Encouraging the non- religious Jew to observe a particular mitzvah while violating the others,

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Aubrey Bell
5 years ago
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Kiruv in Contemporary Jewish life: What is the Torah source for the obligation to do kirov? Is Kirov on College campuses possible today as it was in the past?

1 Kiruv in Contemporary Jewish life: What is the Torah source for the obligation to do kirov? Is Kirov on College campuses possible today as it was in the past? The three great challenges ofkiruv: finding Mekarvim; finding Jews open to kiruv; finding funds Some Halachik issues in kiruv: Does a non-religious Jew have the Halachik status of a,nrn? Inviting Shabbos guests who will drive and violate the Shabbos, Feeding guests who will eat without reciting a Beracha, Bitul Torah for the sake ofldruv, Boys and girls singing together, Calling up a non-religious Jew for an Aliya or to duchan in the minyan, Teaching the 'pleasant'.mitvot, but omitting the 'harsh' parts of Torah, Encouraging the non- religious Jew to observe a particular mitzvah while violating the others, Kiruv in the audience of Jews and non-jews Defining the primary goals of kirov and prioritizing the allocation of communal Tzedaka monies. The issue of.kirov vis-a-vis a boy or girl b m to a Jewish Father and a non-jewish Mother Modern kirov movements, organizations, andy eshivot (Cbabad, Ayelet HaShachar, NCSY, Aish HaTorah, Machon Shlomo, Jeff Seidel, Chappel College, Community Kollels. Ner LeElef, Olami (Meor), 1LI}.

$, cha --- pa Today They Know It All Yonoson Rosenblum I Tuesday, August 07, 2018 roject Inspire produced a moving video for Tishah B'Av on the career of Rabbi P Meir Schuster, the legendary ''l\tlan$

3 10/ Print Mish., cha --- pa Today They Know It All Yonoson Rosenblum I Tuesday, August 07, 2018 roject Inspire produced a moving video for Tishah B'Av on the career of Rabbi P Meir Schuster, the legendary ''l\tlan at the Kosel" who was at the fo.refront of the modem baal teshu'91lh movement. Interviewee after interviewee describes Rabbi Schuster's initial tap on the shoulder followed by the questions, ".fu:.e you Jewish?" and 'Would you like to hear a class in Jewish philosophy?" Actually, the second question, following confirmation of proper Jewish yichus, took many fonns: "Would you like to attend a Shabbos meal?" 'Would you like to meet a wise man?" What is astounding is how many responded, "Why not?" with little or no persuasion on Rabbi Schuster's part. In a sense, they were vulnerable and knew they would have nothing to respond if he asked them (as did happen occasionally), "How could you not be interested in you.r own religion?" After all, many were backpacking around the world. They might have spent months sleeping on a mat on the floor in an Indian ashram, been.robbed and abandoned by pirates in Thailand, or have dedicated themselves to learning various Buddhist chants in Nepal. They were in quest of new experiences - and the further from anything in their lives back home, the better. So when asked whether they wanted a "Jewish experience," they recognized that it made no sense for them to single out their own religious heritage as the only one in which they took no interest. And they knew that their knowledge of Torah Judaism was in most cases no gteater than their knowledge of Buddhism. Of course, the quest fo.r experience was not an unmitigated blessing. It took many in dangerous directions, some never to return. But it did open young Jews to explore their Judaism to a far gteater extent today. I CAN THINK OF NO ONE in our times who was a mo.re blata11t and constant recipient of siyata d'shmaya than Rabbi Schuste!'. No one who knew him could have predicted his success. He was the vecy antithesis of what we would expect a successful mekarev to be, completely lacking the gift of easy speech or sparkling charisma. The source of that siyata d'shmaya is not hard to expjain. It lay in the intensity of his relationship to Hashem. Those who watched him daven fowld themselves looking around in the expectation that Mashiach would arrive any moment. A more subtle aspect of the siyata d'shmaya he experienced has to do with the historical period in which he was active. As noted above, it was a time when young people were searching for meaning, and willing to check out multiple potential paths. But even Rabbi Schuster could not have achieved what he did in today's cultural environment. Por one thing, the multitudes of young Jews backpacking around the world are no longer to be found at the Kosel. And with each passing year, it becomes more difficult to do kiruv work among young Jews, due in no small measu.re to the fact that today's young Jews (lf, in fact, they are Jews) have a far more attenuated relationship to the historic Jewish People by virtue of the rampant intermarriage over the last three generations. But another difference th.1.t cannot be overlooked is the difference between the attitudes young people brought to college 30 or 40 years ago and the attitudes today. Once young Jews came to college to learn something. They knew they were 1/3

4 10/30/2018 Print young and relativdy ignorant, and looked to their professors to offer them new perspectives and ways of thinking about the world around them. Too many today, however, view themselves as repositories of all the knowledge necessary to identify whlch ideas deserve a hearing and whlch must be silenced. for them, professors are there only to confirm theil: existing ideology, and heaven help them if they do not. 1bey seek neither new knowledge nor experience. They already know it all. (Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, the 28-year-old democratic-socialist running for Congress from Queens, serves as a representative of her generation. She boasts of her degree in economics from Boston University, but appears to have avoided any economics class requiring math skills. Asked to explain the low unemployment under President Trump, she opined that it was due to the fact that so many Americans have to work two jobs to make ends meet, as if wo.r:king two jobs creates an employment rate of 200%.) Young people seeking neither knowledge nor experience, confident that they already possess sufficient quantities of both, are far less likely than their parents' generation to end up at the Kosel in the first place. A.nd if they do, they'll have no trouble telling anyone who challenges them to learn something of their Judaism, "Not interested, I already know everything I need to know.'' The increasingly inhospitable soil for kirov today is just another example of how we are affected as frum Jews by the cultural environmrot in which we live; even if we are not always aware of its impact on us. No Comparison A few readers and at least one editor opined that I had unwittingly done damage to my kavod last week by admitting that Michael Lewis is a better writer than I. I remain unconvinced, howevtt, that acknowledging something that is blindingly obvious can diminish one in a.ny.respect. I consider it a matk of maturity to recognize that there will always be someone smarter, prettier, or richer than you, and to leam to deal with it. In the latter category of learning to live with it, I would place the further recognition that an abundance of brains or beauty or money is no guarantee of living a fulfilled life. Similarly, I would advise getting over the habit of comparing yourself to others, certainly if doing so makes you anxious or jealous. When Chazal define who is rich, wise, and sttong, they do not do so in terms of net worth, IQ, or what one can bench press, all of which are objective measures that facilitate comparison to others. Rather they offer definitions that apply only to each of us indiv:idwilly. The most important thing for us to know is that we are each here for a reason and each of us has a unique contribution to make to the world. People of superior gifts or achievements often open up new areas for others to contnoute; they expand our opportunities rather than limit them. Yet no one, no matter how gifted in any particula! field, precludes the success of others. The Vilna Gaon, for instance, was recognized by his generation as towering over all hls contemporaries. Yet it was his tajmid, Rav Chaim of Volozh.in, and not the Gaon himself, who founded what would be become the mothej: of all subsequent European yeshlvos. Furtheonore, the Gaon's genius did not prevent contemporaries -such as hls own mechutan R.av Avrohom Danzig, author of Chayei Adam - from writing works that are still studied today. Similarly, the greatest theoreticians in any scientific field are almost invariably dependent on the experimental work of numerous other scientists in the same field. ToPrin

5 10J3D/2018 Print And that pretty much brings me back to where we started As great a writer as.:michacl Lewis is, he would never have written Reb Y a.a.kov or Rav Desslcr. The only thing he could do is provide me with unintended guidance how to.improve my next ruography. And foi that I have only gratitude. Orifinaljy jeall(red in Mishpacha, Iss11e 722. Yonoson Rnsenb/un; mqy be C()ntacted diret:tfy at rosenblnm@mishpacha.com

7 1UJ30/2U18 Print.. Kiruv Is Not Dead Rabbi Meir Goldberg I Thursday, September 13, 2018 rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated." ' ' T he So wrote the great American author Mark Twain and so, it seems, would be apropos for kirov rechokim in America. One regularly ruds about the end of kirov, including twice recendy from Rabbi Y onoson Rosenblum, who bemoans the apparent lack of interest in anything new, deep, or students nationwide. meaningful on the part of college Yet for those of us who work in the well-over 100 campuses and young professional programs around the country (this is not even counting Chabad, who have hundreds of campus rabbis and centers and deserve their own article due to the scope of th ir work) and see the enthusiasm, growth, and mesirus nefesh of many of our students, kirov is not only not dead, it is thriving and expanding. Some relevant stories of mes.irus nefesh from students of ours: Jared is a freshman planning to major in pre-med. He attended a spring break week of leaming and meeting rum medical professionals in Baltimore, where he was inspired to start keeping kosher. He signed up for Torah learning and several shabbatons and asked us to infonn the hosts that he is a vegan. Why? Jared confided in a mekarev that he finds it too difficult to fight with his parents about keeping kosher, so he simply decided to become a vegan to avoid any problems. Ra.bbi Shlomo Cohen, a mekarev at Rutgers University, attended the latest Maariv minyan in Edison, at Ohr Torah. At thls minyan, which is about a ten-minute drive from campus, he met Steven, an engineering student who decided to become shomer Shabbos. Reb Shlomo asks Steven how he got there. ''Uber.'' came the reply. Steven didn't want to daven Maariv without a minyan so he Ube.ted over. Would we make sure not to miss Maariv and insist on tlking an Uber? Or would we be satisfied to daven at "the Kosel"? Sometime later I was shopping at a local kosher supermru:ket in Lakewood when the store manager came running over to me. "Do you do kirov at Rutgers?., he asked. After I replied in the affirmative, he went on to tell me how Steven the engineer had inspired him deeply: "Last Friday, I was driving with my brother on the New Jersey Turnpike to Lakewood from New York. Traffic came to a standstill and as the minutes ticked closer to Shabbos, we reali.zed that we would have to pull off the highway. We were near Exit 12, and we pulled into the Carteret Yeshiva right before sbkiah. There was nobody there, as it was summer break, but we met your student Steven who was driving his parents' car to Lakewood for Shabbos. He too could not make it before Shabbos, and we spent the most inspiring Shabbos together with this new baal teshuvah eating stale matzah in the Carteret Yeshiva." Aaron is a student of ours who, after spending two years in yeshivah, retumed to finish an advanced degree and find his zivug. Aaron originally had a free ride through college due to his commitment to the Army ROTC officer training. After /3

8 Print joining an Israel trip and spending much time learning and growing, he decided to go to yeshivah in Y erusbalayim upon gnduation. But the Army ROTC commitment presented a problem. He decided to assume tens of thousands of dollars of college tuition debt and opt out of the army in order to pursue his destiny and grow in Torah and yiras Shamayim. Do these sound like uninspired or closed students? While not every student involved in the outreach opportunities on campus is ready to make that level of commitment, there are many campus kiruv programs with tens and sometimes over one hundred students learning and doing Shabbos meals weekly. And while Rabbi Ro enblum asserts that not.too many students today would be willing to join. a class in Jewish philosophy had they been approached by R.av Meir Schuster, the legendary Man at the Wall who sent thousands to yeshivah, many hundreds and even thousands do sign up for learning programs while meeting a "meka.rev tabling," or through friends already involved. True, incentives need to be offered and mekarvim need to make a more attractive sates pitch than what worked in Rav Meir Schuster's day, but all areas of life change, and those involved need to adapt. One of the most inspiring parts of the Project Inspire Tishah B'Av video about Rav Meir's life was that he was singlehandedly responsible for 11Wly, if not most, of the students enrolled in yeshivas such as Ohr Somayach and Aish HaTo.tah. Rav Meir stopped picking up students at the Kosd in the early 2000s during the height of the Second Intifada, when bad-packers ceased coming. It was at that time that Rav Avrohom Jacobovitz started the Maimooides Leaders Fellowship nationwide, which galvanized a group of dedicated mekarv:im. to enter campus kirov. While there are still hundreds of students who go to yeshivah for significant time each year, it is not quite as many as during Rav Meir's time. There may be a multitude of reasons for this, including some that Rabbi Rosenblum have raised (less interest.in new ideas, the need for constant cotl!lectivity to our smartphones, etc). However, the biggest reason is likely economic. In Rav Meir's day, college tuition was a fraction of what it is today. Students could afford to take time off to explore before taking a job. Our biggest obstacle today for getting our best students to yeshivah is that students have either taken out $100,000 to $200,000 in student loans or have had theh: parents pay that amount. The pressure to quickly get to work or go for an advanced degree is enormous.!uhbi Rosenblwn mentions Internet connectivity as a major obstacle for growth in the secular world. Yet most students will turn off o.r at least hide their phones during a Shabbos meal.if asked to do so. And if they leave the table to "go to the restroom" multiple times during a meal, it is not the end of the world. I remember as a boy hosting secular.rdatives for Shabbos meals who would leave the table for a few minutes and return smelling like cigarettes. To you readers, I ask: What is worse in Hashem's eyes- a secular student who can't disconnect for 24 hours, or a Torah Jew who checks his during chazaras hashatz? Anyone who sees these wonderful students.returnmg from a year or two in yeshivah in Bretz Yisael cannot help but beam with joy. There are currently a number of cbaburabs in sevexal American cities, where now-from baalei teshuvah can come and live, learn, and work, while maintaining their growth, with the chizuk and support of talmidei chachamim and rebbe&.ins. Another one is in the works in Lakewood. Rav Shloime Pert,.rav of the Berditchever Kloiz in Lakewood, once exclaimed to me, "It's because of the mekarvi.m. that Mashlach doesn't come." I smiled and waited for the punchline. He continued. "Hashen1 is ready to bring Mashlach, but be sees these beautiful neshamos and can't leave them behind. 'One more nesha!uw: says Hashem. 'And another and one more.' " Kirov is not dead. It's just getting started. Originai!J jeallmd in Mishpacha, Is.r e Rabbi Meir Goldberg is direcl r of Meor Rlltgers Jewish Xperienct. ToPrint/

by Libi Astaire someone who waxes nostalgic for the Jewish

by Libi Astaire someone who waxes nostalgic for the Jewish Photos: Baruch Ya ari by Libi Astaire When Jewish students at Columbia University charged several professors in the Middle Eastern Studies department with intimidating them in the classroom, for their