On Motza’ei Shabbos, February 10, community members gathered at the Young Israel of Queens Valley for a beautiful melaveh malkah commemorating the second yahrzeit of Bryna Bracha Greenberg a”h. The elegantly decorated tables and the lovely music created a special ambience for the evening.
Reena Greenberg, Bryna’s mother, welcomed everyone and thanked everyone for coming. She shared that it means so much to them that everyone came.
She shared that in this difficult time, we are thinking of Hashem and know, as always, that He is in the driver’s seat. When everything is bright, we see this clearly; and when there is darkness, we have the emunah to get through it.
Then Bryna’s father, Mr. Aryeh Greenberg, led everyone in reciting T’hilim. There were special T’hilim cards created for the occasion, with Bryna’s favorite psalm, T’hilim 123, and a prayer for the soldiers and for the hostages.
Next, Rabbi Jonathan Rietti, well-known speaker, shared an inspiring shiur on emunah. With his inimitable, passionate way, he took the audience on a tour of Jewish history, with visual aids that he had posted on the wall. He demonstrated clearly that Hashem kept every promise He made from the time of the creation of Adam. It was fascinating the way he showed this, and then pointed to a point in the wall that said, “You are here.” He showed the three prophecies yet to be realized. Seeing the three, in contrast to the long line that had been realized, put everything in a real emunah perspective. “Remember all the promises have come true,” he said.
The three that are left are the gathering of the exiles with Mashiach, the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, and T’chiyas HaMeisim. He pointed out that the Rambam says that after Mashiach has arrived, we won’t learn any sefer except Megillas Esther because it is our story. It is a continuous story of how we’ve been hated by our enemies and Hashem always pulls us out.
He pointed out that we are the only religion where Hashem spoke to 600,000 witnesses. Prophecy is unique to Judaism. A navi (prophet) must demonstrate knowledge of the future, control the future, and the destiny of nations and nature, and the prophecy must not make sense. The Ten Plagues were illogical. Each plague showed control of the future, nature, and destiny of nations; each was high risk.
He taught that we are living in an extraordinary generation. We can see looking back through history how glaring it is that Hashem is always with us. Through two and a half thousand years, we can see Hashem is keeping His promises. We are an eternal nation. Hashem made a bris olam with Avraham Avinu. He promised Avraham that he would be a father of nations. Hashem said, “I’ll be your Hashem forever.” Ancient Persians, Greeks, Egyptians are all gone, and we are still here. It doesn’t make any sense logically. Hashem makes promises that He can keep. He controls nature, the destiny of nations. In Parshas Lech-L’cha, Hashem promised us that he is giving us this land forever. Hashem tells B’nei Yisrael, “Behold, I’m coming in a thick cloud” so the nation will hear there will always be Jews who have faith in Hashem and in all future N’viim. The word hinei (or “behold”) means: Pay attention. The Jews in every generation who don’t let go are keeping the same Torah and mitzvos from all the way back in the beginning. Hashem promised that there will always be Jews holding tight. Did any nation ever make superior claims to our claim that a nation heard Hashem speaking in front of a nation?
Mark Twain, in his famous essay, wrote that he traveled through the Holy Land, and it was just dust and rocks. The land is waiting for us to return. Then it will produce. We’ve been spread everywhere. You spread us throughout the whole world but there are Jews in every generation. Hashem foretold that, “You will be hated by everyone, and you will never stop loving My Torah.”
Judaism brought the concept of charity and Shabbos and honoring parents. The Torah says that all the nations of the world will be blessed through you. He also promised that the Kosel will never be destroyed because the Sh’chinah never left it.
Rabbi Rietti shared that Hashem is on schedule. He kept all his promises. Hashem told Yeshayahu that He would swallow death forever. There will only be tears of joy. You’ll be reunited with loved ones forever. Rabbi Rietti urged, “Hold on tight. Hashem told you the end of the Purim story. Don’t get traumatized by nations hating us. They are accelerating the g’ulah. Hashem is only good.” Bryna Bracha was a special young lady who, in her challenges, remained strong in her emunah. We can learn from her.
Following this, Rabbi Yedidya Berzon and Rabbi David Katz, two faculty members from Israel who knew Bryna well, shared their thoughts and spoke highly about Bryna. Then her friend Yitzy Kestenbaum spoke about the “Bryna perspective,” which is to always do chesed and have empathy for others. She taught that everyone has the power to make an impact. He shared how important it is to cherish those we love because life is short.
Following this, the audience participated in a special chesed project to decorate mezuzah covers for families of chayalim in Israel. The mezuzah reminds us of how Hashem is always protecting us. Rena Greenberg explained that we want the families in Israel to know that we are thinking of them.
There is a special scholarship fund set up by MMY (Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim) in memory of Bryna Greenberg. Bryna never wanted a girl to be unable to attend the seminary because of money. To donate, go to https://causematch.com/mmy-bryna.
Rena Greenberg shared how grateful she is to Hashem for having had such a wonderful daughter. Her friends and family, her teachers, and the community all feel that same gratitude of having had the honor of knowing her.
By Susie Garber
