Speaking at the keynote luncheon of Agudath Israel of America’s Halacha Conference for the Professional and Business Communities, held this past Sunday at the New York Marriott (Brooklyn), Rabbi Matisyahu Salomon, mashgiach ruchni of Beth Medrash Govoha, praised the conference participants, busy men and women who had elected to devote an entire day to exploring many of the halachos relevant to their particular professions. Close to 500 attorneys, physicians, accountants, mental health professionals and businesspeople from throughout the tri-state area and cities as far away as Baltimore, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and Virginia Beach were on hand for the symposium.

Quoting the Semag, Rabbi Salomon told the gathering that Hashem scattered Klal Yisroel in order that they be representatives of Kiddush Hashem. Hashem’s name will be glorified, the Mashgiach explained, when the nations of the world see that the members of Klal Yisroel who merited redemption were those who conducted themselves with honesty and integrity in all their business dealings, those “who shunned avla (corruption) and kozov (falsehood).”

“Kiddush Hashem is our mission in the world,” Rabbi Salomon declared. “ It is why we are in Golus — and the only way out.”   He stressed that those in the business and professional world must appreciate their responsibilities and their opportunities for furthering the goal of being mekadesh Shem Shomayim and noted that the “halacha conference represents k’vod Shomayim.”  

The latest in a series of halacha conferences sponsored by Agudath Israel’s Torah Projects Commission, the symposium was structured to include separate sessions for each of the professions, and featured fascinating presentations by expert lecturers and noted halachic authorities. Among the topics explored at the event were halachic concerns regarding advancements in the treatment of infertility (medical track), end of life issues in light of technological advancements (legal/medical track), halachic parameters in issues of disclosure (mental health track), hilchos Shabbos in the business world (business track), and evaluating business transactions through an halachic lens (accountants track).

For Agudath Israel associate executive director Rabbi Labish Becker, one of the organizers of the conference, even the breaks between the sessions were a source of  inspiration. “It was incredible for me to see the many ehrliche yidden,  from so many walks of professional life, excitedly discussing some new halachic insight they’d gleaned at one or another of the shiurim.

“For me, those were real mi k’amacha Yisroel moments.”