In the field of Jewish outreach, there hasn’t been a receptive environment like this since the Six-Day War.
That’s a refrain heard among outreach professionals.
“October 7 awakened the sleeping giant,” says Rabbi Aaron Eisemann, director of Meor at NYU.
“It’s an amazing opportunity, and we have to be there for our fellow Jews.”
Kiruv professionals—working with all demographics—stress that they cannot single-handedly reach the many unaffiliated Jews across the country who are searching for connection in the post–October 7 world. It’s time for all hands on deck.
“To come closer to Torah, people need real relationships—and these all take a tremendous amount of time,” says Rabbi Eisemann. “Rabbis on campuses are desperate for help. Call your local campus rabbi and offer to host or mentor a student,” he suggests. Frum professionals and entrepreneurs, especially, can play an important role acting as mentors for college students who are focused on launching their careers.
“Kiruv happens one neshamah at a time,” says Rabbi Zev Kahn, director of Jewish Education Team (JET) based in Chicago. “A person can, on average, have relationships with about eighty people at one time. When you have 5,000 students on a campus, for example, even if 4,500 of them are not interested, one person can’t have a relationship with the 500 who are interested.”
The bottom line: Outreach cannot be limited to the professionals.
This doesn’t mean, says Rabbi Josh Broide, director of the Center for Jewish Engagement (CJE), a division of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, and outreach rabbi at Boca Raton Synagogue in Florida, that you, as a frum Jew, need to get training as an outreach professional. What it does mean, however, is that you need to pay attention to the opportunities sent your way. “You need to say to yourself: ‘Hakadosh Baruch Hu sent this one person that I just happened to interact with, and I’m going to take responsibility for that person.”’
“I once got a call from someone who lived in a Chicago suburb about an hour and a half away from where I live,” says Rabbi Kahn. “He said, ‘Rabbi, there’s a guy who works in a cubicle next to me. He’s Jewish and he’s really interested in learning. Would you be willing to drive up and come and learn with him?’ I said to him, ‘You know what? I have a much better idea. Why don’t you learn with him?’ He replied: ‘What, me?! How can I learn with this guy?’”
Many Orthodox Jews are afraid of engaging with Jews who are beginning their religious journeys, says Rabbi Kahn. They are worried: What if a beginner asks a question they can’t answer? Rabbi Kahn’s response: “You don’t need to have all the answers. You need to have ahavas Yisrael.”
“If we really believed in what we’re doing and the life we’re living, we’d want to share that with every Jew,” says Steve Eisenberg, co-founder of Jewish International Connection (JIC).
“Jews in the US are much more connected Jewishly today than they were on October 6,” he says. It’s a perfect opportunity for frum people to invite fellow Jews to their Shabbos meals or to their sukkahs, for example. “If every observant Jew would invite one Jew a month,” he says, “you could have between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews each month experiencing a Shabbos meal.”
But Eisenberg is not optimistic about the majority of the Orthodox community stepping up to the plate. “Where is the Orthodox community?” he asks.
Unfortunately, he says, some in the Orthodox community prefer to focus inward. “We say to ourselves, ‘It’s enough that my kids go to yeshivah and I’m keeping the Torah . . . Hashem will take care of me.’ But we’re not taking achrayus for the generation.”
Other Ways to Engage
Some kiruv professionals posit that the Modern Orthodox community is uniquely situated to engage in outreach. “The Modern Orthodox community is no different professionally in many ways than many of the unaffiliated Jews we’re looking to attract. We’re also doctors. We’re also orthodontists. The guy you would be learning with looks just like you,” says Rabbi Broide.
“It’s a much easier shift for someone to envision themselves coming closer to Judaism when it seems to be doable within their comfort zone,” says Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, co-director of OU-JLIC at University of California-LA (UCLA). “They can say, ‘I see my colleague or classmate doing this; maybe I can do it, too.’”
Rabbi Kaplan believes it would go a long way if Orthodox students proactively reached out to other Jewish students and created a welcoming atmosphere on college campuses. “Your typical Orthodox teen from Pico Robertson in Los Angeles, or Teaneck, New Jersey, doesn’t know non-observant kids,” he says. “Everyone is Orthodox around them. But in college, this is their moment—now they’re meeting [non-Orthodox Jews].”
People are looking. What are our communities doing to open those doors to the greater Jewish community?
A simple way anyone can help spread Torah to less affiliated Jews is by contributing financially to outreach programs. Without financial backing, even the most idealistic kiruv professionals cannot reach the many Jews who are looking for a connection to Judaism.
For example, NCSY’s JSU program for public high school students reaches thousands of teens each year. But according to Devora Simon, national director of JSU, there are roughly 350,000 Jewish kids in non-Jewish high schools in North America. “Based on the soaring interest in JSU programming, we know we can be reaching exponentially more teens,” says Simon.
JSU has seen a huge spike in the number of requests for new clubs since October 7, and JSU has tried to accommodate as many teens as possible. Unfortunately, staffing remains a huge obstacle. “I’m getting requests from places like Nashville, Vermont and Salt Lake City,” she says. “It’s hard to get people to move to more remote places. We are building out a robust system and platform to engage teens remotely, and empower them to lead in their communities, but we need the infrastructure and staff to support the program and manage these relationships.”
Many outreach professionals feel that in the post–October 7 world, the Orthodox community must prioritize Jewish outreach when allocating tzedakah funds. “It’s heartbreaking what teens are dealing with in school every day,” says Simon. “These are young people in often hostile or unwelcoming environments who need us to be there for them. We simply need the resources to take care of these Jewish teens.”
Aside from providing financial support, individuals can act as ambassadors on behalf of Torah Judaism. Social media presents endless opportunities to spread positive messages and have an impact on a wider network.
“If the bad news on social media is all people are seeing, it’s depressing,” notes Rabbi Mark Wildes, founder of Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE). “So let’s not talk about why people hate us. Let’s highlight what’s positive.” He suggests providing a counterbalance in people’s feeds—showing all the good things that are part of the Jewish community—for example, Shabbat, trips to Israel, the remarkable chesed that takes place. “Our job needs to be bringing light into the world.”
Opening Communal Doors
Well before October 7, communal organizations like the OU and others have been making sure there is infrastructure in place to serve Jews across the country, says Rabbi Kaplan. Because of that, he says, young Jews who are searching for community have an address to turn to. “Whether it’s NCSY or OU-JLIC, we are where young American Jews are,” he says. As a result, “there are many more opportunities, because we’re already here to facilitate. If people are ready to jump, we’re ready to catch them.”
But despite all the kiruv programs and initiatives, more needs to be done on the communal level. Every shul, in fact, has a role to play, say experts. “People are looking. What are our communities doing to open those doors to the greater Jewish community?” asks Rabbi Broide.
Every shul, he maintains, should have at least one outreach program. And while the programs might be different for each shul, depending on the population, he believes the core ingredients have to be there. “It has to be warm and welcoming,” he says. “We have something real. We have something special. What are we doing to invite the broader community to be part of it?”
Shuls can help promote programs such as Partners in Torah, a highly successful initiative where participants get to study one on one over the phone or on Zoom with a mentor chosen especially for them. In Boca Raton, Rabbi Broide oversees a different initiative called Partners in Jewish Life. Instead of being over the phone or via Zoom, partners meet in a large space where they study prepared sources focused on the popular teachings of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. The curriculum, currently used in six shuls around the country with many more interested, resonates strongly with Jews from all backgrounds.
“This program might not have worked a few years ago because people were in their own lanes—it’s my shul, it’s my Federation, it’s my JCC,” says Rabbi Broide. “But since October 7 Jews are looking to connect to the larger Jewish community.”
Now that the interest is burgeoning, kiruv professionals are asking difficult questions: If Jewish kids want to attend an Orthodox Jewish day school, can we accommodate them? If Jewish families want to start attending an Orthodox synagogue, are our shuls welcoming enough?
“No Jew left behind—every single Jew should have an opportunity to interact with Jews who are a part of the formal Jewish community,” says Rabbi Broide.
The central question Rabbi Broide and many others in the kiruv world are asking is: Are we—the Orthodox community—prepared for this?
Rachel Schwartzberg is a writer and editor who lives with her family in Memphis, Tennessee.