The point of the ad was to spur all Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, to get active, lobby Congress and so on. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/filmmore/transcript/transcript1.html.

I wonder what Kook would have thought of the Save Darfur campaign.

Many objected to the ad in that it seemed that if you clipped the coupon and mailed in a check, you could buy a Jew freedom. Kook was not the one behind the plan; he wanted people to know about it so that pressure could be brought on the American Government to act.

It was not Eichmann who made the offer. It was Romanian pro-Nazi collaborators trying to hedge their bets now that it seemed Germany was losing. That was also Kook’s point. It was a “Race Against Death” in that the non-German collaborators might be scared into stopping their colloboration.

Finally, though Stephen Wise did a lot of things that stopped good efforts at saving Jews, it was Breckinridge Long, a serious anti-Semite in the State Department who killed it:
” Various other initiatives to save Europe’s Jews met with obstruction from Long. For example, in April 1943, Gerhart Riegner, the World Jewish Congress representative in Geneva, suggested a plan to save thousands of French and Rumanian Jews. Even after the proposal had the support of the president, Long and his subordinates delayed acting on it for eight months.” from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX90.html

Wyman’s books are must-reads.

Comment by sam

There were Day Schools before Rav Mendelowitz and Dr. Kaminetsky-not to take away from the efforts and success that they did to expand them-but for starters there were at an early stage-MTA AKA Yeshiva University HS around 1916, The Talmudical Academy in Baltimore around 1919 and others

As a Chabad Shliach, I’d like to comment.

1) I wasn’t invited, and AJOP has my Address and Fax, I constantly get their info on Shabbat accross America, and Hebrew Classes (BTW, I understand quite a few Chabad houses participate.

2) Judging from many responses on this forum, I’m not sure I and my fellow colleagues would be welcome in any case.

In the distant past, starting with the Baal Shem Tov ZY”A, early Chassidism was primarily focused on kiruv. (This is one example)

The most one can say for moderns—and this still deserves a lot of credit!—is that they revived or reinvigorated kiruv after an extended lull.

For what it is worth, Chabad Shluchim gather for a 5-day international convention in NYC each year in the fall. About 2,000 to 2,500 Shluchim attend–and that is just the men! A similar event, though perhaps a shade smaller, is held in the winter for the Shluchos.

Cross-Currents visitors might find it informative to visit http://www.kinus.com, or click http://www.kinus.com/media/pdf/103/rHYu1035748.pdf to download the schedule (warning, big file).

I gave the credit to NCSY because it is a single organization, and I look at the Chabad effort as that of hundreds of different and independent organizations, united by their affiliation to a particular brand of chassidus.

In what area is NCSY more of a single organization than Chabad? Much of the funding for the lcoal NCSY chapters is local, which is similar to Chabad-Lubavitch. I would think that Chabad Shluchim are united by far more than a “brand” of Chassidus. They are bound together by central bodies, such as the Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch in New York, by regional bodies of local head-Shluchim, and by a shared partnership in reaching out to Klal Yisroel.

What do we have, one more generation, maybe two more, before there are no more non-Orthodox Jews to be mekarev? They are slipping away and disappearing before our eyes, ten or twenty or more for every one we succeed in bringing back.

Already, kiruv today requires conversions of non-Jewish spouses and kids in many cases, as well as delicate handling of non-Jewish brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and nieces and nephews. For how much longer will kiruv even be possible when Jews disapear into the general population entirely?

While I am sure there are some bad experiences (I’d be surprised if there weren’t any, given the vagaries of human nature), my impression is that they are in the considerable minority.

That’s a good point. Parents of both BT’S and FFB’s need to be able to transmit Yiddishkeit in a meaningful way. Even if the internet takanos are put into place in many cities throughout America as far as home usage, one needs to inoculate, as opposed to completely insulate one’s self and family from values and views antithetical towards Judaism.

At first glance, I would say that the broader blogosphere is a fertile ground for Kiruv Kerovim. There is much that can be accomplished by someone who knows what they are doing, and there should therefore be plenty of “kiruv-kerovim professionals” on hand on the free-wheeling blogs. On the other hand, one may say that the way to win and influence people is not through debate, but rather by getting people to experience Judaism. Furthermore, the self-perpetuating nature of blogs at large may not lend itself towards any type of spiritual end-goal.

I certainly didn’t mean to slight Lubavitch’s record or example in the world of kiruv – especially after bemoaning the fact that they have chosen to absent themselves from the convention. I gave the credit to NCSY because it is a single organization, and I look at the Chabad effort as that of hundreds of different and independent organizations, united by their affiliation to a particular brand of chassidus.

Apologies to anyone who thought I was ‘dissing them or their friends. (I will probably continue to use the line, however, since most find it funny. Sort of like the mother-in-law jokes I use, most of which are happily provided by my dear mother-in-law.)

(And I think it goes without saying that ALL communities have faults.)

That’s a lot of Jews to ask mechilah from…

Truth is, there is common cause — size. When the group gets large enough that sharing a smile with each becomes a constant interruption, fewer and fewer people do it. It’s not that NYers are rude, it’s that they live in a more dense area. Saying good Shabbos to every Jew you pass on Ave M, 13th Ave or Main Street is a constant affair. Not like passing another Jew during your Shabbos stroll down Jackson Street, Oshkosh WI.

Similarly, a side effect of kiruv’s growth is the impossibility of investing time to bond with everyone. And therefore less effort is spent trying.

In short, it’s a difference in situation, not person.

-mi

-mi

Is it at all possible that what caused this at the convention is the same thing that probably causes it in NY (and other large communities): given the sheer volume of people, if you stopped to speak with every person, you would literally have no time to get anything else done? And if it is indeed possible that this is the case: why the pejorative against New York’s Orthodox Jews?

2—- i fear monochromacity means this is going forward to be a pure haredi endeavor producing like-hashkafic products. given the state of, let’s say it hate and derision amongst segments of O jewry, i think the funding will increasingly have to come from only haredi sources— since the outcome of kiruv will lead to more anti-Modern scorn….

I am certainly not an expert on which organizations are the most successful but it makes me happy, if the above statement is true. (And this has nothing to do with the fact that my son in law, Rabbi Micah Greenland, is the very successful regional director of the Midwest Mesorah Region of NCSY )

I am a big fan of NCSY. They are all about Emes and not at all about specific Hashkafa. I’ve said this many times. They are interested in making young public high school students observant. And they don’t care if you choose a Charedi path of a modern Orthodox one. NCSY “graduates” from the Midwest have been mainstreamed into all the Orthodox streams. Some are in Telshe, some in HTC, some in Ida Crown (mixed gender), some in W.I.T.S. (Chafetz Chaim). Many go to Israel after high school and grow there. What NCSY does is to try and find the niche one would best fit into and encourage that, rather than trying to fit everyone into a single mold, the way Lubavitch for example does.

But is NCSY really the most successful? I believe that when it comes to sheer numbers, it would be Lubavitch, wouldn’t it?