Chizki said...garnel ironheart said, "Professional kiruv is ruining Orthodoxy by presenting it to secular customers as something they will benefit from if they adopt the lifestyle."
Perhaps it's ruining Orthodoxy, or perhaps it's not - I don't know. What I do feel is that the type of kiruv that focuses on selling Judaism primarily as a system of living that leads to the "good life" - stable families with low divorce rates, happy children that respect their parents, a strong sense of community and purpose among its adherents, etc., etc. - feeds right into the conundrum that the blogmaster and others have presented here of modern kiruv professionals de facto engaging in the proselytization of non-Jews. Regardless of whether or not non-Jews are attending Eish seminars, presenting Judaism as a lifestyle that any sane, family-oriented person would want to engage in is going to get the attention of non-Jews looking for that sort of message just as surely as it would get the attention of non-practicing Jews.
Perhaps selling Judaism primarily as a powerful, demanding, and sometimes even scary system of ancient teachings that is designed to mold its adherents into servants of the ineffable and inscrutable source of all Existence would be a better way to go.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Kiruv XI - Present Judaism as positive? Or scary demanding system?
Monday, July 21, 2008
Kiruv X - Criticism - Appropriate response to real and phoney criticism
Recipients and Publicity comment to "Kiruv IX - Aish HaTorah as viewed by secular Jewis...":
WHEN KIRUV JOINS THE WORLD OF OSTRICHES IT BECOMES LIKE THE PROBLEM IT IS TRYING TO CURE!
This "Are young, thinking Jews being targeted by a new Jewish fundamentalism?" is an excellent article and makes valid points because the notion of "making people frum without regard to the costs or at any cost" needs to be understood like a piece of mussar which Aish never gives itself.
Sometimes when one's critics open up and say things that may seem hurtful and with which we disagree they are nevertheless holding up a mirror to us and it behooves us to take note and decide if the criticism is valid or not. And often times while it may not agree with our goals yet it contains many dollops of important truths and lessons to be learned to help us correct our trajectory and goals. Like getting customer feedback from the field, you may not like, and indeed do not expect to like, what you will hear, but you must listen in order to understand how you fit into things or else face greater problems that will keep hitting you in the face -- hopefully not leading to a "Jonestown cool aid" ("...a cult from California led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious in November 1978, when 918 people died in the settlement...") or the results of a "Pied Piper" situation ("The Pied Piper of Hamelin is a legend about the abduction of many children from the town of Hamelin...") .
After all, we are now in the period of the Three Weeks and anyone who has studied the sources of the events of how Nevuchadnezar and Babylon were directed by God Himself in a stage by stage process to tighten the screws and then eventually attack Judah, lay siege to Jerusalem and take it captive let alone destroy it (something never done before and which had previously resulted in the downfall of Assyria) yet Nevuchadenezar could pull it off because he had been given the green light by God to go ahead and pull the plug on corruption and wickedness among the Jewish people (the three cardinal sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder) and it was all part of GOD's plan and not just the outgrowths of Nebuchadnezar's cruel mind. It was God who was sending the message via Nebuchadnezar as his messenger and likewise in our times when Orthodox, Haredi and Hasidic leaders and institutions have cocooned themselves and instituted a "code of silence" (as in the Mafia's code of "omerta" amounting to prohibition of talking out on pain of excommunication bordering on death)and the demand of deference to their corporate will by inventing concepts like "da'as Torah" to suit their own power retention needs and thereby stifle and block all opan and critical debate, much like as if it were a case of "to remain Catholic one cannot criticise the Pope but must rather accept that he is "infallible'" is just plain anti-Torah and is more descriptive of pre-World War Two European TOTALITARIANISM as in Czarism, Fascism and Communism than to a kind and caring and accepting Jewish life that was the hallmark of the shtetles and the kehillas of Europe.
At any rate, rather than freaking out at this well-researched and very trenchant article, as well as the "You've been Aishe'd" article, and by the way, both articles make use of this phrase so it's well-worth noting that it has coinage and has traction out there in the world, there is no need to start jumping up and down and yelling back, but see what it is that they are saying and try to answer POINT BY POINT (that is, categorically) logically and calmly, with counter arguments, proofs and citations, and see if something can be learned here rather than throwing out and ignoring these valuable pieces of unconventional God-sent mussar which your local Orthodox and kiruv rabbi won't give you (how could they when all they want from you is to give them a really huge donation!)
Since when was becoming frum meant to mean that everyone should turn into a colony of ostriches sticking their heads in the sand when told that not everyone loves what they are doing and the way that they are doing it?
To be continued...
Kiruv IX - Aish HaTorah as viewed by secular Jewish critics
Playing with Fire- published by the Jewish Socialists
October, 2006
by Clifford SingerAre young, thinking Jews being targeted by a new Jewish fundamentalism?
'What are the key values needed to perfect our world?' asks the voiceover. A good question deserves a good answer, and it is provided by the words that float across the screen: 'Social Responsibility ... Women's Rights ... Environmentalism ... Activism ... Equality ... Freedom of Speech.'
Chanukah: This Is Your Light is one of 20 introductory films on Aish HaTorah's website, and presses all the right buttons for the young progressive Jew. Aish (as it likes to be abbreviated) is a success story of Jewish outreach, with its mission to 'stem assimilation by reaching out and building bridges between Jews of all persuasions'. It boasts 2 million web visits each month, a mailing list of 170,000 subscribers, and offers programmes in 80 cities around the world. Aish is also the inventor of 'speed dating', and hosts popular evenings where Jewish singles meet each other in quickfire succession.
The organisation has been praised by Bill Clinton, Michael Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Al Gore, Ariel Sharon, Shimon Peres, Elie Weisel, Larry King and Steven Spielberg, who is quoted as saying: 'Thank you Aish HaTorah for the good work you do and the message you put out. I could have used you in my life about 25 years ago.' [1]
The breezy prose on Aish's website, with its tales of personal growth and acts of kindness, suggests an organisation that is liberal and broadminded, with a dash of Californian self-help therapy. But the values that guide Aish are not those of Liberal, Reform, or even Modern Orthodox Judaism. Its credo is that of the ultra-Orthodox Haredi movement. Aish HaTorah (Fire of the Torah) insists on the inerrant truth of the Bible, which it believes was dictated by God to Moses.
However, Aish differs from traditional Haredi groups in three ways. Firstly, its outreach work, which aims to convert secular Jews to Orthodoxy, is its overriding priority, not merely a spin-off. Orthodox converts – or ba'alei teshuvah (those who have repented) – make up most of its membership, and its yeshiva programs combine traditional Talmudic studies with intensive training in outreach and leadership skills.
Secondly, it has hitched its social conservatism to an aggressively neoconservative stance on the Middle East. Its donors and well-wishers may include liberals and conservatives, but the political voices on its website extend from the right to the far right: Benjamin Netanyahu, Daniel Pipes, David Horowitz, Alan Dershowitz, Dore Gold, Natan Sharansky, Melanie Phillips and Charles Krauthammer.
Third, it advocates a 'one step at a time' approach to Judaism, allowing members to develop their observance at their own pace. For Aish, this is testimony to its openness and tolerance, and it has certainly succeeded in attracting those who would be otherwise repelled by the 'black hat brigade'. But critics say Aish uses this approach to hide its true aims from prospective recruits. Aish's outreach work is focused mainly on the under-30s, who it attracts with slick advertising and hip graphics that give little hint of its ultra-Orthodox agenda. Some parents have accused it of having a cult-like influence on their children.
How has Aish overcome such controversy to become a multi-million dollar operation, occupying a prominent place in Jewish life? The organisation began life as a small yeshiva in Jerusalem in 1974, founded by US-born Rabbi Noah Weinberg. Weinberg came from a non-Hasidic tradition – known as Lithuanian Judaism or Mitnagdim – but was influenced by the success of the Hasidic Lubavitch leader, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who pioneered Orthodox outreach in the 1960s.
Schneerson was part of a generation of Orthodox Jews that had fled to the US to escape the Holocaust. At first, the community was inward-looking, keen to insulate itself from the 'treyf' (unkosher) state that was now its home. But as it grew in confidence, Schneerson's followers began to recruit among other Jews. At the same time, there was increasing concern among Jewish leaders over out-marriage and assimilation rates. By the late 1960s approximately one in six US Jews were marrying non-Jews, a three-fold increase on the previous decade. And many Jews were leaving the community, in some cases to join new religious movements like Hare Krishna and the Unification Church (Moonies), which had disproportionately high Jewish memberships.
For some Jews influenced by the counterculture, Schneerson's Hasidism, imbued with celebration and mysticism, provided an alluring alternative to the dreary ritual of mainstream Judaism. Others took their spiritual search to Israel, where they found a welcome in institutions such as those run by the charismatic Weinberg. Four years before founding Aish HaTorah, Weinberg had established the Ohr Somayach yeshiva, which was also dedicated to kiruv (orthodox outreach). But his split from Ohr Somayach heralded a more far-reaching vision. Adam Ferziger, Fellow in Jewish Studies at Bar-Ilan University, writes:
Ohr Somayach felt that success was determined by whether a newly observant student dedicated himself to a life of learning. Rabbi Weinberg, in contrast, hoped that once a student had adjusted to religious life, he would either become a kiruv worker or join the secular workforce. Through his interaction with other Jews, he would have the ability to help the weakly affiliated become observant.
Aish Hatorah has developed an entire ideology and system of outreach. In order to make sure that its approach is properly implemented, its leaders foster an 'Aish culture' among their students, who are viewed as the future of the institution. It is, indeed, this 'Aish culture' that is the most distinctive characteristic of Aish Hatorah’s Rabbinical Ordination/Leadership Program (ROLP). Even the more traditional classes on subjects such as Talmud and Jewish legal codes focus on that which one needs to know in order to become an effective outreach rabbi.
Ferziger adds:
A particularly unique aspect of ROLP is the significant amount of time spent training the students to deal with questions that they will be asked when they are out in the field. The students practice simulation games in which they debate their position against rabbis who assume the roles of non-affiliated Jews, reform rabbis, potential donors, and so on.[2]
Underlying Weinberg's zeal is his belief that 'if 20,000 Jewish kids were being killed each year, you'd be jolted into action and launch a movement to save them. Today, we're losing 20,000 Jewish kids each year through assimilation.' [3] Aish rabbi Daniel Mechanic is even blunter: 'The Jewish people are currently experiencing a spiritual Holocaust. That is why Aish HaTorah stands at the front of the battle against rampant assimilation and intermarriage.' [4]
The Aish armoury of tools to reach the uninitiated includes: Discovery seminars (one-day crash courses offering 'scientific' proof of the Torah's divine origins), Shabbatonim (Friday night discussions hosted by a rabbi), subsidised trips abroad (destinations include Israel, Australia and South Africa), and the Aish website (www.aish.com) translated into five languages.
The organisation tailors its message to niche audiences. Its New York website has the slogan 'Adventures in urban Judaism' and is full of attractive, clean-cut twentysomethings who look like a Gap advert. The UK site uses rave-type graphics and music to advertise its summer trips, entitled 'Ozzy Hip Hop', 'Israeli Trance' and 'New York Vibe'. 'Israeli Trance' promises white-water rafting, quad biking and beach barbecues along with an opportunity to 'thrash out' major issues such as 'Judaism meets science', 'Does God exist?' and 'Why do bad things happen to good people?'
Aish Los Angeles targets 18-22 year olds with a $99 'Paradise Adventure Tour' to Costa Rica. It is a tempting offer but the devil is in the small print: 'This program is heavily subsidized. Participants agree to participate fully in all events and activities on the schedule to receive the advertised price... Failure to attend may result in the participant forfeiting his or her subsidy for that day (up to $250 per day).'
Like the evangelical Protestant Alpha Course and Catholic Opus Dei, Aish has a particular penchant for the young and affluent, and restricts many of its activities to 'YJPs' – Young Jewish Professionals. New Yorkers can join the Aish MBA Community, a 'group of Jewish business leaders and students who are exploring their heritage while advancing their business acumen,' while London professionals can attend Aish in the City lunchtime meetings, hosted by media and telecoms corporation IDT.
Aish also offers an Executive Learning Program, providing personal tuition by a rabbi. Participants have included corporate executives and Hollywood stars. 'Learning one-on-one with a rabbi is what's "in" these days in the States,' Rabbi Ephraim Shore, a former Aish HaTorah executive director, told Ma'ariv in 2000. 'Celebrities will come, learn for an hour a week and then visit Israel – and they become our international ambassadors. Some may donate to Aish HaTorah and help the organisation with forming further contacts.' [5]
Following a flattering full-page profile of Aish in the Jewish Chronicle in 2003, one mother wrote to complain: 'Aish prides itself on being dedicated to preventing intermarriage, something which I uphold. What I do not uphold is the way in which it attracts young Jewish men and women to take part in a cheap holiday and then, little by little, as they attend their events and educational study groups they become "Aished". My son did exactly that... Aish has completely changed his life and mine.'
She added: 'I agree with [Aish UK joint executive director] Rabbi Schiff that "God would prefer 50,000 proud Jews" to "50 frum [religious] Jews". My son was a proud Jew and has now become a frum Jew. Many would applaud that, but not me. His life is ruled purely by the Torah. He will not eat in my house and adheres to every single mitzvah.'
Another parent wrote: 'Despite Aish’s modern marketing methods, and what Rabbi Schiff claims... in reality Aish has no regard for the 21st century. It takes people born Jewish and turns them into extreme Jews, with no thought for their families. Aish would argue that its mission is to stop assimilation, but the reality is that it creates fanatical Jews, with little regard for the fallout effect.'
Similar views are expressed by a mother on Rick Ross's cult-watch website: 'Although I am resigned to my son choosing a very different lifestyle than mine, I feel it is a loss. My child can never travel with me, eat in my home – or really be a part of the rest of our family and friends. The hardest part is now I know that this is not what my son actually planned for himself, but rather the direct result of how he was influenced through what began as a vacation trip to Israel.' [6]
In his 2002 paper for the Jewish Journal of Sociology, Aaron Tapper concluded that Aish exhibited each of the characteristics of a new religious movement (a term he preferred to 'cult'). He defined these characteristics as:
a charismatic leader; submission to authority; a rigid ideology, including a fundamentalist approach to theology; a promotion of apocalyptic beliefs; a communal lifestyle; isolation from one's family; hate and/or fear of outsiders; active missionary work, including attempts to convert outsiders to its way of religious life; an an excessive focus on fundraising.
Noting the contrast between the organisation's public and private face he added:
Aish HaTorah is much more open and candid about its ultra-Orthodox perspective in the environment of its yeshiva, whereas in other venues – such as in its outreach centers and the programmes offered there – Aish HaTorah advertises itself as a pluralistic, all-inclusive environment.[7]
In Aish's defence, many former members testify to having benefited from their time in the organisation, and Tapper possibly overstates his case when he compares the Unification Church's strategy of 'love-bombing' (enveloping recruits in feigned love) to the 'extremely warm environment, in both [Aish's] outreach centers and its yeshiva'. However, Tapper should be commended for asking the right questions when so few others have. Mainstream Jewish institutions and media outlets have fawned over Aish HaTorah while failing to offer any scrutiny of its outreach methods. Even if Aish's activities have divided only a minority of families, that is a troubling record for a 'pro-family' organisation, and at the very least community newspapers like the Jewish Chronicle have a responsibility to follow their readers' concerns.
One reason Aish is given such an easy ride is that many Jews share its obsession with 'marrying out'. Even the mother who despaired of her son's transformation felt compelled to preface her letter by proclaiming her opposition to intermarriage.[...]
Kiruv VIII - Kiruv's corporate culture & soul
I also don't think Aish is a monolithic corporate culture - especially in recent years. My initial impression was that Aish was initially set up as a form of chassidus with Rav Noach as Rebbe and there was an attempt to develop a cult of personality. It is clear that most rebbeim there did not accept him as such - but that is another story. For the Baalei Teshuva who became lifers it is different. Perhaps it is time for someone to do a dissertation on Aish HaTorah. An important preliminary work "Returning to Tradition: The contemporary revival of Orthodox Judaism" by Herbert Danziger Yale Press 1989 is a good start.
Recipients and Publicity comment to "Jewish institutions & money - the critical role of...":
AISH and CHABAD (and NJOP): KIRUV GONE CORPORATE!
Presumably you have posted this article about Talanksy and his fundraising work as some kind of response and "counterbalance" to the comments in the previous post of "Kiruv VII - Aish HaTorah - what makes it tick?" http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/07/kiruv-vii-aish- that notes Aish HaTorah's huge success in fundraising.hatorah-what-makes-it.html
However, the point of the previous post was not to negate the importance of fundraising, as it is a beneficiary of the key mitzvas of tzedaka and ma'aser, and Jews are per capita the most philanthropic people in the world giving to all sorts of causes with wide open hands and bank accounts.
The secular leftist Hungarian Jewish Holocaust survivor George Soros donated a BILLION dollars to various Russian institutions to help that land become "more democratic" and he continues to spend billions on all sorts of causes through his Soros Foundation http://www.soros.org/ so this kind of awesome generosity is nothing new especially for Israel that has long had a tradition, in its Haredi communities especially on relying on the foreign "chaluka" and no one begrudges Aish HaTorah because at one time or another most Jews living in Israel or in any Jewish community have and still do benefit from the tzedaka and generosity of many gevirim who help to support local yeshivas, medical facilities, social organizations, gemachs and much, much. much more.
But let's try to remain focused in our discussion, and we are talking about kiruv, the Baal teshuva movement and its mission of bringing Jews back to authentic Torah Judaism, and try to "keep your eye on the ball" (a favorite saying of Rav Noach Weinberg) like in any game, and ask yourself, are the big Orthodox run outreach movements like Aish (conncted to the Yeshiva world), Chabad (of the Chasidic world) and NJOP (a Modern Orthodox project) acting in a manner that no matter where you stop to look at them, or to be a little dramatic, no matter where you cut and puncture it, DOES IT RELEASE WARM HUMAN BLOOD OR DO COLD IMPERSONAL DOLLAR SIGNS COME OUT?
What is this "kiruv machine or behemoth" all about?
Mass kiruv, somehow also tied in with mass conversions if need be, are something new and there must always be an awareness, like Tip O'Neal of the US congress used to say, that "all politics is local" and similarly "all kiruv is local AND personal" and it should NEVER just be about "empire building" or "power-mongering" or "access to big money" while the real needs of individuals are ignored.
The beauty of the Golden Age of Kiruv from the 1950s to the 1980s was that it was a spontaneous movement in many ways, there was not a lot of planning by Orthodox organizations in fact there was even hostility from the hard-core yeshvish velt to kiruv as the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent out his new Chabad shluchim starting with his ascendancy to being Rebbe in 1950. Rav Hutner of Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn and Rav Ruderman of Ner Israel in Baltimore encouraged and supported the creation and work of NCSY under Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, but it was all pioneering and revolutionary work, of how to turn the tide of mass assimilation and bring back secular Jews to Torah observance.
Hippies and counter-culture people rejected money and materialism and they were searching for SPIRITUALTY and GODLINESS, but with the turning of the times and the advent of the second era of Kiruv from the 1980s until the present it was a more business-like and materialistic attitude that set it.
Chabad adapted to that as they do to all circumstances, but it was Rav Noach Weinberg, who had been in business ventures before turning to kiruv who grasped the new set of circumstances from the 1980s onwards and set out to produce a different breed of kiruv workers who had their roots in banking and capitalism and not in the counterculture that was a thing of the past.
That was all good and well. But when Aish became smitten with its own success in narcissistic fashion and operating like a huge corporate machine, there is the legitimate fear that it has lost its soul meaning a deeper connection to Yiddishkeit.
That is why the girl who writes the "You've been Aish'ed" article in the JP talks of the process she experienced as being mechanical and PROGRAMMED and by instinct she is rejecting that and making her own individualized statements which are all valid and that any reasonable kiruv worker would deal with rather than dump and reject her.
She does not wish to feel like a cog in a huge machine and that when she has her doubts she is spat out like a piece of garbage in an impersonal manner.
Helping a secular Jew become religious is like giving birth to a new soul, and a mother can only give birth to one baby at a time, and likewise in kiruv, if an organization becomes too big for its boots and loses sight of what it stands for, that the individual is king/queen, then it loses its soul and reveals itself for the "mass kiruv" machine that is somewhat akin to the "mass conversion" aparati that were recently shot down and God-forbid should not be the spiritual equivalents of "mass killing" instruments that cause more harm than good if for every two people mekarevd ten are lost to bitterness and more rebellion than they would have resorted to previously.
To be continued...
Jewish institutions & money - the critical role of the professional shnorrer
Uncle Moish, the man in the middle
By Joseph Cedar
Morris Talansky was my uncle until he and my aunt divorced more than 10 years ago. Since then, I saw him only briefly at family gatherings once every few years. But before the divorce, Uncle Moish, as we called him, was a dominant and significant figure in my life. I even thought about making a movie based on his character, which I would call "Middleman."
It would be a story about a professional fund-raiser forced to live between the wealthy Jews, the big philanthropists who cleanse their conscience by donating to organizations with lofty goals, and the altruistic visionaries who use the donations to further their noble life projects, which eventually earn them the Israel Prize. Between these extremes is the middleman, the schnorrer - the macher, as Nahum Barnea insists on calling him - but primarily the charismatic man who manages to bring people together and make everyone feel good. This is the man who doesn't get any glory, respect or appreciation, who is forced to do the grunt work that ultimately benefits everyone.
When my former uncle's name was raised in connection to the scandal involving the prime minister, I assumed the media would home in on his colorful personality. I never thought that the prime minister, through his representatives, would try to prove his innocence by cruelly and offensively slandering a man who spent years helping him and donating to him, and became his close friend.
I'm no expert on the nature of the financial relationship between Talansky and the prime minister, and I don't pretend to understand the legal significance of their relationship, if any. But the various media reports about Talansky's cross-examination make it difficult to avoid concluding that even if our prime minister is not a criminal, he is at least an ingrate.
To somewhat counter the national effort to destroy Talansky's name, I would
like to put the fund-raising profession in a different, less shady light, along with the unique talent that made Talansky one of the leading fund-raisers in the Jewish world.
There is almost no institution in Israel that does not subsist, to some degree or another, on donations. Schools, universities, research institutions, yeshivas, hospitals, museums, social projects, cultural centers, public buildings, memorial sites, ideological and political movements, and even the Israel Defense Forces, are at least partly funded by donors who ¬ setting aside generosity, and a desire to improve things for Israel and the Jewish people ¬ get honored for their contributions. They also (mum's the word!) get significant tax benefits.
Behind the scenes of these donations is usually someone who made the match between the philanthropist and the cause. My understanding is that a successful fund-raiser is essentially a talented storyteller who can plumb the depths of the potential donor's soul and understand what will motivate him to open up his checkbook. In other words, a fund-raiser uses a well-told story and his own captivating personality to convince experienced businessmen to hand over their money, by getting them to feel a sense of shared fate with a goal that's bigger and more deserving than their routine business deals.
This appears to be a basic need of people who have money, and apparently, it turns out, a financial compulsion of the society in which we live. Everyone ends up happy. Everyone benefits. And our reality in Israel is a direct result of this relationship.
Morris Talansky dedicated his life to raising money, primarily, though not solely, for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. He spent nearly his entire life matching up ideas with the money to implement them, matching up the conscience-cleansing of those who give with the missionary zeal of those who receive. Along the way, he has become an expert on the complex relationship between American Jews and Zionism. And he is one of the most interesting, charismatic and generous people I have ever met.
In the Frank Capra movie "It's a Wonderful Life," Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey, a banker who gets into trouble and, right before he tries to commit suicide, gets a glimpse of how the world would have looked if he didn't exist.
I would have liked to conduct an imaginary tour like this in Jerusalem to demonstrate Morris Talansky's importance in the daily lives of tens of thousands of Israeli citizens, without them being aware of it. The buildings aren't named after him and he's not the one handing out scholarships, but without him, Israel would have been a different place. [...]
Kiruv VII - Aish HaTorah - what makes it tick?
Recipients and Publicity commented on "Kiruv VI - an embarrassingly shoddy attack on Aish...":
AISH HATORAH AND CONTROVERSY ARE NOT NEW TO EACH OTHER!
While Aish HaTorah is arguably the most successful young adult kiruv program in the world (not inclusive of Chabad, or of NCSY with is for teens), starting from a handful of students in the mid-1970s its empire has been built up by its founder, guide and rosh yeshiva, Rav Noach Weinberg, from a dream he had and a handful of students to a worldwide multi-multi-million empire that has recruited billionaires, and the likes of Hollywood directors and moguls like Steven Spielberg and has spawned programs that have promoted the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Bibi Netanyahu and Micheil Gorbachev and many others.
It is well known that in the USA, Rav Elya Svei, the rosh yeshiva of the Philadelphia yeshiva, had often levelled public criticism's of them and that it was part of a rivalry of Hashkofas between the very yeshivish Rav Elya Svei and Rav Noach's brother and Aish's mentor the more eclectic Rav Yaakov Weinberg, late rosh yeshiva of Ner Israel in Baltimore MD.
The Haredi world in America is never sure what to make of Aish HaTorah and how to react to them.
Essentially Aish stays clear of all major yeshivas and their leadership in America.
They have there own internal leadership system with the most successful Aish rabbis (meaning those who have raised the most millions or better yet, tens of millions each for Aish) and they answer to no one but Rav Noach Weinberg and a few carefully chosen close assistants that act like a "ruling council" based mostly in Aish Jerusalem. All Aish rabbis have their own internal conference in Jerusalem at least once a year and they all the skills and tools of the modern technological and business age.
The Aish HaTorah phenomenon ties in with the second phase of the age of kiruv in the world. The first Golden Phase of Kiruv from the early 1950s to the 1980s was an idealistic age with Baalei Teshuva returning for idealistic reasons and few old-time Aish rabbis come from that time, but they are a tiny minority.
Most Aish rabbis were hand-picked and groomed from the 1980s onwards, they are Yuppies - with a "Y" - (short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuppie Generations X-ers (a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world born from 1965 to around 1982) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X who are "operators" and businessmen with the attitudes of investment bankers and hedge fund speculators, products of the rise of the age of the "Masters of the Universe" types, as described in the Tom Wolf novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonfire_of_the_Vanities when Wall Street greed and materialism were the order of the day and the age of the Hippies (with an "H") was finally buried.
Aish HaTorah understands the age of materialism and the shallowness that is the outcome of the comfortable lifestyle and it has adjusted its calling card and signal to that frequency and thereby gets its audience's attention, but at the same time, many of its cadre of activist rabbis also come from this same milieu and while that may make them superb kiruv professionals, but to some looking in from the outside they can come across and are seen for the shallow, power hungry, manipulative and GREEDY lot that they often are.
So that rather than knocking the writer of this article and saying "well there go the secular again" try to stop a minute, take what it says with a grain of salt and not get so self-righteously upset that only looks like a smokescreen for honest debate and analysis, and tune in to the inner core of what is being said and it is not a flattering picture because the truth in this case is not flattering.
Now of course making people frum is a great thing and it is what kiruv is ultimately all about, but it is known among all reliable kiruv circles that Aish HaTorah plays loose with lots and lots of things to achieve its own goals and it is well-known in the kiruv world that Aish will facilitate with shady conversions if they have to, and it cannot be otherwise because they are so connected to the intermarried young generation X-ers and many of them are just not Halachic Jews. Like for Chabad, and for Rabbi Leib Tropper and his EJF, it's tough for Aish because so much BIG money, prestige, power and jobs are at stake!
So it's a tough call for them and for the frum world that is expecting positive fruits from all this kiruv activity and hallabaloo, but to resort to knee-jerk defenses of Aish on this blog is not required because Aish has it's own websites and propaganda machines that are supported by tens of millions of dollars that are meant to go to kiruv and "outreach" so let's see how they react it and not shed crocodile tears for them.
There is much more to be said about Aish and how it has both helped and corrupted the world of kiruv. They want to have their cake and eat it so that sometimes that can lead to indigestion and vomit.
To be continued...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Kiruv VI - an embarrassingly shoddy attack on Aish HaTorah from Jerusalem Post
The author also asserts from her personal experience that Orthodoxy is tiresome and an unrealistic lifestyle for normal people. I was shocked that a supposed newspaper reporter would naively generalize her feelings to the rest of mankind - in the name of objective reporting. She can perhaps be excused since she is only an intern - but what happened to the professional judgment of the editor who approved this hatchet job? If she is reading this, she is invited to visit some Orthodox Jews - who still have managed to retain not only their intellectual faculties but also their enjoyment and excitement of Judaism after many years of living in the real world.
I am only mentioning this article because it is an example of the secular/non-Orthodox propaganda which labels presenting alternatives to the secular world as brain-washing or producing cults. It is also a reminder that while the issue of how to deal with intermarriage in kiruv is problematic - it does not detract from the tremendous work that these organizations are doing and the dedication and talent their workers manifest.
You've been Aish'd...
by Danielle Kubes , an intern at The Jerusalem Post before returning for her final year in humanities and philosophy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.With a brand-new, floor-length skirt swishing against the linoleum tiles, I walked into school the first day of 11th grade to confused stares. Where had the graphic, midriff-baring T-shirts and sweatpants gone?
Three weeks of my summer vacation had been spent traveling the West Coast of the United States with an Orthodox outreach youth group. Alongside Grand Canyon hikes, I had been immersed in Halacha (Jewish law), and becoming "modest" seemed like a natural step.
How did a 15-year-old girl of the 21st century, who gave no thought to slipping tank-top straps, underage clubbing and kissing boys in camp cabins, end up considering covered elbows and knees a necessary virtue?
High school and university campuses have noticed this phenomenon for years: Their friends come back after school breaks from Orthodox outreach programs clutching Artscroll siddurs, imbued with a penchant for Zionism and an aversion to intermarriage.
"They've been Aish'd," is the commonly whispered comment, equivalent to "They've been brainwashed."
The number of Orthodox outreach programs for non-Orthodox youth, like those of Aish Hatorah and NCSY, have exploded in the past decade. According to the Aish Hatorah Web site, it alone entices more than 100,000 people in 17 countries to its programs annually. Many of the programs offer several week-long trips combining learning and traveling in Israel, Canada or the US. They are ridiculously low-priced, often up to five times less than other tour groups.
The participants pay through other means, though; they absorb a particular brand of Judaism that seems to be an extra ingredient in the twin hallot eaten every Friday evening.
"They overload you with free stuff, and then you work because you want it. You'll do anything," says Sarah, a participant on two Israel programs and several long-term programs in Canada by Aish Hatorah and NCSY.
IS JUDAISM so compelling, so inherently true, that as soon as youths discover it, they cannot stay away?
In fact, Orthodox Jewish laws are exotic and offer a reverse way for youth to rebel. Drugs, drinking and sex are all passé rebellions by now. But how many young people actually refuse to touch the opposite sex? These organizations are offering an exciting way to be different and get attention.
Still, it's a tiresome lifestyle to maintain - and after the programs end, most participants don't. As valuable as the Orthodox lifestyle may be, the methods used by these organizations are eerily cultish and the results often short-lived.
The organizations present their Judaism as the uniquely accurate one, the Halacha that the non-Orthodox have merely forgotten but that all their ancestors invariably followed. Their assumption that all our great-great-grandparents grew up in an Eastern European shtetl contributes to divisiveness among Jews, for it fails to acknowledge that Halacha has had a variety of interpretations across different times and cultures.
A fellow participant on my trip was ignored by advisers when she remarked that for some Sephardim, the only halachic requirement was to be more modest than one's neighbors, and that the stringent laws that guide current frum fashion (good-bye collarbones, elbows and knees) were unnecessary. Outright dismissal of alternative views may drive sales of skirt manufacturers, but it is not beneficial to learning about the history of Judaism.
SOME PROGRAMS make participants adhere closely to Orthodoxy, and others just introduce them to it. But all are extremely effective at what they do by using rudimentary indoctrination techniques .
They remove participants from their normal environment and place them in a new, vulnerable context. Traveling is a mentally exhausting experience in any case. How much more so that is in Israel, where one suddenly finds oneself part of the majority - an intensely emotional experience that these programs capitalize on. Foreign ideas suddenly seem reasonable: Instead of lecturing someone with mostly secular friends to stop eating pork, it is easier to just stop serving it for a month in a completely Jewish environment.
Within such an environment, participants are made to feel guilty about a lack of observance. The organizations criticize the secular lifestyle as hollow so that young people, always in search of identity, undergo a crisis of confusion about which path to take.
A FALSE dilemma is presented: Be secular and remain in impurity, where life is merely a game played for fun - or move toward a purpose and filled with holiness.
When presented so simply, which road seems more attractive?
The organizations transmit these teachings through trip leaders who often succeed in making observance seem fun and relevant, at least for the duration of the program.
But the teachings are superficial and the Orthodox world they present bears not a trace of dissatisfaction: Never did I ever hear a speaker or trip leader discuss any problems within the Orthodox world. Apparently, as long as they follow proper Halacha, everybody is happy and fulfilled, with neither depression nor repression, money nor domestic problems.
The female trip leaders imparting the message of how wonderful Halacha is are born Orthodox, with a sweet, never-been-kissed, perky charm. Unfortunately, they are unable to relate to the secular world, where they have had no experience. Instead, they drivel out the same stock responses on subjects like why to refrain from touching boys: Everyone has heard "your soul is a diamond that should be kept in a special case" a hundred times.
Metaphors like those sound wonderful and make superficial sense, but falter in the face of hormonal reality. The counsellors shut their ears to truthful comments such as "I want sex as much as he does." Their simplistic response is: "But as a female, you really want him to love you and hold you instead."
By addressing issues from an archaic, non-scientific, pseudo-psychological perspective and refusing to believe that at times women can be just as sexual, forceful and unemotional as men, participants are left with beautiful-sounding concepts that prove unworkable upon return to the secular world.
PARTICIPATION IN these programs is similar to a summer romance, which is removed from reality through a heady mix of sun and beach. It lacks imposing obligations. Everything moves fast and intensely, yet rarely lasts.
"They make you some kind of fake family, that's why you feel all religious there. And then you get home and see your real family... and that's the way you have to live," says Sarah.
Many absorb Halacha like a sponge. But a few weeks back into one's regular routine in the secular world, the rational reasons for not touching boys, praying before meals and refraining from electricity on the Sabbath fade as fast as a dream.
Running into those who have remained Orthodox, unrecognizable from only a few years earlier, is an uncanny experience. They often work for outreach organizations and are as unsettling to me as Evangelical Christians.
As for me, was I "Aish'd"? Well, I'm spending this summer in Israel, but I'm wearing jeans.
Conversion - more Blacks are converting to Judaism
Conversions to Judaism among African-Americans are growing in a way that could affect the presidential election.
Christian Science Monitor reports [referred by RaP]Atlanta - Like many of the growing numbers of Protestant blacks in America and Africa converting to Judaism, Elisheva Chaim grew up believing she had a "Jewish soul."
As a black woman and a Baptist in the South, that was a peculiar, somewhat troubling realization. But when she turned her doubts about Christianity into a search for answers, the truth became evident: She had to go deeper than the Old Testament. She had to convert.
"It's odd to see black people convert to Judaism, and even Jewish people look at me strangely, I'm not going to lie," says Ms. Chaim "But once everybody sees that I can recite the prayers in Hebrew, their attitudes change."
Though primarily an intensely personal journey, the black conversion movement comes at an important time for Afro-Judaic relations in the US.
Sen. Barack Obama is lighting up connections to the black-Jewish alliance of the 1960s while at the same time trying to calm Jewish fears over his Muslim middle name and ties to pro-Palestinian activists. This could have critical implications in key states with large Jewish populations such as Florida and Pennsylvania.
Yet more than anything, experts say, black exploration of Judaism is part of an increasingly complex faith puzzle in America. Among other things, it's testing a growing interest among some Jews in expanding a religion that doesn't proselytize.
"We're in a kind of make-your-own-faith world now, and the fact that blacks may be moving to Judaism is actually less surprising than it might otherwise appear," says Bruce Feiler, author of "Walking the Bible."
Numbers are hard to pin down. Besides well-known conversions such as that of the late entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., black Jews remain an unfamiliar part of the American religious landscape. Yet Lewis Gordon, director of the Center for Afro-Jewish Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, estimates there are as many as 1 million blacks with Jewish blood in the US.
Another recent study by the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco estimates that there are as many as 150,000 practicing black Jews in the US today, with synagogues across the country reporting increasing numbers of blacks either exploring or converting to Judaism.
"Obama's candidacy, African-Americans choosing to be Jews, Jews marrying people who weren't born Jewish ... is all part of the great American story of freedom and choice," says Gary Tobin, president of the IJCR in San Francisco.
The reasons are complex, experts say. Americans in general are looking outside their own denominations for answers, with 40 percent of Americans switching from the faith of their upbringing, according to a recent study by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Among Africans, the conversion movement – 100 Ugandans took part in a mass conversion earlier this month – is an attempt to explore the Jewish heritage believed to have trickled down through North Africa and into the continent.
"It's about liberation from slavery," says University of Maine political scientist Amy Fried. "During Passover seders, you're asked to think of it as if you, yourself, were being liberated."
But growing up both black and Jewish can be confounding, and this has sent many searching – not just for spiritual truths but for family secrets. New York filmmaker Lacey Schwartz is currently working on a documentary called "Outside the Box" about her own journey as a mixed-race girl growing up in a white upper middle-class Jewish family in Woodstock, N.Y.
"This is about the changing face of America," says Ms. Schwartz. "But as for myself, I feel more at home in the all-black community than in the all-Jewish community. In the black community, there's a lot of diversity and a lot of understanding of that diversity. In white Jewish communities, the environment is much more mono-cultural."
Since Jews don't proselytize and some rabbis actively discourage conversion, diversifying the religion and the culture is proving difficult.
"The closest Jews gets to outreach tends to be inreach," says Brad Greenberg, the founder of The God Blog at the Jewish Journal in Los Angeles. "How people are experiencing Judaism is different today. There's a lot of debate now about whether Jewish converts can help improve the longevity of the religion."
In Brooklyn's heavily Orthodox Jewish communities, New York Assemblyman Dov Hilkind doubts whether conversion trends will affect campaign tactics. He says it's traditional Jewish communities that are giving Senator Obama a hard time while exploring the more hawkish Republican nominee, John McCain, for his position on US and Israeli security concerns.
"A lot of people are nervous about [Obama], and he needs to address this, "says Mr. Hilkind, who predicts that more Jews will vote for McCain than the 37 percent who voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980.]
On the other hand, "I think there is a great desire ... to reestablish the very powerful and successful alliance between the African-American community and the Jewish community," says Jennifer Rubin, a freelance writer who blogs about Israel at Commentary.com. "Obama will appeal to that."
Yet for many recent black converts, politics, culture, and history have little to do with their decision. For Sivan Ariel of Atlanta, who grew up in the US Virgin Islands, the spiritual search began with memories of a grandmother she believes was Jewish. The most comfortable place in the world for her today, she says, is a synagogue.
Renegade kano'im - Denounced by Toldos Aaron Rebbe, shlita
The Toldos Aaron Rebbe, shlita - as reported in BaKehila - strongly condemned them.
He stated that he knows what genuine zealotry is and mentioned Rav Amram Blau zt"l.
"Concerning Rav Amram one saw that in reality that all the cracks in the wall of Yiddishkeit caused him great pain. His protests were an expression of his love of Jews and his fear of G-d. It hurt him that another Jew would sin and that pain - caused by his concern for others - brought him to protest. In contrast, the kano'im of today are motivated by the desire to destroy. They wake up in the morning with the single concern of what they can destroy that day. Their heads are not focused on serving G-d or how they can increase the honor of Heaven. They spend their days obsessed with wall posters and slander of others. There are no great men and leaders of Israel that they don't slander. This is not kana'us! This is the lowest form of degenerate personality.
Someone who truly want to be concerned with G-d's honor knows that before any activity it is required to first ask a posek and talmid chachom to clarify if this particular activity is permitted by the Torah or not. We are Jews and therefore our path has to be that of the Shulchan Aruch. These hotblooded young men mistakenly think that their acts of destruction magnify the glory of G-d. I am telling you that this is not the path of kana'us! That is because true zealotry comes only from the motivation of truly loving Jews. When a Jew is hurt by the sins of another Jew he is not allowed to make any public response without first asking the guidance of gedolim concerning possible actions and he must submit to their views. However we have never seen before the approach of these modern zealots. These men are immersed in their evil ways and their sole concern is how to cause damage.
נער הייתי וגם זקנתי. ראיתי בימי חלדי קנאים אמיתיים. למדתי את יסודות הקנאות אצל אבי זצוק"ל, יצאתי להפגנות רבות יחד עם ר' עמרם בלוי. הם היוו דוגמה אמיתית לקנאות אמיתית. על ר' עמהם ראו בחוש שכל פרצה בחומת היהדות כאבה לו. המחאה באה מתוך אהבת ישראל ויראה ה'. כאב לו שיהודי אחר חוטא ומשום הוא הביע מחאה. לעומת זאת 'הקנאים' של היום פועלים ממידות מושחתות. הם קמים בבוקר וחושבים כיצד ניתן להזיק היום, ראשם לא מונח בעבודת ה' או במחשבה איך מרבים כבוד שמים. הם עוסקים כל היום רק בפשקוולים והשמצרת. לא היה גדול ומנהיג בישראל שהם לא השמיצו. זו לא קנאות. זו השחתת המידות בצורה הגרועה ביותר. מי שבאמת רוצה לקנא את קנאת ה', יודע כי לפני כל פעולה שעושים יש לשאול קודם רב ותלמיד חכם ולברר האם דבר זה מותר על פי התורה או לא. אנחנו יהודים וכל דרכנו היא על פי שולחן עורך. לאברכים צעירים יש דם תוסס והם חושבים שבפעולות אלו הם מגדילים את שמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא בעולם. אני מודיע לכם לא זו דרך הקנאות, קנאות אמיתית באה רק מתוך אהבת ישראל אמיתית. כשכואב שיהודי אחר חוטא וכמובן לא לפני שמדברים לפני כל פעולה עם גדולים לשמוע את דעתם. את הדרך של הקנאים כיום לא ראינו מעולם. אנשים השרויים ברשעות ודרכם היא לילך ולהזיק.
Kiruv V - Orthodox and Reform meld - the slippery slope
Recipients and Publicity in his continuing series on the dynamics of contemporary kiruv
KIRUV TODAY: WHERE ORTHODOXY AND REFORM MEET!
Or
THE AGE OF ORTHODOX AND HAREDI KIRUV MEETS REFORM AND CONSERVATIVE KERUV!
Or
1980s to the present: A dangerous turning point in the history of Kiruv Rechokim and the Baal Teshuva Movement and Revolution.
Just in passing reference to Chabad, it would be worthy to note that with the mere existence of Chabad husband & wife shluchim/shluchos teams, lets assume that there are about five thousand of them in the wide world and if each couple brings in just one secular couple a year into their sphere of interest, not a far-fetched idea, then that makes five thousand new couples and ten thousand new "recruits" a year, and if even a quarter are not Halachically Jewish, then that means that all over the world, Chabad is responsible for pulling in 2,500 people into Jewish religious life who require Halachic conversions PER YEAR, and if one multiplies that over ten years that amounts to 25,000 people in that category which brings the entire matter to critical mass, and if one just doubles the figures assuming that Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins can each pull in more than one couple a year, that means that in the last ten years 50,000 people are involved in Chabad and Orthodox life who had not started out life as Halachic Jews, so that one clearly sees that what is happening is that with the success and spread of Orthodox kiruv, as practiced by Chabad or Aish HaTorah or NCSY or any group active in the field, many tens of thousands of non-Halachic Jews are being drawn in, just based on the UJA's groundbreaking and eye popping National Jewish Population Surveys (NJPS) www.ujc.org/njps of 1990 http://www.jewishdatabank.org/NJPS1990.asp and 2000 http://www.jewishdatabank.org/NJPS2000.asp (the 1990 report was so bad that they had to doctor the results of the 2000 report, but that is another subject) and that it is therefore beyond any shadow of a doubt that KIRUV AS WE KNOW IT OF REACHING OUT TO JEWS ONLY IS OVER, the "NEW" KIRUV IS ALL ABOUT REACHING BOTH JEWS AND THE NON-HALACHIC JEWS ATTACHED TO THEM. (That is why Rabbi Leib Tropper and his "kosher" EJF efforts are so cutting edge and relevant and when the BADATZ finally got to smell the coffee and wake up and sent notices out to Recipients and it received Publicity that ehrliche Orthodox rabbis were not to join in the EJF worldwide effort to welcome in non-Jews to Orthodoxy conversions no matter how "appealing" or "right" things mayy seem from a so-called kiruv perspective.)
And this brings us to the main topic of this post, that it can safely be stated, based on both the admissions of those in the field and the statistical and social realities, that the BROAD RANGED AGENDAS of BOTH the huge Orthodox/Haredi/Hasidic kiruv organisations and movements and those of the REFORM movement, with the Conservatives running a close second ARE THE SAME, in that they are:
(a) NOT to be repelled by the thought of having to reach out to non-Halachic Jews and even gentiles thereby rejecting them from mass strict Halachic conversions as required by Halacha itself of course, but on the contrary to
(b) REACH OUT and "MEKAREV" the non-Jewish and gentile spouses or children of non-Halachic Jews and provably gentile mothers, and even easing up on welcoming any gentiles who drop by a for "coffee and kiruv".
So that this is what it adds up to:
What the Reform and their Conservative allies are doing DE JURE (officially), the major kiruv movements are doing DE FACTO (unofficially) and at times even approaching the de jure efforts of Reform and even, believe it, being in the same boat with the same students and sharing the same synagogue spaces, such as when Orthodoxy's Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald's huge NJOP program http://www.njop.org/ runs programs for the last twenty years in almost every Reform, Conservative and even Reconstructionist synagogue and venue, not caring about Orthodox venues or what his Orthodox kiruv co-workers may think about it all!
It must be noted that Reform goes even further, that it has decided to outright proselytise gentiles not personally connected to Jews or Judaism in any way in order, they rationalize, to increase the numbers of Jews. This is like allowing a bunch of alcoholics to run a liquor business in the hope that they will bring in "more sobriety and more business" or like offering free bread and cheese to mice in the hope that they will join the human race in not being pests. All very distorted, yet taken very seriously in Reform and Conservative circles.
The Reform call it "keruv" with an "e" faking dikduk correctness, but the Reform and Conservatives are now as much into "keruv" as the Orthodox and Haredim are into the less correctly spelled "kiruv":
The official Reform movement site http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:R53f-qHU8NYJ:www.urj. states openly:org/outreach/+keruv+Reform&hl= en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us
"Union for Reform Judaism / Outreach
Reform Jewish Outreach serves a diverse population: men and women; interfaith and interracial couples; converts, those in the process of conversion and religious seekers; Jews of color; people of all sexual orientations; single adults and blended families; rich and poor; young and old and in-between.
As Reform Jews, we are committed to actively welcoming all and building vibrant, inclusive congregational communities. We seek to perform the mitzvot of ahavat ger (loving the stranger) and keruv (drawing near all who are far). The William & Lottie Daniel Department of Outreach and Membership, together with the URJ-CCAR Commission on Outreach and Membership, has a dual mission:
*to empower and encourage individuals and families, including interfaith families, to make meaningful Jewish choices in the context of membership in a Reform congregation
*to assist Reform congregations in their efforts to become sacred communities that welcome the full diversity of Jews and their families and those seeking to join or come closer to the Jewish people, through effective recruitment, engagement and lifelong retention of members"
And that gets one thinking, hey, if Reform is so positive about this stuff, instead of preaching the old doctrines of "Berlin is Jerusalem" and their notoriously schismatic Pittsburgh Platform (1885) opining that:
"3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people for its mission during its national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.
4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.
5. We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state."
But see, today they talk of "keruv" and are actually envious of Chabad's and other Orthodox groups outreach that they must ape that, because in any case, most kiruv in the first stages does not expect anything different than just hanging out with the rabbis and attending some generalized classes and having a good time at Shabbat dinners "across America" or whatever.
The Conservative's Dr. Gary A. Tobin's "Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community" (San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1999) and in http://www.jewishresearch.org/PDFs2/ShmaFamilies_4_03.pdf he concludes
"...The American image of Jews as either central or eastern European, largely Ashkenazi descendants from Fiddler on the Roof does not reflect the complexity of the American Jewish family.
Those who are subject to nostalgia often long for some particular time and place, and associate it with some particular mythology of “how life used to be. ”Moreover, the Jewish community as a whole continues to cling to an ideal that may not even be desirable. Maybe bringing non-Jews to be part of the Jewish people, for example, so that we grow and prosper rather than diminish is desirable rather than horrifying. Perhaps we should embrace the growing diversity rather than be afraid.
If the Jewish organizational and institutional structures — our synagogues, community centers, federations, and the vast array of human service and educational institutions — are going to do their job in helping the Jewish community to be vital and strong, they should embrace who we are, rather than lament who they think we used to be or think we should be. For, indeed, we live neither in the 1950s nor in the time of Abraham. We live in the 21st century, and we should deal with the reality of who we are—now."
The Conservatives also have a program called "Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs: Our Mission":
"The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs is an organization of approximately 270 Conservative/Masorti Jewish men's groups consisting of 25,000 individuals across North America and the world. The FJMC involves Jewish men in Jewish life by building and strengthening Men's Clubs in the Conservative/Masorti Movement.
Our objectives are to train and develop leaders to build and strengthen Men's Clubs; to create and implement programs to involve men in Jewish life; and to be an active and influential participant in the Conservative/Masorti Movement."
And one of their biggest aims, is what else, "keruv" http://www.fjmc.org/keruv.html , naturally, with things like "Congregations with Keruv Programs and Consultants":
"What's a Keruv Consultant?
The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs Keruv Initiative seeks to provide guidance and comfort to those within our congregations who are intermarried, whose children are intermarried, or who have extended family of another faith
Keruv Consultants are experts in the implementation of the FJMC Keruv programs, as defined by the FJMC Publications, HEARING MEN'S VOICES - VOLUMES FOUR & FIVE, Building the Faith & Let's Talk About It.
The issue of intermarriage confronts us as a community and within our own families. Given the fact of the dual faith marriage, how do we reach out to encourage these families to adopt a Jewish lifestyle, indeed to increase their involvement in Jewish life? Where do we begin as a congregation and as individuals to transform ourselves to make this outreach a success? should this be a priority at this time? With the publication of ''HEARING MEN'S VOICES: Building the Faith'' in 2001 there has been an outpouring of interest at program after program led by men's clubs in synagogues throughout North America"
and this is backed up with articles from the Baltimore Jewish Times "Conservatives Grapple With Intermarriage":
"The high stakes were not being glossed over.
"The bad news is, the way things are, there probably won't be a Conservative movement in 50 or 100 years," said Stephen Lachter, noting that the 2000 National Jewish Population Study saw the percentage of Conservative Jews slip below that of Reform ones. "The good news is that those of us in the Conservative movement have the power to change that."
Later, he added, "We are all Jews by choice. We make choices about our Judaism every day. It's not unusual that people move along. They take an introduction to Judaism course. They take a basic Hebrew course and then they convert to Judaism. That happens in our synagogue and I assume it happens elsewhere. You need to provide people with information. But you have to do it in a positive, effective way"."
and the Washington Jewish Week "consider best approaches to reaching out to intermarried families":
"...a new Conservative movement initiative to guide congregations in welcoming intermarried families.
The keruv think tank and training program last week in Baltimore was the second seminar organized by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs to help rabbis and lay leaders address a range of issues arising from intermarriage. (Keruv means "bring near" in Hebrew and is often used to refer to inreach and outreach.)
The seminar included sessions titled "Broaching Conversion to the Non-Jewish Partner" and "Developing Strategies for the Non-Jewish Spouse," as well as advice in areas such as the proper language Jews should utilize to talk to a non-Jewish son- or daughter-in-law...
But Simon stresses that the keruv project is not sanctioning intermarriage, but merely reacting to the large percentage of Conservative Jews with intermarriages in their own families -- and encouraging those who are intermarried to raise their children in the synagogue.
In addition, non-Jewish spouses who feel welcome are more likely to explore conversion, say Simon and local Jewish leaders who attended last week's conference.
"We need to figure out a way to welcome [the non-Jewish spouses of intermarried couples] into our shuls or lose these people," said Stephen Lachter, past president of the Adas Israel Men's Club and a keruv consultant who attended last week's seminar...
"As a result of having the kind of policy we're talking about, [and] without setting any kind of precondition, these individuals ultimately decided to embrace Judaism," Weinblatt said.
Lachter called the keruv initiative "the most profound and important thing going on in the Conservative movement today."
"What else could be more Jewish than to treat people in a caring way?"."
The important thing to note is that both the Reform and Conservatives have taken over and now embrace and welcome the language AND THE ACTIVITY of "keruv"/"kiruv" OPENLY, OFFICIALLY with unashamed keruv/outreach to those of doubtful Halachic Jewish status as well as to to pure gentiles, so that then it is really no different to the often HIDDEN, UNofficial yet also unabashed mekareving that Orthodox, Haredi and Chabad rabbis and kiruv workers are doing when they too lure and welcome into their midst the same people that that the Reform and Conservatives are now "keruving" out to.
This is a dangerous turning point in the history of Kiruv Rechokim and the Baal Teshuva Movement and Revolution.
In the first stage of the Golden Age of Kiruv from the 1950s to the 1980s when Reform and Conservative were still cock-sure of themselves and did not care if their youth joined "fringe groups" (and even if they did care, there was nothing they could do about it in any case), but from late 1980s and especially from 1990, when the frightening truths about intermarriage and Jews and gentiles welded and melded and wed to each came to the fore in the shape of the 1990 UJA sponsored National Jewish Population Survey in the USA they panicked and began their "keruv" initiatives to all and sundry and it was at that time, combined with the results of Reform's decision to accept patrilineal descent as being enough of a criterion for Jewishness that then meant that one could no longer take for granted the "Jewishness" of anyone who claimed to be Jewish, and with the rise in intermarraige across the board, THE AGE OF KIRUV AS WE KNOW IT WAS OVER, and thus began THE AGE OF ORTHODOX AND HAREDI KIRUV MEETS REFORM AND CONSERVATIVE KERUV that has been ongoing from the late 1980s into the 21st century.
Thus the very real squabbles and battles over conversions, which are valid and which are not, and how far kiruv workers should be involved in the process has become a key issues all over the world. In Israel, the struggle involves rabbinical organs inside and outside of the official state of Israel's legal and legislative structure in both the Halachich and secular legal domains due to the political realities of living in the political state, but the issues are just as critical and burning in North America, the UK, Europe and wherever large groups of Jews are to be found facing the assimilation, intermarriage and conversion issues of the day.
The following analogy may be a little sharp, so please pardon it, but the word "kiruv" or as spelled "keruv" share the same root as the word "kirva" and alas also "kurva" and as much as "kirva" may refer to the elevated spiritual state of "kirvat Elokim" of being close to God, yet in another context and degrading sense there is also the word "kurva" in Hebrew and Yiddish which means "prostitute" since it is also a form of "coming (too) close" but of the wrong type of "closeness" that while it may give momentary pleasure also carries with it risks of disease and degradation and even death. Similarly the Biblical word "zona" can mean healthy "sustenance" and denote positive nutrition such as with breads as "mazon" yet it shares a root, if used against morality of "zona" a woman who "sustains" a man sexually with fleeting carnal pleasures for the wrong reasons and with degrading results that are paid for rather than attained in a moral and legitimate way.
The Reform and Conservative's "keruv" must be seen as the dark side of Orthodoxy's Kiruv in order for the Orthodox and Haredi kiruv rabbi and professional to retain a correct perspective and a clear conscience that they are not swimming in the same cesspools that the Reform and Conservatives created for themselves in the first place.
Thus it's clear that THE challenges for the Orthodox erhliche and Halachicaly uncomprisng kiruv rabbi and professional is to cut through the haze and the maze that now links Reform and Conservative "keruv" with Orthodox and Haredi "kiruv" OUT THERE IN THE FIELD, in the so-called "real world" where "East meets West" and how to split this atom requires the brains of an Einstein, the wisdom of a Solomon, and the prophetic spirit of Eliyahu Hanavi in CORRECTLY bringing the hearts of JEWISH fathers and mothers and JEWISH sons and daughters together but NOT to cause spiritual Chernobel-like meltdowns that will hurt everyone who comes close to the radioactive and toxic mess of the inevitable interplay between bad kiruv and conversion decisions..
To be continued...