ëThere are two words I love ó Shabbat, and shalom. Can I hear you say them together?î Jonathan Brody lifts his arms, clad in a pink dress shirt, and rallies the room of 100 young Jews to answer.ìShabbat shalom!î they call in response. It is Friday night, and most of the men and women gathered around the Shabbat dinner table are dressed in clothes that would look at home in a swanky restaurant or bar. They are coiffed, stylish and ready to pray.Welcome to the Manhattan Jewish Experience.The outreach organization, which began eight years ago as the brainchild of Rabbi Mark Wildes on Manhattanís Upper West Side, seeks to bring Jewish education and meaning to young professionals who may not have grown up with strong
Jewish identities but who find themselves craving a religious connection in their 20s and 30s.Rabbi Wildes is pulling a crowd these days. He claims a mailing list of 6,000, has a stable of six rabbis and has added an Upper East Side branch. And in an attempt to go where the young, just-out-of-college Jews are, MJE just moved downtown, launching a Murray Hill franchise. The groupís growth opens a window on the competitive and, most agree, crucial world of Jewish outreach, where the battle for Jewish souls swings between MJE and other outreach groups such as Aish HaTorah, Hineni and Chabad as well as a pop culture phenomenon like Kabbalah, which attracts many Jews searching for purpose and meaning in their lives.ìWe only use 10 percent our of brain capacity as human beings. If we could utilize more weíd be so much farther along and itís the same thing in the Jewish community,î said Rabbi Wildes, a 39-year-old who weaves ancient and modern Jewish practice throughout his stories and appeals to hesitant Jews with a mixture of religious tenets and social opportunity. ìWeíre not accessing so many young, energetic people because theyíre not connected or excited about being Jewish or involved.îMJE offers myriad options every week for young Jews who want to get involved: Monday night lounges bring guest speakers in for discussions; midweek classes in Hebrew, Torah, Holocaust and Israel run at the original branch and the one on the East Side; Fridays are for Shabbat services and dinners that introduce tradition, and on Saturday mornings Rabbi Wildes holds a beginnersí class that attracts 100 to 200 people new ó or newly returning ó to prayer. Annual ski trips and tours to Israel complement MJEí s programming.The thread running through it all is the chance for young Jews to meet and socialize, date and, the organizers hope, eventually marry. Rabbi Wildes said some 55 couples have resulted from MJE activities, and that he has officiated at many weddings.Like many people at MJE, Jonathan Brody did not grow up religious. His Reform family lit Sabbath candles, made kiddush and instilled Jewish values, but he married a non-Jewish woman and left any notion of Jewish practice behind. After his divorce, his mother suggested he get involved in the Jewish community and he became active in MJEís East Side branch, which is run out of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue.ìThe rabbis are young, smart, cool guys,î said Brody, 38, of what attracted him to MJEís events and services, which choreograph membersí prayers through instructions printed in books on when to sit and stand and how many steps to take at certain points. ìI believe what they do is such a beautiful thing. They offer people a way to educate themselves on aspects of Judaism.îBrody became a leader in MJE, taking on Orthodox practices in his own life and eventually marrying a Jewish woman, Beth, who he met through volunteer work at the JCC.ìYouíre treated like youíre walking into a family,î he said of his experiences.At a time when much talk revolves around declining participation in the Jewish community and increasing non-affiliation and intermarriage, MJE hopes to stem this trend and offer something different, something truly appealing, to young Jews.ìThe social experience is a niche that theyíve etched out for themselves and theyíre doing a remarkable job,î said Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, founder and director of the National Jewish Outreach Program, of MJE. ìThere is no such thing as losing in outreach; any step that [formerly unaffiliated] people take is a great step ahead. There is a likelihood that theyíll be touched by positive Jewish experiences. They may decide to give a little Jewish charity, send their kid to Hebrew school or marry a Jew. Itís always a win-win situation.îSteven Bayme, national director of the Contemporary Jewish Life department at the American Jewish Committee, said outreach organizations, especially those with a continuum of events from which to choose, are necessary in todayís dispersed Jewish world. ìWhen you have a phenomenon of mass assimilation, you need a strong counter-message that provides maximal Jewish experiences,î he said.And Bayme agreed that MJEís focus on young people is crucial. ìThe college years are the last frontier and then people tend to hook back into the Jewish community when they have a family. Twenty-two to 32 is a long time for the Jewish experience to be attenuated, and telling people that being a Jew can be exciting and fun is a refreshing message.îëWhole Spectrum Under One RoofíOver the years, MJE has grown from a one-room operation located in The Jewish Center on the Upper West Side to a franchise occupying an entire, renovated floor, along with the East Side location and now, Murray Hill. And a doctor who has been active in MJE events, Marc Arkovitz, donated MJEís first Torah, which was dedicated in a lively ceremony on Nov. 12.Rabbi Gili Houpt, who will be overseeing the downtown branch, said it was important to locate where a lot of younger people were moving right out of college, people not yet established in a community. MJE partnered with Congregation Adereth El, an Orthodox synagogue in Murray Hill, and held the first services and a Shabbat dinner earlier this month. More than anything, say its founders and participants, MJE seeks to meet people where they are.ìIím a realist and I donít believe every young Jew out there is searching to become more and more religious,î said Rabbi Wildes, who grew up in Queens and got involved in outreach as a project while he was in rabbinical school at Yeshiva University. He also pursued a law degree and a masterís in international affairs. ìBut I do believe that a lot of people want to belong to something greater, to belong to a Jewish community.îìSome people view outreach as ëIím trying to change the other person, force them to live a certain way,íî said Rabbi Houpt. ìWhereas this approach is really just trying to share something with the other person, show them the beauty of Judaism. There can be more to life than what theyíve been living.îAlicia Post, 28, a Jewish communal professional, agreed. ìI may wear pants every day, I may take a cab to Shabbat dinner, but ideologically I believe in Modern Orthodox as the way to Judaism,î said Post, who lives in Murray Hill and who was taken with the like-minded people, Rabbi Wildesí charisma and the varied approaches to Judaism she found at MJE.ìThey show you the way,î she continued. ìItís the whole spectrum from very nonobservant to observant but we can find one roof where we can all pray together.îDavid Ressel, who works as a journalist and actor, found himself similarly welcomed into MJE some years ago. Visiting a friend at work one Friday morning, he met some MJE members who mentioned they were leaving soon on a trip to Israel. He told them he had never been. On the spot he was invited to join them, and that Sunday found himself on a plane for his first trip to the Jewish state.Though he did not remain involved with the group long-term, he was impressed with MJEís blend of religious content and laid-back openness. ìThese are erudite rabbis from different backgrounds,î said Ressel. ìThey open up doors to religious Judaism in a modern way.îJane Slotin, the director of Makor, the West Side branch of the 92nd Street Y was employed by MJE in its early days and remains a great admirer of the group and of Rabbi Wildes, who she says beautifully bridges the gap between religious and secular. ìThey really reach people who know theyíre Jewish but havenít reconnected to their Jewishness,î she said.Barbara Janov, executive director of Hineni, an organization that has specialized in outreach for 35 years, agreed that attracting young Jews was important for future Jewish involvement.ìThe basis of Judaism is the Jewish home,î she said, adding that Hineni has programs for people of all ages. ìPeople canít care about their heritage if they have no one to share it with and no way to build a family.îFor Rabbi Wildes, helping people create Jewish families and graduating them out into mainstream Judaism is a major goal of his work. ìA lot of people never become religious and I cannot create a model for every Jew,î he said. ìWe try to give people the tools to learn and grow in their Judaism, but everyone has free will to decide how far they want to take it.îAt the recent Shabbat dinner in the new downtown location, Rabbi Ezra Cohen, another of MJEís enthusiastic young rabbis, runs around the room shouting out each personís name, people he has known for years and people he met five minutes before. As he runs, and people gasp at his feat of memory, many smile knowingly. They have seen this act before, another of MJEís unique approaches to reaching people, one name at a time.Jonathan Brody, who loves the words Shabbat shalom, said he tried other roads into Judaism but that ultimately, MJEís blend of substance, schmoozing and support, was the right potion for him.ìMJE is my niche,î he said. ìI found my home there.î n
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