Rabbi Avraham Edelstein

The following is based on an article by Sergio DellaPergola in the American Jewish Year Book, 2019 as well as the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research. (DellaPergola was also a co-author of that study.) In 2019, the Core Jewish population estimate of global Jewry was 14,707,400, an increase of 100,000 over 2018. The Jewish population is expanding... Read more »

In the previous two blogs, we have looked at long-term burnout, and how to evaluate whether this requires a career change. In this blog, we look at how to prevent and to cure short-term burn-out. A. AVOIDING BURN-OUT Keep on Growing If you don’t feel that you are growing, professionally and personally, you will not... Read more »

In this blog, we discuss steps one should take when suffering from long-term burnout. An important book to read when considering change is Howard’s Gift, by Eric C. Sinoway (with Merrill Meadow). We have borrowed extensively from this book, amongst other sources, for this blog. WHEN YOU STAY WITH YOUR JOB Call a Time-Out The... Read more »

A new buzzword is Hungarian-American psychologist’s Mihaly Csíkszentmihályi’s concept of “flow.” People are happiest when they are in a state of flow—a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand and the situation. Such a state requires several conditions. For example: Motivations: One is engaged in the acts because they are intrinsically rewarding, rather than... Read more »

Man has two powers in his brain – a Koach Hachochma and a Koach HaMedameh, the power of imagination. We need the latter to break through our limited horizons in order to understand deeper levels of reality and in order to not just self-actualize but to self-transcend.[1] Great leaders are visionaries – they use their... Read more »

Man has two powers in his brain – a Koach Hachochma and a Koach HaMedameh, the power of imagination. We need the latter to break through our limited horizons in order to understand deeper levels of reality and in order to not just self-actualize but to self-transcend. [1] Great leaders are visionaries – they use... Read more »

The Kiruv world has mekareved significant numbers of people. Yet, not only have we not acted to reduce the intermarriage rate; we have not even managed to stabilize it.[1] In part, this is because our vision has been too limited and our goals (for many of us) have been elsewhere (facilitating Shomrei Shabbos Jews). Yet,... Read more »

It is a truism that someone who truly lacks nothing will not seek out Judaism. Everyone who seeks out Judaism is searching for something that they sense they are lacking. Should we also presume that the greater the lack, the greater the Kiruv opportunity? A longitudinal study has compared nearly 50 years of trends in public opinion data.

The Kiruv Movement fails to take advantage of the valuable studies done on the Jewish community at the cost of tens of millions of dollars. Many of these studies point to practical programming opportunities that would change and upgrade the way we do Kiruv. One common denominator to all studies is that most Jews – even intermarried ones

There is a vast gap between establishing a goal for Kiruv and measuring that goal. Hence, there is a difference between the question “what is the goal of Kiruv” and the question “what comprises success in kiruv?” Moreover, what is

Pages By: Rabbi Avraham Edelstein

World Jewish Demography

Short-Term Burnout & Care of Self

Career Changes and Legacy Missions

Burnout

Leadership Vision – Its Necessity and its Dangers

Leadership Vision – Its Necessity and Its Dangers

Understanding American Intermarriage

Is Americans’ Increasing Unhappiness a Kiruv Opportunity?

The Future of Jewish Community Building – Some New Ideas

What is the Goal of Kiruv Rechokim?

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