Avi and Perle Benmoshe
Ahavas Chesed Award
Ahavas Sholom is proud to recognize its members, Perle and Avi BenMoshe, honored with the Ahavas Chesed award for their kindness, tireless volunteerism and dedication to yiddishkeit. Since arriving in Columbus 14 years ago, the Ben Moshes have become well-respected members of Ahavas Sholom and the larger Columbus community and have made an impact on countless lives.
Perle has been involved in mikveh programming, is on the board of Ahavas Sholom and the kitchen committee, has chaired several of our shul galas, and spearheaded youth programming events within the community. Avi has worked in many capacities within the Jewish community, doing kiruv (outreach) for Aish HaTorah, establishing the first keilim mikvah, doing hashgacha, and sharing his beautiful voice as a Baal Tefillah and Baal Korei. One chessed initiative that the BenMoshes are passionate about is Columbus Bikur Cholim, an organization that helps sick people and their families in many ways. Avi has gone above and beyond in his commitment -- reading the Megillah on Purim to people who are homebound and cannot make it to shul and ensuring families in town with hospitalized relatives are comfortable and well fed.
Avi and Perle credit their parents for inspiring them, and molding them into the people they are today. Avi’s parents had a strong work ethic and imbued within their son values such as the beauty of embracing one’s fellow Jew and the power of community. Perle’s parents shared similar notions of achdus, that people should live in harmony with each other. The BenMoshe home is a physical manifestation of the lessons Avi and Perle’s parents taught them. They take pride in continuing their family traditions, keeping their hospitality available to a multifaceted group of guests. On Shabbat, their house is filled with laughter and friendship, as the guests around the table bask in the spirituality of the day. Avi and Perle see past the superficiality that separates Jews, but rather choose to focus on what unites us all, treating every guest like a part of the family.
Avi was born in Far Rockaway, and at the age of three, he moved with his parents, Chaim and Debbie BenMoshe, to Israel. His father had a vision to establish a moshav, now Moshav Matityahu, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Moshav is still thriving under the leadership of Rabbi Leff. Perle and Avi were introduced to one another by a mutual family friend and married in Eretz Yisrael. Avi served three years in the IDF, teaching poor families in tough neighborhoods. They lived for a while in Israel, moved to Canada, and made their way to Columbus 14 years ago. They have four children. Their eldest son, David, is currently a pre-med student at Landers College in New York. Their daughter Sara is studying in seminary in Eretz Yisrael. Tzvi learns in the Missouri Torah Institute in St. Louis, and their youngest, Ella, is in the fourth grade at CTA.
Avi and Perle think Columbus is a wonderful place to bring up a family because the Jewish community is a place in which each Jew is encouraged to find their own path toward religious observance. Their children all attended CTA where their religious and secular studies were reinforced with the fine middos they learned at home. Each has become a compassionate individual, able to recognize the importance of each and every Jew. To the Ben Moshes, the Columbus Jewish community, and specifically Ahavas Sholom, is a flame that all its members can work to fuel into a bonfire of unity. All of us have something to give, to utilize our abilities to build and enhance our community.
Perle has been involved in mikveh programming, is on the board of Ahavas Sholom and the kitchen committee, has chaired several of our shul galas, and spearheaded youth programming events within the community. Avi has worked in many capacities within the Jewish community, doing kiruv (outreach) for Aish HaTorah, establishing the first keilim mikvah, doing hashgacha, and sharing his beautiful voice as a Baal Tefillah and Baal Korei. One chessed initiative that the BenMoshes are passionate about is Columbus Bikur Cholim, an organization that helps sick people and their families in many ways. Avi has gone above and beyond in his commitment -- reading the Megillah on Purim to people who are homebound and cannot make it to shul and ensuring families in town with hospitalized relatives are comfortable and well fed.
Avi and Perle credit their parents for inspiring them, and molding them into the people they are today. Avi’s parents had a strong work ethic and imbued within their son values such as the beauty of embracing one’s fellow Jew and the power of community. Perle’s parents shared similar notions of achdus, that people should live in harmony with each other. The BenMoshe home is a physical manifestation of the lessons Avi and Perle’s parents taught them. They take pride in continuing their family traditions, keeping their hospitality available to a multifaceted group of guests. On Shabbat, their house is filled with laughter and friendship, as the guests around the table bask in the spirituality of the day. Avi and Perle see past the superficiality that separates Jews, but rather choose to focus on what unites us all, treating every guest like a part of the family.
Avi was born in Far Rockaway, and at the age of three, he moved with his parents, Chaim and Debbie BenMoshe, to Israel. His father had a vision to establish a moshav, now Moshav Matityahu, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Moshav is still thriving under the leadership of Rabbi Leff. Perle and Avi were introduced to one another by a mutual family friend and married in Eretz Yisrael. Avi served three years in the IDF, teaching poor families in tough neighborhoods. They lived for a while in Israel, moved to Canada, and made their way to Columbus 14 years ago. They have four children. Their eldest son, David, is currently a pre-med student at Landers College in New York. Their daughter Sara is studying in seminary in Eretz Yisrael. Tzvi learns in the Missouri Torah Institute in St. Louis, and their youngest, Ella, is in the fourth grade at CTA.
Avi and Perle think Columbus is a wonderful place to bring up a family because the Jewish community is a place in which each Jew is encouraged to find their own path toward religious observance. Their children all attended CTA where their religious and secular studies were reinforced with the fine middos they learned at home. Each has become a compassionate individual, able to recognize the importance of each and every Jew. To the Ben Moshes, the Columbus Jewish community, and specifically Ahavas Sholom, is a flame that all its members can work to fuel into a bonfire of unity. All of us have something to give, to utilize our abilities to build and enhance our community.