Dear Friends:
Are you aware of the Jewish revolution that began in Ann Arbor, Michigan?
Are you aware that Madison, Wisconsin is home to one of the premiere campus kiruv programs in the country?
In Madison, a group of rabbonim under the dedicated leadership of Rabbi Yerachmiel ("Rocky") Anton runs an organization known as JEM (Jewish Experience Madison) that is responsible for miracles of kiruv at the vast campus of the University of Wisconsin. These dedicated rabbonim include Avi Zaitchek, Daniel Hyman, Yosi Eisen, Sandor Milun and Chesky Tarlow.
My wife and I visited Madison recently under the auspices of Torah Umesorah. The rabbonim of JEM are busy night and day. In the "free" atmosphere of an American university, they face the challenge of competing with a tremendously powerful yetzer hara among their potential "customers." Friday nights dedicated to drinking are common here, and I am not referring to the sanctified wine of Kiddush. But we were privileged, on a recent Shabbos, to sit among some eighty five college students who had resisted the lure of the party scene and came instead, lehavdil, under the wings of the shechina!
Those students gathered in the attractive JEM facility for a home-cooked Shabbos seuda put together by the dedicated Kollel rebbetzins. They were able to imbibe not only physical but spiritual food. My wife is fond of quoting the words of the Novi, "Behold, days are coming ... when I will send hunger into the land; not a hunger for bread nor a thirst for water, but to hear the words of Hashem."[1] During the seudah, my wife and I told our personal story and later spoke one-on-one with our new friends. Shabbos day my wife spoke to the students about "the Torah way of dating and marriage," and I spoke during Shalosh Seudos about my book, 2020 VISION, and the current world situation. It is a revelation to many of these students that there is such a thing as a husband and wife who actually speak to each other, let alone work together in an attempt at Kiddush Hashem. They see, to their amazement, that marriage can be a true partnership.
The JEM facility is located near the heart of the U of W campus in a second-story suite looking out over a busy main street which leads right up to the State Capitol a few blocks away. It is set up in such a way that students love to congregate there, and provides a life-saving alternative to the many locations that offer dangerous temptations. Instead of awakening Shabbos morning with a severe headache, these fortunate students awake to memories of zemiros and a beautiful seuda from the night before and the anticipation of tefilla and another seuda in an atmosphere of kedusha.
Leaving Madison on Sunday morning, we drove about seven hours - past Milwaukee and Chicago - to Ann Arbor, Michigan, another Torah outpost on a huge university campus. This is the home base of the legendary Rabbi Avraham Jacobowitz, creator of the Maimonides Program and founder of JAAM (Jewish Awareness America), which is based in the Ann Arbor/Oak Park/Detroit area. You should see him in action!
A close talmid of the Gadol Rabbi Shmuel Birnbaum ZT"L, Rabbi Jacobovitz seems to fly like the wind in his mesiras nefesh for Am Yisroel. Whether he is in Ann Arbor giving over a shiur to college students, delivering a guest lecture at another Maimonides location, counseling a lost youngster one-on-one or conducting a group of students on their first trip to Israel, he is always on the move.
Rabbi Jacobovitz conceived of and created the Maimonides Program, an innovation which has now been replicated on forty U. S. campuses. Supported by major philanthropists, the program is unique in that each participant is paid a significant stipend, usually several hundred dollars, at the end of the ten-week semester. In return, students attend ten weeks of shiurim and several Shabboses and field trips to Jewish institutions. Each student keeps a notebook documenting his or her learning and growth. Frequently, the semester leads to a trip to Israel. From this in-depth involvement countless lives have been changed and hundreds of students have gone on to yeshiva both in the U. S. and in Israel. Assisting "Rabbi J," as he is affectionately known, are Rabbis Rafael ("Fully") Eisenberg, Schneur Steinberg and Dovid Meir Bausk.
Guest lecturers supplement the work of local rabbonim, and this is where we come in. We have been fortunate enough to have spoken at the Ann Arbor campus every six months for several years and to have met many Jewish students whose neshomas are amazingly receptive even though they have been raised with little or no exposure to their Jewish heritage.
Last spring, we participated in a Shabbaton in a far western state. At mincha, a young man appeared whose father is Spanish and whose mother is Jewish. Let's call him Carlos Ortiz. His profession was in the military field. Carlos told us that he was planning on moving east, because his future wife comes from Detroit. We suggested that he contact Rabbi Jacobovitz. To our amazement, on our recent trip to Ann Arbor, Rabbi J informed us that "a friend sends greetings." Who was that? Not only had Carlos contacted him, but Rabbi J has become Carlos' spiritual mentor, and is soon to serve as Mesader Kiddushin at his upcoming chassana!
Hodu l'Hashem ki tov, ki laolam chasdo![2]
"Give thanks to G-d, for His kindness endures forever!"
Ann Arbor has a particularly strong place in our hearts, since we were students there in our "old life." Arguably the most momentous turn-around in our spiritual adventure occurred there decades ago! It is an emotional place for us, especially as we recount our life story to these eager students. By involving ourselves in these magnificent kiruv efforts, we feel that we are participating directly in events leading to the Geula Shelemah, may we see it soon in our days!
Roy S. Neuberger
