Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith was born and raised in Brooklyn New York. He studied at BTA Yeshiva High School and completed a bachelor’s degree in Biology in Brooklyn College. From a very young age he felt the calling to go and settle in the Land of Israel. Shortly after graduating college, he married his wife, Leah and they made Aliyah with the intention of joining hands with a nucleus of pioneers in establishing a new community in Israel’s heartland. Their idealistic dream came true and they were amongst the first founding families of Itamar, situated in the very heart of the Samarian Mountains. Rabbi Goldsmith’s love for Torah motivated him to join a rabbinical program in nearby Elon Moreh where he studied for thirteen years, receiving his smicha (Rabbinic ordination) from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and a teaching degree.
Rabbi Goldsmith help set up the Itamar Yeshivah high school, Yeshivat Chitzim, which specializes in educating boys with learning disabilities through the love of Torah and Israel. Yeshivat Chitzim today is the answer for 250 boys from all over Israel that want to succeed in learning and at the same time can enjoy the experience of building the land.
In addition to his devotion to education, Rabbi Goldsmith became very active in community leadership where he served as an Itamar council member for over fifteen years and as Itamar’s Mayor for over eight years.
Besides his important roles in leadership and education, Rabbi Goldsmith was one of the founders of the Itamar Response Team. After he completed his army service, he took a course in anti-terror fighting tactics that led to the setting up of the Itamar response team. Rabbi Goldsmith has been on the scene of most of the terror attacks that have struck the community including the last horrific massacre of the Fogel family.
In the memory of the residents of Itamar that were murdered in terror attacks, Rabbi Goldsmith established a non-profit organization – The Friends of Itamar, where funds are raised to strengthen the community, enhance its educational institutions, build parks and playgrounds, and make it a better and safer place to live. Rabbi Goldsmith today serves as the president of the non-profit organization.
Rabbi Goldsmith is a strong believer in the universal role that the people of Israel must play in being a light to the nations. He is an experienced lecturer on a wide range of topics and lectures on a regular basis to a variety of audiences. He played an instrumental role and took part in the recently published book – The Light from Zion. The book is A collection of essays written by twelve Rabbis from Israel on the weekly Torah portions sharing a taste of Torah to the nations.