An overflow crowd of over 300 guests gathered at the recent Agudas Israel of St. Louis Annual Dinner honoring Rav Menachem and Tova Greenblatt for their 25 years of leadership and service to the community.

The evening opened with an introduction by Emcee Rabbi Yossi Florans highlighting the theme of gratitude and appreciation, echoed by the next speaker, Agudah president, Martin Olevitch, who referred to the Agudah as a “treasure” within our community.

Rabbi Yitzchok Selengut, Tova Greenblatt’s father, brought many dinner guests to tears with his vivid memories of his long-standing visits to the Agudah, watching it grow from a tiny minyan into a large, vibrant, and flourishing shul, Bais Medrash, and kollel, where many of the very same individuals who, at the beginning, were learning the basics, and were now readily absorbed in high-level Gemara learning.

Avrahom Baruch Greenblatt, the Greenblatt’s eldest son, spoke of seeing his parents’ tireless devotion to the spiritual development of each individual member of the community, and Elchanan Soroka, the Greenblatt’s 9-year old grandson, charmed the audience when he spoke of the special learning opportunities he engaged in regularly with his grandfather.

The audience glowed with pride while watching a special video produced by Rabbi Eli Shapiro of the St. Louis Kollel and a teacher at the Missouri Torah Institute. The video featured appearances by many Rabbinnic luminaries outside of St. Louis including Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levin, Rabbi Efraim Greenblatt, Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, Rabbi Sheftel Neuberger, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Rabbi Ezra Hartman as well as former Young Israel of St. Louis Rabbi Jeffrey Bienenfeld.

Rabbi Levin, Rosh Yeshivah of Telshe Yeshivah of Chicago and Member of the Moetzes Gedolai Hatorah of Agudath Israel of America, was quoted as saying, “Twenty-five years of dedicated work by Rav Greenblatt have made Agudas Israel of St. Louis into one of the most prominent branches of Agudas Yisroel in the entire country. Rav Greenblatt has built an entire community rather than just a shul, a community based on the solid foundations of Torah study and tradition, a community that has enabled young Torah scholars to remain and build families in St. Louis and has attracted new young families who now feel that they have a place to lead a full and rich Jewish life. Rav Greenblatt serves as an example par excellence of how a dedicated Rav can inspire an entire Jewish community.”

Rabbi Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel of America, spoke of Rav Greenblatt’s “cheerfulness, intelligence and warmth” and Rabbi Fuerst, Dayan, Agudas Yisroel of Chicago, said, “I consider him as one of the leading poskim in the United States . . .someone who is very in touch with his community.”

Rav Efraim Greenblatt, father of the Rav, speaking from Yerushalayim, said, “my son Menachem and his wife Tova, work very hard to bring people to Torah and now we see the results – the parents that they brought closer, their children going on to yeshivas becoming learned people in their own right, some of them are already giving classes of their own.

The local community members who were featured on the video – Rabbi Aaron Winter, Louise Bortz, Esti Zuravin, Donna Zeffren, Devorah Soroka, Jonathan Spetner, Boruch Mandelbaum, and Rabbi Mordecai Yaroslawitz – were equally glowing in their praises of the Greenblatts. Included was a particularly compelling excerpt from an older video showing Rav Shalom Rivkin, z t”l, who characterized the Agudah as “a synagogue that implants eternity into the hearts and minds and souls of all who come there. I’m certain,” he continued, “that the key for all this is the working together with your distinguished and dedicated Rav Greenblatt.”

Mayer Klein, president of the St. Louis Kollel, former Agudas Israel of St. Louis president and one of the pioneering members of the Agudah from its very beginning in a small U. City storefront, spoke of Rav Greenblatt’s visionary influence and how he had fostered the development not just of the Agudah, but many of the institutions in the wider Jewish community. He shared stories that highlighted the humble beginnings of the Agudah when members took to flagging down passing motorists to make a minyan. Klein drew a hefty round of applause when he said that it would have been worthy of a separate dinner to honor Mrs. Greenblatt for all that she has accomplished, including her leadership as Principal of the local Esther Miller Bais Yaakov High School.

When it came time for his acceptance speech, Rav Greenblatt shared in the joyful reminiscing and spirit of thankfulness that characterized the evening, but he also drew from these memories an inspiring message for the future. He suggested that the amazing energy and “pioneering spirit” that had driven the original tiny group of young people who formed the Agudah could likewise be harnessed to strengthen and expand the educational institutions of which they were now so proud-chiefly Torah Prep, Epstein Hebrew Academy, Esther Miller Bais Yaakov, Block Yeshiva High School, Missouri Torah Institute and St. Louis Kollel.

At the close of the evening, the Greenblatts were presented with an exquisite glass encased menorah, a fitting tribute to a couple who have illuminated the community with so much light and energy over the past 25 years.