The Millennial Disconnect - Matot Masei

Torah Portion of Matot-Masei

"In an age of ultra-connectivity, constant real-time social media updates and the 24/7 news cycle, we have failed to communicate to our future."

Most in the organized Jewish world would agree- we have a problem. From rabbis to cantors, heads of Jewish institutions to educators, the coffee talk is always the same; assimilation, and the future of American Jewry. Some polls have painted a very bleak future, while others have been a bit more promising. One thing for sure, North American Jewry has a problem, and a big one at that.

The issue at heart- the disconnected Jewish Millennial. The future of Judaism lies in their hands and they don’t seem to care that much about it all. 

I just returned from staffing my third Birthright-Taglit trip with forty four millennials and had an epiphany.

Mayanot Birthright Israel Bus 410 at the entrance to the Old City.

This week’s Torah portion will see us conclude the book of Numbers- Bamidbar. In the closing portions of Matot-Masei we read about a fascinating disagreement that threatens to splinter the Jewish community. 

The background to this disagreement is important. The tribes of Reuvain and Gad were blessed with much cattle. As a result, they needed fertile land for their animals to graze. The land of the East bank of the Jordan river was perfect for them. As the Jews were about to enter the land of Israel (west of the Jordan river), these two tribes requested that they be allowed to keep their current land outside of Israel. Moshe reacts harshly, accusing them of abandoning the quest to enter Israel, and not wanting to fight alongside their brethren to conquer the Holy Land. 

But after a meeting of Moses and the parties involved, it is clear that intentions had been pure all along. The tribes of Reuvain and Gad would not only partake but would lead the Jews into battle and not return home until the entire land was conquered and apportioned (which took some 14 years). The ruffled feathers were soothed, misunderstanding were clarified, the anger subsided and everyone lived happily ever after. It really was a lack of proper communication.

I just returned from staffing my third Birthright-Taglit trip for participants ages 22-26. My 3 groups were typical US Jews from throughout the States. For the most part they were secular, unaffiliated and disconnected from Judaism. The typical Millennial Jew. My job was to teach, inspire and engage this problematic demographic.

This summer found me, once again, sitting in a bus for ten days with 44 participants, thirty-seven American and seven Israeli soldiers and students. Here I was with a front-row seat to this very demographic that we worry about. And once again, I taught, sang, schmoozed, laughed, cried, shvitzed and relived the “birthright experience”. It was like summer camp except that we have all aged a bit.

My reflections and thoughts have been clamoring in my brain since.

I have come to the realization that while the lack of Jewish education, knowledge, affiliation, interest etc. are all real and important factors in the Millennial disconnect, there is an even bigger pink elephant in the room. The lack of personal connection. The lack of non judgmental Jewish love-Ahavat Yisrael. 

In an era of so much connectivity and social media, our young people are craving real, personal and meaningful spiritual guidance. And that is on us, the rabbis and Jewish leadership.

As I connected with all the wonderful people on my trip, an amazing thing happened, they were open to study, pray, ask questions, observe rituals, experience Judaism, and really start to grow spiritually. Yes, it may only be ten days in Israel. Yes, we must find a way to continue the inspiration. But it’s possible and it’s all about communication. 

As a token of thanks, the participants presented me and my wife with a small notebook at the end of the trip. The messages and notes all had the same recurring theme. They were so grateful for the opportunity to reconnect to Judaism and the Jewish people, and they were so appreciative that someone actually took the time and communicated with them.

Just like with Moses in our Torah portion, real communication and personal connection is the recipe for communal growth and healing. We can not afford this lack of communication with our Millennial. They are not only an integral part of the Jewish community, but they are our future. 

Just as in Biblical times, the path to the promised land comes through genuine communication.

Shabbat Shalom

Are You a Mordechai? It's All About Jewish Education

Are You a Mordechai? It's All About Jewish Education The following edited remarks were delivered at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life & Learning's 33 Annual L'Chaim Gala celebration, Sunday March 18, 2018. My wife Malkie and I were honored to receive the 2018 Dor L'Dor Award, marking our 20th anniversary since arriving in San Antonio, Texas.

Good evening and thank you! We are very touched and honored by this recognition here tonight. Rabbi Chaim & Rivkie Block , although you are not exactly the gambling type, I am most grateful that you did take a gamble on us- a young couple, still fresh out of the Yeshivah and newly married. It has been an incredible ride, and we are so proud to be your partners in our Shlichus. Your encouragement, guidance, support and vision has really been a blessing. Thank you!

Thank you to all our friends, family and extended family who have been there for us all these years. Thank you for welcoming us, and giving us this opportunity of a lifetime-to teach Torah. While we came to Texas to teach and inspire, we have received so much more in return. We have become inspired and uplifted.

A number of years ago, when discussing what I do for a living, a friend jokingly quipped “you should get a kippah with a different emblem on each panel of the Kippah. Put Chabad on one panel, TASA on the second panel, Kosher supervision on the third etc.” That pretty much sums up our lives, always juggling many things, at once...

With further introspection about my friend’s statement,  I believe the appropriate emblem on the Kippah should be “Mechanech-Jewish educator”. I say this because, everything we have done and strived for in the last twenty years has been about Jewish education. Whether be it youth programming, prison or hospital chaplaincy, or teaching daily in a Jewish day school----the focus and goal has always been the same- to educate and teach our fellow Jews about the beauty and relevance of Yiddishkeit.

To quote the former Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Saacks “The fate of the Jews in the diaspora was, is and predictably will be, determined by their commitment to Jewish education.”

In the Purim story, we all know how Haman and King Achshverosh plotted to annihilate the Jews. The Talmud in Tractate Meggilah 16a records, that when Mordechai heard about the terrible decree, he gathered 22,000 Jewish children and began to teach them Torah publicly. We are told in the same Gemara, that the merit of this Torah study, saved the Jewish people from calamity.

On Purim 1972, in one of his public Farbrengens, the Lubavitcher Rebbe of blessed memory asked a poignant question, “Mordechai was a minister of the king! He was a chief rabbi and Rosh Av Beis Din, the leader of the Jewish people! not a school teacher! Why was it Mordechai who was gathering children to teach them Torah instead of other rabbis or teachers? The Rebbe answered, that Mordechai correctly understood, that in a time of crisis, in a time of duress, whoever is able must take the initiative and preserve the next generation of Jews. “As long as there is a Jewish child who has no Torah teacher, you have no choice – sit down and teach the child yourself!

Today in our own era, we also must take a bold Jewish approach. Every poll and research paper on Jewish life, points to the very same facts. We must do everything in our power and beyond, to educate our children, teenagers and our families, to be proud, happy and engaged Jews.

We must all step up, and be the Mordechais of our time.

Malkie and I have been fortunate to play a small part in this revolution. Join us! Let us join hands together, as one community, and recommit ourselves to insure a bright Jewish future for our children and grandchildren.

Let us all pledge-together to make absolutely sure, that
- NO JEWISH CHILD IS LEFT BEHIND,
- THAT NO JEWISH FAMILY IS LEFT BEHIND
- THAT THE HOMELAND OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, ERETZ YISRAEL and its eternal capitol Yerushalayim is never left behind.  

May we see the fruits of our labor, speedily in our day with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Amen.

Thank you!