Orthodox Outreach

Festive dancing as part of a community celebration of Israel at Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation.

Festive dancing as part of a community celebration of Israel at Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation.

by Merri Rosenberg
Special To The Jewish Week

Evan Jerome isn’t necessarily looking for new members when he runs events like a Sukkot barbecue or kosher wine tasting at the Young Israel of New Rochelle for the general Jewish community.
“Our philosophy is to give individuals an experience, whether it’s a lecture, someone’s home for Shabbat or a Sukkot party,” said Jerome, who is coordinator of the marketing program for the Westchester Jewish Connection, a nonprofit outreach program of the Young Israel of New Rochelle. “Our approach isn’t to make people shomer Shabbos or more observant, but to reach out to the larger community, and give the message to our synagogue that we’re welcoming.”
And that’s a message that several other Orthodox synagogues in Westchester have been eagerly promoting as well.
“We want to be an open, nonjudgmental, tolerant setting for all Jews to be comfortable,” said Rabbi Aaron Goldscheider of Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation. “We offer a more centrist Orthodoxy, trying to open its doors to all Jews. The challenge is bringing people closer to Judaism.”
While the Chabad movement has expanded significantly in Westchester in recent years, and local Conservative and Reform congregations have developed outreach programming to entice non-members to participate in synagogue activities, it’s taken a bit longer for Orthodox synagogues to develop their own efforts in this area.
Thanks to “Reaching Out, Changing Lives,” a recent initiative from the Orthodox Union that has provided grant money — Young Israel of New Rochelle was a recipient the first year and now funds the programs on its own — these congregations have been able to expand their programming for the unaffiliated or disaffected. A significant benefit, said the local rabbis, was being able to partner with other organizations, such as Sukkot Across America or Aish Ha Torah.
“The grant through the OU in the fall helped us engage more, with greater ease in outreach,” said Rabbi Chaim Marder of the Hebrew Institute of White Plains. Some of the programs have included a Sunday morning parenting workshop, as well as an exploratory Shabbat service and a monthly series focusing on introduction to Judaism.
During Chanukah, the rabbi and some of the shul’s children went to different apartment houses in White Plains and nearby Hartsdale to light a menorah and sing songs.
About 9 percent of the county’s Jews identity as Orthodox, according to a 2002 survey by the UJA-Federation of New York; in Westchester, about half of the Jewish population affiliates with a synagogue.
“Many moved here with the idea of stepping away from the traditional Jewish community,” said Rabbi Goldscheider about the northern Westchester suburbs where his synagogue is located. “The question is how to bring people back?”
Finding those connections can come through education, such as the recent lecture series at Young Israel of New Rochelle about basic Judaism, taught by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald, on such topics as belief in God and prayer, the Sabbath and Jewish sexuality. Other means include new technology, like Facebook and e-mail, along with old-fashioned telephone calls and personal invitations and social events, like barbecues.
For example, Young Israel of New Rochelle and the Hebrew Institute of White Plains offer a Shabbat learning/beginners’ service (the next one at both congregations will be May 9). “There are people in the community who are baal teshuvah, so it’s inreach and outreach,” said Richard Wolf, a member of the outreach group at Young Israel of New Rochelle. “The rabbi [Reuven Fink] feels very strongly about this.”
For one woman, who belongs to a non-Orthodox White Plains synagogue and frequently attends programs at Young Israel of New Rochelle, that synagogue addresses a need that otherwise would go unmet.
“I like knowing how different congregations study,” she said, declining to provide her name because of her current synagogue membership. “I’ll never really be frum. Their synagogue is awesome in reaching out to people who don’t know as much. There’s always so much to learn.”n
For more information about upcoming programs, contact: Young Israel of New Rochelle, (914) 636-2215: www.yinr.org; Mount Kisco Hebrew Congregation, (914) 242-7460: www.mkhc.org; Westchester Jewish Connection:www.wjconnection.com; Hebrew Institute of White Plains, (914) 948-3095: www.hiwp.org.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization