Eternal Jewish Family’s Blog

Archive for August, 2009

World’s Largest Jewish Outreach Organizations Join Eternal Jewish Family in New Major International Effort Against Intermarriage

The Eternal Jewish Family International (EJF) has launched a major initiative on three continents to stem the tide of soaring intermarriage in Jewish communities in the US, Israel and Europe.  Eternal Jewish Family is partnering with the largest and most successful kiruv (outreach) organizations, such as Ohr Somayach — Jerusalem, Hidabroot, Lev L’achim and Nefesh Yehudi in reaching out to large numbers of Jewish youth “with a direct message on the threat of intermarriage to themselves, their families, and the Jewish future”.  In the US, Eternal Jewish Family will team up with Gateways in reaching vulnerable youth.  “This epidemic of intermarriage can only be confronted with ‘straight talk’ about the  dangers of intermarriage”,  said Rabbi Leib Tropper, Rosh Yeshiva of Kol Yaakov/Horizons and the chairman of the Rabbinical Board of Eternal Jewish Family.  “We can no longer afford to beat around the bush in the hope that the anti-intermarriage message will somehow penetrate”.  In many instances, Eternal Jewish Family will be cosponsoring seminars and Shabbatonim for the Jewish youth where special sessions will be devoted to the dangers of intermarriage. The first such Shabbaton in March was held in Baden, Austria in a joint program with Nefesh Yehudi for more than 100 Israeli medical students in Central and Eastern Europe.  Eternal Jewish Family will be joining the outreach (kiruv) organizations in many similar seminars in the coming months.

Eternal Jewish Family Presents Exhibit at Torah Umesorah Convention

EJF HAD PROMINENT exposure when it presented an exhibit at Torah Umesorah’s Annual Leadership convention which took place at the Friar Tuck Inn in Catskill, New York.  “It was a great opportunity to meet educators from around the world and brief them on our availability as an important resource in their work,” said Mrs. Rochel Weinstein, Director of Communications for Eternal Jewish Family.  According to Mrs. Weinstein, participants were “gratified to discover the existence of an organization that can help them deal with some of the consequences of improper conversions to Judaism and direct potential halachic Jewish converts to qualified rabbonim and batei din.  ”Educators from both remote and mainstream Jewish communities throughout the United States expressed the same common struggles with yuchsin issues in their own schools. “The general public may be surprised to learn that Jewish conversion issues occur in every spectrum of the Jewish educational system”, said Mrs. Weinstein.  “No one knows it more than these educators who frequently have the painful task of identifying families with improper conversions to Judaism.”

Campus-Horizons

“THE WEEK OF May 20-27, 2009 was truly an amazing one for me,” wrote a participant of the second Maimonides Scholars Retreat, sponsored by Horizons.  Six boys from campuses in Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey and Long Island joined the Yeshiva Kol Yaakov for an unforgettable week of learning and bonding in what another boy called “definitely one of the best experiences I have had with Judaism”.  A typical day began with introductory learning, where the college guests were exposed to Gemara and the 13 Principles of Faith.  Afternoons were spent cycling across the Brooklyn Bridge, kumzitzing with “Yitzchak Halevi” (Rosenberg), holding an actual machtzis hashekel in our hands at the Living Torah Museum, and getting an insider’s view of tefillin from Rabbi Melech Michaels, a sofer.  One of the highlights of the week was a visit to the home of Hagaon Harav Reuven Feinstein, shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Staten Island.

Another treat was meeting Steven Hill, film actor and Skver chassid, who movingly described his journey from the Broadway stage to avodas Hashem, an address that one boy — an artist himself —called “essential for me where I’m at with Yiddishkeit right now”.  Rabbis Doron Kornbluth, Yoel Judowitz, Yehuda Friedland, Yonason Meadows, Yaakov Astor, Dovid Jacobs and Yaakov Burgess addressed the retreat participants, as well as Rabbi Tropper, who gave a shmuess and spent sholosh seudos “straight talking” with the group.

One participant summed up his experience this way: “I feel like I have grown so much since I arrived at the yeshiva.  I was brought up in a Conservative home and went to synagogue when I was younger, only on the High Holidays, and that was still too much for me. I was forced to go to Hebrew School, even though I didn’t want to; once my bar mitzvah came, I said that was it.  Before coming to Kol Yaakov, I had never learned Gemara and Talmudic laws before. The entire week was an unbelievable learning experience, with great times and great memories that will stick with me for my entire life. I hope you will continue for generations to come as a beacon of light for those who are lost in the dark.”

Horizons/Ohr Somayach Program in Phoenix a Major Success

A joint program by Horizons-Phoenix and Ohr Somayach is off to a great start!  In just five months, Rabbi Michael Dubitsky, has attracted more than 30 participants in his learning program.  The participants who come from all over the Phoenix-Metro area meet Rabbi Dubitsky in various locations including private homes, offices or for “lunch and learns” at restaurants.

Horizon’s participants range from those with limited Jewish backgrounds to those who have been learning and have a Jewish education but want to further expand their level of knowledge and practice. Topics include Beginner’s Hebrew, Pirkei Avos, Parsha, and Jewish Philosophy, amongst others.

Rabbonim Resolve to Battle Intermarriage and Assimilation in Worldwide Effort

IT WAS BY ALL accounts an unprecedented gathering of leading kiruv rabbanim from around the world, as well as rabbanim in cities and towns throughout Israel.  The event took place from June 15–17, 2009 at Jerusalem’s Inbal Hotel. The sponsor was the Eternal Jewish Family International, which is in the midst of a major global expansion of its activities to support rabbanim and batei din involved with intermarried couples who genuinely strive for a halachic conversion to Judaism. It also assists kiruv organizations that are on the front lines in the fight against assimilation, such as the co-sponsors of the event:

Arachim

Ohr Somayach

Hidabroot

Lev L’achim

Shuvu

Nefesh Yehudi

In the U.S., it also includes the Gateways organization.

The rabbanim deliberated on such topics as “Worldwide Assimilation: Today’s Spiritual Holocaust”, “Building Barriers Against Fictitious Conversions to Judaism,” Anti-Semitism and Assimilation: Cause or Effect?”, and “Determining the Status of Certain ‘Jews’ in the Community”.   The rabbanim, who represented numerous cities around the globe, expressed their deepest concern over the grave issue of world-wide assimilation.  In addition, they addressed a growing problem in Israel where many young people return from study abroad with non-Jewish spouses. Kiruv experts spoke of the dangers facing Israeli youth in Israel. They resolved to step up the educational efforts to hopefully thwart this growing trend. The tone of the historic conference was set by Eternal Jewish Family’s chairman, Menachem Yitzchak (Tom) Kaplan who noted that “in my wildest dreams I could not imagine such a rapid and broad acceptance by rabbanim all over the world of the vision we laid out with the help of the leading Torah authorities”.  Kaplan said that he was “committed to do whatever it takes to take on assimilation and problematic conversions to Judaism wherever the problem exists”.  Rabbi Leib Tropper, the organization’s chairman of the Halachic Committee, spoke of the successes of Eternal Jewish Family in “raising the bar on conversions to Judaism and successfully uniting rabbanim and dayanim from disparate backgrounds in preserving kedushas yisroel”. The theme of kedushas yisrael was also addressed by some of the notable gedolei yisrael and leading rabbanim who participated in the conference.

A strong letter supporting Eternal Jewish Family by Rav Aaron Leib Shteinman, which was also signed by Rav Yosef Sholem Eliyashiv, was read at the conference.  It strongly supported the anti-assimilation theme of the conference and warned of the dangers of assimilation to the future of klal yisroel.  Rav Zvi Elimelech Halberstam, the Sanzer Rebbe of Netanya, in his letter supported the new initiative to involve kiruv organizations in a direct war against intermarriage.  When the conference ended, there was a great sense of accomplishment in dealing with some of the most critical issues facing the Jewish nation.  A new program called “Tochnit Kaplan” was warmly received.  It will be a joint partnership between Eternal Jewish Family and the kiruv organizations to include “straight talk” in their educational programs on the dangers of intermarriage.  Eternal Jewish Family will be co-sponsoring seminars around the world to promote this message.  More than 300 Israeli rabbanim of cities and towns all over Israel signed on to a resolution that they will “intensely investigate” the halachic integrity of conversions to Judaism before signing on a marriage certificate.

Morristown Seminar Reaches Out to Mechanchim and Kiruv Professionals

Eternal Jewish Family Holds a 2 Day Seminar for Outreach Organizations

ON MAY 24th, Eternal Jewish Family responded to the spiritually devastating impact of intermarriage and assimilation on many Jewish communities around the world by hosting a two day interactive seminar for educators and professionals from leading kiruv (outreach) organizations. Renowned lecturers and leading gedolei yisroel presented practical advice and concrete ways to face the fallout of improper conversions to Judaism, such as families who suddenly discover they are not Jewish, broken engagements and denied citizenship in Israel.

Rabbi Tropper and Harav Reuven Feinstein Speak about Challenges in Outreach and Jewish Conversion

The lecturers called upon the rabbanim to recognize their responsibility of ensuring that each geirus in klal yisroel is halachically valid. Rabbi Leib Tropper, Chairman of Eternal Jewish Family’s Rabbinic Committee, mentioned Eternal Jewish Family’s accomplishments in the US, Europe and Israel, whose office is flooded with requests for help from numerous individuals regarding issues in intermarriage and Jewish conversion. He stressed that, while geirus (Jewish conversion) is a complex and often controversial concept, klal yisroel has an obligation to meet its challenges. Harav Reuven Feinstein, chairman of Eternal Jewish Family’s Halachic Committee, expressed the hope that while the kiruv movement has responded to the need to provide each Jew with the opportunity to learn about their Jewish heritage and identity, much more needs to be done to head off potential intermarriage. “All Jews count. Klal Yisroel is obligated to utilize all of its resources to be mekareiv baalei teshuva and ensure the proper lineage of every Jew,” said Rav Feinstein. He noted that Eternal Jewish Family has filled a need in the world of kiruv, which regularly confronts issues regarding the yichus of baalei teshuva.  Harav Feinstein and others mentioned the psak that permits one to be mekarev the non-Jew in intermarriage for the sake of simultaneously being mekarev the Jewish spouse.

Harav Kaminetsky Gives Eternal Jewish Family a Brocho

Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, gave a brocha to Eternal Jewish Family for its work and mentioned the “vast problem we are dealing with here in America because of intermarriage and Jewish conversion.  To illustrate the accomplishments of a proper geirus, Harav Kaminetsky used the example of Ruth, whose Jewish conversion (geirus) escorted her to the pinnacle of greatness among the Jewish people. Other presenters included Rabbi Nota Schiller, Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein, Rabbi Yonasan Rosenblum, Rabbi Dovid Shochet, Rabbi Dovid Gottleib, Rabbi Mordechai Fishberg, Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, and Rabbi Doron Kornbluth.