"In-Reach" Kiruv

BySuzanne Rabinovitch

משנה תורה, מצוות עשה ג׳

(ג) לְאָהֳבוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר: "וְאָהַבְתָּ, אֵת יהוה אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (דברים ו ה, יא א).

Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 3

(3) To love Him. Deut. 6.4.

משנה תורה, מצוות עשה ט׳

(ט) לְקַדַּשׁ שְׁמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר: "וְנִקְדַּשְׁתִּי, בְּתוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" (ויקרא כב, לב).

Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 9

(9) To sanctify His name. Lev. 22.32.

שבועות ל״ט א:כ״ב

וכל עבירות שבתורה מכל העולם לא והכתיב (ויקרא כו, לז) וכשלו איש באחיו איש בעון אחיו מלמד שכל ישראל ערבים זה בזה

Shevuot 39a:22

The Gemara asks: And with regard to all of the other transgressions in the Torah, is punishment not exacted from the entire world? But isn’t it written: “And they shall stumble one upon another” (Leviticus 26:37)? This verse is homiletically interpreted to mean that they shall stumble spiritually, one due to the iniquity of another, which teaches that the entire Jewish people are considered guarantors for one another. Apparently, any transgression makes the entire world liable to be punished.

The 2017 Nishma Research Profile of American Modern Orthodox Jews

Among all Modern Orthodox Jews:

73% assigned a rating of 9 or 10 (Orthodoxy is an extremely important part of their life).
18% assigned a rating of 7 or 8 (Orthodoxy is a somewhat important part of their life).
9% assigned a rating of 6 or less (Orthodoxy is not an important part of their life).

First, there is anecdotal evidence that OTD is higher among the young. I saw a Facebook post asking young Modern Orthodox millennials what percentage of their MO high school classmates are still observant, and the median response was 70%, indicating that 30% are no longer observant (not a scientific finding, but telling nonetheless). Additionally, we found the median age at which Modern Orthodox people go OTD to be 28. Since our survey excluded those under 18, the survey finding may be underreporting the level of detractors due to its exclusion of adolescents.

יומא פ״ה ב

(ויקרא יח, ה) וחי בהם ולא שימות

Yoma 85b

“You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), and not that he should die by them.

שפת אמת בראשית פרשת ויגש שנה תרלח

ובמדרש מים עמוקים עצה בלב איש כו' ידלנה כו'. כבר פרשנו שהוא בכל איש ישראל שע"י היגיעה מוצא האדם בלבו נטמן עצות וכמה דרכים לעבודת הבורא ית'. וע"ז נאמר יגעתי ומצאתי. ואמת הדבר שכפי היגיעה למצוא נקודה טמונה בלב. כמו כן משפיעין לו התחדשות מן השמים…

Sfat Emet Vayigash 1876

The Midrash explains the verse “Deep waters are the counsel in the heart of man, but a man of understanding can draw it up.” Already we explained that every person has counsel hidden in their heart and there are many ways to serve the Creator. This is what the Talmud is referring to when it was said “I searched and I found.” Truthfully it is according to the how much he searches that he will find the spark that is buried in his heart. Similarly, he will draw down a renewal from heaven…