I am commanded to love God with all my heart, soul, and might. I can't think of any way to express my love of God more than to try to be an agent of honesty, integrity, growth, and struggle in the Modern Orthodox community. YCT allows me to engage in that challenge through intense learning and rabbinic training.
For the hale and hardy residents of Portland, Maine, the young bearded man standing in front of the downtown branch of Starbucks must have been quite an unusual sight. Wearing a black velvet yarmulke and wrapped in a long, flowing tallis was Rabbi Akiva Herzfeld, who had recently been hired as the spiritual leader of Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh, the oldest active Orthodox synagogue in Maine.