure! Transformation is inherent in the number forty. An embryo is considered viable on the 40 th day. There are 40 days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur. Klal Yisroel journeyed for 40 years in the desert, transforming into a nation worthy of entry into Eretz Yisroel. Rebbe Akiva, at 40, began to learn Torah.
613: Do the graphics in your campaign of waterfalls over rocks have something to do with this transformation?
Rebbetzin Goldberger: I’m happy you noticed that. It certainly does. The Gemara tells us Rebbe Akiva was 40 when he began to learn Torah. Advanced in age, he became motivated when he realized that the deep impressions in the rock were made by the penetration of the water dripping upon it over time. He then was reassured, saying; “So too, will the Torah penetrate me.”.
Our goal, at Kehillas Tiferes Yisroel, is to experience that transformation. We are dedicated, under the calm, gentle, yet profound and powerful guidance of Rabbi Goldberger, to be transformed by the constant flow of the waters of Torah.
613: What kind of transformation are you trying to achieve?
Rebbetzin Goldberger: The transformation that occurs when Torah penetrates us in deeper and more comprehensive ways. We might experience that by thinking more about what we do, what we say, what we think vis a vis what the Torah asks of us, guides us towards, hints to or simply tells us outright. Rebbe Akiva was so fully penetrated with Torah, that the reality of Torah being the essential medium for us to be fully immersed in was as clear to him as a fish
who cannot breathe on dry land and can only survive in water. Rebbe Akiva, through his public teaching at penalty of death, demonstrates that the Torah is the source of living, of our every breath. Rebbe Akiva was brutally tortured and dies by the hands of the Romans for his complete devotion to Torah. And yet, Rebbe Akiva lives on and inspires the Nation of Israel to this day.
The Gemara teaches us that Rebbe Akiva’s soul left him as he pronounced the word echad in the Shema. Echad means “one”: “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.”. It would seem that, in reciting the Shema, Rebbe Akiva allowed his Neshama to achieve a complete deveikus – oneness with Hashem. Ordinarily, as such a deveikus has the power to remove a person from this world, a great Tzadik who could achieve such a state would refrain from doing
so. In this extraordinary circumstance, where Rebbe Akiva’s life was at stake, he paradoxically chose life – by completely attaching himself to Hashem. Now, we can’t do that of course. Yet we each strive to take our own personal next step.
613: And as each one strives, you imply by your Campaign title: “Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Klal Yisroel”, that the whole nation is effected. How does that happen?
Rebbetzin Goldberger:
Our Rebbe, Rabbi Shloime Twerski, ztz’l, taught that the Noam Elimelech, Reb Elimelech of Lizensk, said early in his life that he wished to change the world. As he got older, he made an assessment that the world was a big undertaking and he resolved to change his city. In time, another assessment was made and he resolved to change his town. Next, after more time, he decided to change his family. Finally, he said that he understood that the only one he could
change was himself. Rabbi Twerski cautioned, don’t ever think he let go of his first ambition to change the world, he only came to understand how to achieve it.
When we change ourselves, we change the world. We hope and pray that the transformative power of the number 40 and our 40 years as a Kehilla of aspiring individuals joined by our yearnings for a life in Torah, connected to Our G-d and our people, have brought positive change, not only for each of us, but for all of Klal Yisroel.
Please take a transformational step in our direction and support Kehillas Tiferes Yisroel by contributing to our annual fundraising campaign: “Transforming Ourselves, Transforming Klal Yisroel” on February 22, 2026.
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