Responding to the Call - Jewish Action

With the rise of the Haskalah movement in the late 1700s, Orthodox Jewry largely responded by “cutting its losses,” distancing itself from those who rejected traditional Yiddishkeit and severing ties with many. While this approach may have seemed effective in earlier generations (a matter still open to debate), by the twentieth century it became increasingly clear that a different strategy was necessary. Thus the kiruv movement was born. Gradually, this movement gained traction across the diverse spectrum of frum communities—Chassidish, Litvish, Sephardic and Modern Orthodox—each developing its own outreach initiatives.

This shift in approach within the frum community bore tremendous fruit, bringing tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters back to our Father in Heaven.

Yet now is the time for another shift, one perhaps equally as significant as the first.

Now we must take the next crucial step: it is time for our community to understand that this holy work is the personal responsibility of every individual.

While outreach is widely admired and the organizations involved in it are rightly applauded, it is still often viewed as a communal responsibility, rather than a personal obligation. The prevailing mindset is that the frum community must mobilize resources and create outreach organizations, while the average individual may not see this work as personally relevant, except in terms of financial contribution or moral support.

But now, we must take the next crucial step: it is time for our community to understand that this holy work is the personal responsibility of every individual. Ahavas Yisrael, a mitzvah incumbent upon every Jewish man and woman individually, calls upon each and every one of us to express the ultimate love by sharing the treasures of Torah and mitzvos with our fellow Jews—those who may not yet be aware of the richness of their heritage.

The twentieth-century kiruv movement was spearheaded by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (and after his passing in 1950, exponentially expanded by his successor, the Rebbe). At a farbrengen on Purim of 1931, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak delivered an impassioned message to his Chassidim, a message that continues to resonate today:

It says, “When you see a naked person, cover him, and do not ignore your own flesh” (Yeshayahu 58:7). When you see a Jew “naked” without tzitzis or tefillin, don’t dismiss the problem with a wave of your hand and give up in despair, saying, “What can be done?” Don’t sigh and think you’ve fulfilled your obligation through this expression of heartache.

No! Despair and sighing accomplish nothing, and this is not the Divine intention. Rather, “cover him”—you must clothe him; you must help him don tzitzis and tefillin.

This rallying cry from nearly a century ago should still ignite within each of us the urgency to take action—today and always.

I hear from my colleagues, Chabad shluchim around the world, that this year, due to what has happened and is happening in Eretz Yisrael, there was a significant uptick in the number of people who have reached out to them to join their services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They tell me that the numbers are unprecedented, with many Jews “coming out of the woodwork,” including those who have never engaged Chabad before.

Our fellow Jews are looking for the truth of Torah and Yiddishkeit like never before. Let’s be there for them.

Rabbi Efraim Mintz is executive director of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, the educational arm of Chabad.