Orthodox Judaism outreach
Encyclopedia
Orthodox Jewish outreach commonly referred to as Kiruv or Keruv , is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism
that reaches out to non-Orthodox Jews to believe in God
, engage in Torah study
, and practice the Mitzvot
in the hope that they will live according to Orthodox Jewish law
. The process and act/s of any Jew becoming more observant of Judaism is called teshuva ("return" in Hebrew) making the "returnee" a baal teshuva
("master of return"). Orthodox Jewish outreach has always reacted to and worked to foster and enhance the rise of a modern-day baal teshuva movement
.
Orthodox outreach workers and professionals include activists, rabbis, lay leaders and all kinds of organizations advancing this initiative of "Jewish outreach" mainly based on Orthodox Jewish education
some call them "kiruv professionals" or "kiruv workers" as well as "kiruv volunteers."
, and then his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
were responsible for turning Chabad's strength and activities toward outreach. Each in turn sent out large numbers of rabbinic emissaries, known as "Shluchim
", and their wives to settle in places across the world solely for the purpose of teaching those who did not receive a Jewish education or to inspire those who did. The vehicle chosen for this was termed a "Chabad house
."
Chabad
has been active in reaching out to Jews through its synagogues, and more direct outreach efforts, such as its Mitzvah tank
s. The organization has been recognized as one of the leaders in using free holiday services to reach out across denominations.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, had a core of dedicated Hasidim who maintained underground yeshivos and mikvaos, and provided shechitah and circumcision services. They served as the rabbis who jump-started the teshuvah movement and had these services in place so that the new baalei teshuva had whom to turn to for their religious questions and needs.
Chabad, with its thousands of Chabad houses throughout Israel and the world, and yeshiva programs for Israelis, Russians, French, and Americans, reach out to thousands. Followers of Chabad can be seen attending to tefillin booths at the Western Wall
and Ben Gurion International Airport
as well as other public places, and distribute shabbat
candles on Fridays. There are also Chabad houses in almost every location that Jews might be located, whether as permanent residents, on business, or tourists.
Chabad rabbis and their families were sent to teach college students, to build day schools, and to create youth camps. Most of these were geared towards their secular or less religious brethren. Additionally, unmarried rabbinical students spend weeks during the summer in locations that do not yet have a permanent Chabad presence, making housecalls, putting up mezuzot, teaching Judaism, and simply reminding people that they are Jewish.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
initiated the first Yeshiva
for baalei teshuva
(returnees to Torah observance), Hadar Hatorah
, and a parallel seminary for female returnees (baalos teshuva), Machon Chana
. He also initiated the first Jewish children's movement, Tzivos Hashem
(lit. "Army [of] God"), for under bar/bat mitzvah
-age children, to inspire them to increase in study of Torah
and observance of mitzvot
. Rabbi Schneerson also encouraged the use of modern technology in outreach efforts such as Mitzva tanks, which are mobile homes that travel a city or country. The Chabad website, Chabad.org
, a pioneer of Torah, Judaism outreach on the Internet
, was started by Rabbi Yosef Y. Kazen and developed by Rabbi D. Zirkind.
In addition, nearly 7000 people a year visit Chabad's Ascent of Safed
, which is a combination recreation center, Jewish youth hostel, and religious retreat that exposes Jews to Judaism, particularly the mystical aspect of it.
In June 1994 Rabbi Schneerson died leaving no successor. Since then more than a thousand couples have gone out to do outreach work, bringing the total of "shluchim" to four thousand worldwide.
Aish HaTorah has had notable success. Besides its main Jerusalem campus, where it has accorded rabbinic ordination
to 200 students, it has 27 educational branches on five continents, staffed by student-graduates. More than 100,000 people attend its seminars, singles events, executive learning groups, Shabbat and holiday programs, and beginner-style synagogue services each year. The Aish HaTorah website, which receives over 2 million hits per month, features articles, videos and audio segments on spirituality, parenting, dating, weekly Torah portion
, Holocaust
studies, an "Ask the Rabbi
" service, and political articles.
Ohr Somayach has also played a major role in the baal teshuva movement through its education of generations of students. Besides its main campus in Jerusalem, the yeshiva has 10 branches overseas, based in Canada, England, United States, South Africa and Australia. The yeshiva's rabbinical training course, Ohr Lagolah, graduates rabbis to lead communities in the Diaspora
. Ohr Somayach also maintains a website featuring articles and online digital classes for free download, covering a full range of topics in Torah study and Jewish philosophy and practice.
, the Union of Orthodox Congregations created the National Conference of Synagogue Youth
(NCSY) to reach Jewish teenagers in public schools. Founded by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper
, himself a noted charismatic speaker and writer, the movement also developed its in-house literature geared to the newly observant mainly written by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
. In addition, many Modern Orthodox professors have developed and used a sophisticated modern terminology to present Judaism in a scientific manner. Their books on Jewish sciences are the most readily accessible.
In 1987, an organization called National Jewish Outreach Program
(NJOP) was founded. Headed by a leading outreach rabbi, Ephraim Buchwald
, in the first fifteen years of its existence it had managed to create, co-ordinate and guide thousands of volunteer teachers and tens of thousands of Jewish adults. They participated in programs advertised via the mass media and taught at Reform, Conservative and Orthodox synagogues, as well as Jewish non-religious organizations, such as Jewish Community Centers.
Using mass marketing techniques, NJOP have won the support of major Jewish philanthropists, and an ever widening audience by advertising via the media for the Crash Course in Hebrew Reading, Crash Course in Judaism and other programs.
Finally, outreach professional have been convening national conventions to bring together the professional outreach workers with leading Orthodox rabbis. The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (later renamed The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs
) (AJOP) was founded in 1988 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.
); weekly activities; street stands throughout Israel on Fridays; a year-round Outreach Training School; two 24/7 "Bayit Yehudi" Outreach Centers of Jewish Activity; a yeshiva for Ba'alei Teshuva; and a weekly magazine with an estimated circulation of 70,000.
Esther Jungreis
, the founder of the international Hineni
movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism. She has written popular books and made tapes. Another notable pioneer of women's Orthodox outreach education is Rebbetzin Leah Kohn founder of the Jewish Renaissance Center (JRC) in New York. Rabbi Lawrence Keleman - a teacher at Neve Yerushalayim has been teaching classes and written books aimed at the Baal Teshuvah population. His Essays "Permission to Believe” and “Permission to Receive” provide information on the case for believing in God and believing the Torah was give to Moses at Mount Sinai respectively.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
that reaches out to non-Orthodox Jews to believe in God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
, engage in Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
, and practice the Mitzvot
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
in the hope that they will live according to Orthodox Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
. The process and act/s of any Jew becoming more observant of Judaism is called teshuva ("return" in Hebrew) making the "returnee" a baal teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
("master of return"). Orthodox Jewish outreach has always reacted to and worked to foster and enhance the rise of a modern-day baal teshuva movement
Baal teshuva movement
The Baal Teshuva movement is description of the return of secular Jews to religious Judaism. The term "baal teshuva" is a term from the Talmud literally meaning "master of repentance". The term is used to refer to a worldwide phenomenon among the Jewish people...
.
History
Orthodox Jewish outreach in the modern world is often directly associated with, and may function as a trigger, partner and response to, the modern baal teshuva movement.Orthodox outreach workers and professionals include activists, rabbis, lay leaders and all kinds of organizations advancing this initiative of "Jewish outreach" mainly based on Orthodox Jewish education
Jewish education
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Due to its emphasis on Torah study, many have commented that Judaism is characterised by "lifelong learning" that extends to adults as much as it does to children.-History:The tradition of Jewish...
some call them "kiruv professionals" or "kiruv workers" as well as "kiruv volunteers."
Chabad
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, 6th leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic JudaismHasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
, and then his successor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
were responsible for turning Chabad's strength and activities toward outreach. Each in turn sent out large numbers of rabbinic emissaries, known as "Shluchim
Shaliach (Chabad)
A Chabad shliach is a Chabad member sent out to promulgate Judaism and Chasidut around the world.Chabad shluchim as of 2010 number about 4,500 worldwide, and can be found in many of even the most remote worldly locales.-Origins:...
", and their wives to settle in places across the world solely for the purpose of teaching those who did not receive a Jewish education or to inspire those who did. The vehicle chosen for this was termed a "Chabad house
Chabad house
A Chabad house is a centre for disseminating Orthodox Judaism by the Chabad movement. Chabad Houses are run by the local Shaliach , who was sent to that place by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who founded all Chabad Houses...
."
Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
has been active in reaching out to Jews through its synagogues, and more direct outreach efforts, such as its Mitzvah tank
Mitzvah tank
A Mitzvah tank is a vehicle used by the Orthodox Jewish practitioners of Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidism as a portable "educational and outreach center" and "mini-synagogue" to reach out to non-observant and alienated Jews. Mitzvah tanks have been commonplace on the streets of New York City since 1974...
s. The organization has been recognized as one of the leaders in using free holiday services to reach out across denominations.
Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, had a core of dedicated Hasidim who maintained underground yeshivos and mikvaos, and provided shechitah and circumcision services. They served as the rabbis who jump-started the teshuvah movement and had these services in place so that the new baalei teshuva had whom to turn to for their religious questions and needs.
Chabad, with its thousands of Chabad houses throughout Israel and the world, and yeshiva programs for Israelis, Russians, French, and Americans, reach out to thousands. Followers of Chabad can be seen attending to tefillin booths at the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
and Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
as well as other public places, and distribute shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
candles on Fridays. There are also Chabad houses in almost every location that Jews might be located, whether as permanent residents, on business, or tourists.
Chabad rabbis and their families were sent to teach college students, to build day schools, and to create youth camps. Most of these were geared towards their secular or less religious brethren. Additionally, unmarried rabbinical students spend weeks during the summer in locations that do not yet have a permanent Chabad presence, making housecalls, putting up mezuzot, teaching Judaism, and simply reminding people that they are Jewish.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
initiated the first Yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
for baalei teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
(returnees to Torah observance), Hadar Hatorah
Hadar Hatorah
Yeshiva Hadar Hatorah is a Chabad men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. It is the world's first yeshiva for baali teshuva.-History:The yeshiva was founded in 1962 by Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson, a Chabad activist, to accommodate baalei teshuva interested in full-time study in a traditional yeshiva...
, and a parallel seminary for female returnees (baalos teshuva), Machon Chana
Machon Chana
Machon Chana is a private religious college for Jewish women affiliated with the Chabad Hasidic movement and geared toward Baalot Teshuva – women from non-orthodox backgrounds seeking religion...
. He also initiated the first Jewish children's movement, Tzivos Hashem
Tzivos Hashem
Tzivos Hashem, is a Brooklyn, New York based organization that was founded in 1980 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe as a youth group to serve both the physical and spiritual needs of Jewish children.-Participants:...
(lit. "Army [of] God"), for under bar/bat mitzvah
B'nai Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah are Jewish coming of age rituals. According to Jewish law, when Jewish boys reach 13, they become responsible for their actions and become a Bar Mitzvah . The age for girls is 12...
-age children, to inspire them to increase in study of Torah
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
and observance of mitzvot
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
. Rabbi Schneerson also encouraged the use of modern technology in outreach efforts such as Mitzva tanks, which are mobile homes that travel a city or country. The Chabad website, Chabad.org
Chabad.org
Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. It serves not just its own members but Jews worldwide in general. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites and the first and largest virtual congregation.-History:...
, a pioneer of Torah, Judaism outreach on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, was started by Rabbi Yosef Y. Kazen and developed by Rabbi D. Zirkind.
In addition, nearly 7000 people a year visit Chabad's Ascent of Safed
Safed
Safed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, which is a combination recreation center, Jewish youth hostel, and religious retreat that exposes Jews to Judaism, particularly the mystical aspect of it.
In June 1994 Rabbi Schneerson died leaving no successor. Since then more than a thousand couples have gone out to do outreach work, bringing the total of "shluchim" to four thousand worldwide.
Non-Hasidic Haredi yeshivos
The late 1960s and early 1970s saw the founding of the non-Hasidic, Haredi institutions that eventually became the Aish HaTorah, Ohr Somayach, and Machon Shlomo yeshivas.Aish HaTorah has had notable success. Besides its main Jerusalem campus, where it has accorded rabbinic ordination
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
to 200 students, it has 27 educational branches on five continents, staffed by student-graduates. More than 100,000 people attend its seminars, singles events, executive learning groups, Shabbat and holiday programs, and beginner-style synagogue services each year. The Aish HaTorah website, which receives over 2 million hits per month, features articles, videos and audio segments on spirituality, parenting, dating, weekly Torah portion
Parsha
This article is about the divisions of the Torah into weekly readings. For this week's Torah portion, see Torah portionThe weekly Torah portion |Sidra]]) is a section of the Torah read in Jewish services...
, Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
studies, an "Ask the Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
" service, and political articles.
Ohr Somayach has also played a major role in the baal teshuva movement through its education of generations of students. Besides its main campus in Jerusalem, the yeshiva has 10 branches overseas, based in Canada, England, United States, South Africa and Australia. The yeshiva's rabbinical training course, Ohr Lagolah, graduates rabbis to lead communities in the Diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
. Ohr Somayach also maintains a website featuring articles and online digital classes for free download, covering a full range of topics in Torah study and Jewish philosophy and practice.
Modern practice
Within Modern Orthodox JudaismModern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
, the Union of Orthodox Congregations created the National Conference of Synagogue Youth
National Conference of Synagogue Youth
NCSY is an Orthodox Jewish youth group sponsored by the Orthodox Union. Founded in 1954, it has members in the United States, Canada, Israel, Chile, and formerly also in Ukraine. Its slogan is Inspiring the Jewish Future...
(NCSY) to reach Jewish teenagers in public schools. Founded by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas A. Stolper is an Orthodox rabbi, writer, and has been a spokesman for Orthodoxy through his writings and books popularizing Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
, himself a noted charismatic speaker and writer, the movement also developed its in-house literature geared to the newly observant mainly written by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan was a noted American Orthodox rabbi and author known for his "intimate knowledge of both physics and kabbalah." He was lauded as an original thinker and prolific writer, from studies of the Torah, Talmud and mysticism to introductory pamphlets on Jewish beliefs and...
. In addition, many Modern Orthodox professors have developed and used a sophisticated modern terminology to present Judaism in a scientific manner. Their books on Jewish sciences are the most readily accessible.
In 1987, an organization called National Jewish Outreach Program
National Jewish Outreach Program
The National Jewish Outreach Program was established by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald in 1987, in response to the urgent need to address the critical issue of the spiraling losses of Jews from Jewish life due to assimilation and lack of Jewish knowledge...
(NJOP) was founded. Headed by a leading outreach rabbi, Ephraim Buchwald
Ephraim Buchwald
Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald is one of the leaders in the movement of Jewish return in America today.Ordained at Yeshiva University, where he was a student of Rabbi Dr. Joseph B...
, in the first fifteen years of its existence it had managed to create, co-ordinate and guide thousands of volunteer teachers and tens of thousands of Jewish adults. They participated in programs advertised via the mass media and taught at Reform, Conservative and Orthodox synagogues, as well as Jewish non-religious organizations, such as Jewish Community Centers.
Using mass marketing techniques, NJOP have won the support of major Jewish philanthropists, and an ever widening audience by advertising via the media for the Crash Course in Hebrew Reading, Crash Course in Judaism and other programs.
Finally, outreach professional have been convening national conventions to bring together the professional outreach workers with leading Orthodox rabbis. The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (later renamed The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs
Association for Jewish Outreach Programs
The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs also known by its abbreviation AJOP The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs also known by its abbreviation AJOP The Association for Jewish Outreach Programs also known by its abbreviation AJOP (originally officially called the Association for Jewish...
) (AJOP) was founded in 1988 and is based in Baltimore, Maryland.
Association for Jewish Outreach Programs
The Association for Jewish Outreach Professionals (AJOP) was established in 1987 to unite and enhance the work of outreach rabbis and their wives. AJOP is led by prominent rosh yeshivas and is not affiliated with Chabad.Jewish Enrichment Center
The Jewish Enrichment Center (JEC) located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village works to develop a downtown Jewish community in New York. As the official alumni center for the Birthright Israel Alumni of the New York Metro area, the center services young Jewish New Yorkers. The center is run by Matt Mindell.Manhattan Jewish Experience
The Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE) is a program for young Jewish professionals in New York City with little or no background in Judaism which provides Jewish content in a social context. This program was started in 1998 by Rabbi Mark Wildes. MJE has locations in Murray Hill, the Upper West Side, and the Upper East Side.Boca Raton Jewish Experience
The Boca Raton Jewish Experience (BRJE) is an aggregator of nationally-developed educational programs servicing Palm Beach County. BRJE has classes for people of all ages and interests including those with little or no Jewish background. The program was developed by Rabbi Josh Broide with the support of Rabbi Efrem Goldberg of the Boca Raton Synagogue. Goldberg and Broide also collaborated on two outreach projects called Jewish Pride Films and Jewish Pride Radio.The Ma'aynei Hayeshua Kiruv Movement
The Ma'aynei Hayeshua Kiruv Movement is a Religious Zionist outreach movement in Israel founded by Avichay Buaron and Religious Zionist rabbis in 2000. The organization's main activity is utilizing "street-kiruv" methods in order to build participants, making Orthodox Judaism accessibile to the secular Israeli. Activities include: production and distribution of literature and music; matching learning partners (chavrutaChavruta
Chavruta, also spelled chavrusa , is a traditional Rabbinic approach to Talmudic study in which a pair of students independently learn, discuss, and debate a shared text. It is a primary learning method in yeshivas and kollels, where students often engage regular study partners of similar knowledge...
); weekly activities; street stands throughout Israel on Fridays; a year-round Outreach Training School; two 24/7 "Bayit Yehudi" Outreach Centers of Jewish Activity; a yeshiva for Ba'alei Teshuva; and a weekly magazine with an estimated circulation of 70,000.
United States
One of the earliest pioneers of outreach to men and women is RebbetzinRebbetzin
Rebbitzin or Rabbanit is the title used for the wife of a rabbi, typically from the Orthodox, or Haredi, and Hasidic Jewish groups...
Esther Jungreis
Esther Jungreis
Esther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
, the founder of the international Hineni
Hineni
Hineni was, as a result of a speech given at the Madison Square Garden by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis on November 18, 1973, "one of the first Ba'al Teshuva movements...
movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism. She has written popular books and made tapes. Another notable pioneer of women's Orthodox outreach education is Rebbetzin Leah Kohn founder of the Jewish Renaissance Center (JRC) in New York. Rabbi Lawrence Keleman - a teacher at Neve Yerushalayim has been teaching classes and written books aimed at the Baal Teshuvah population. His Essays "Permission to Believe” and “Permission to Receive” provide information on the case for believing in God and believing the Torah was give to Moses at Mount Sinai respectively.
Israel
- Neve YerushalayimNeve YerushalayimNeve Yerushalayim is a network of Orthodox Jewish colleges for Jewish women, with a based in Har Nof, Jerusalem.Founded in 1970 by Rabbi Dovid Refson as an institution for young college-age female Baal teshuvas , Neve Yerushalayim has since broadened its mandate to offer Jewish studies programs...
, founded in 1970 in Jerusalem, is an Orthodox school for secular Jewish women seeking a college-level introductory program. Its founder and guiding dean is Rabbi Dr. Dovid Refson. Mrs. Tzipporah Heller is an extremely popular teacher who has inspired thousands of women.
- EYAHTEYAHTEYAHT , is a full-time college for advanced Jewish learning for women in Jerusalem, Israel.Geared to unaffiliated, college-educated and professional women aged 22-30 from English-speaking countries, EYAHT introduces women to the basics of Torah Judaism and encourages them to integrate Torah values...
College of Jewish Studies for Women, a subsidiary of Aish HaTorahAish HaTorahAish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
, was founded in Jerusalem in 1982 by Rebbetzin Denah WeinbergDenah WeinbergDenah Weinberg is an Orthodox Jewish Rebbetzin and founder and dean of EYAHT College of Jewish Studies for Women in Jerusalem. EYAHT has over 2,000 alumnae...
, wife of Aish HaTorah founder and rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Noah WeinbergNoah WeinbergRabbi Yisrael Noach Weinberg was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and a father of today's baal teshuva movement with his establishment of a global network of educational and kiruv programs for unaffiliated Jewish men and women...
. It offers full-day classes for beginners through advanced, and has graduated hundreds of students. Aish HaTorah also operates "Jewel", a 3½-week introductory program for young women; "Gem", a 10-day program of learning and touring for women over 30; and the Executive Learning Center, a short-term, customized learning program for men and women.
- Machon ChanaMachon ChanaMachon Chana is a private religious college for Jewish women affiliated with the Chabad Hasidic movement and geared toward Baalot Teshuva – women from non-orthodox backgrounds seeking religion...
of Crown HeightsCrown Heights, BrooklynCrown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west.Originally, the area was known as Crow Hill....
(founded 1972), Bais Chana Women InternationalBais Chana Women InternationalBais Chana Women International is a Chabad non-profit organization that works to provide a non-judgmental, supportive environment for Jewish girls and women, ages 15 and up and from all backgrounds, to explore Jewish teachings and traditions....
(formerly of Minnesota), Machon Alte of SafedSafedSafed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
, and Mayanot seminary for woman in Jerusalem, are LubavitchChabadChabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
women's yeshivos which have taught thousands of Jewish women who are beginners in their knowledge of Judaism.