ima weighs in

my mother writes to tell me that my vision of scranton is outdated, seeing as i moved out 10 years ago:

 

Dani - I tried twice to answer you on your page, but when I went to
correct a spelling error, it all disappeared.

Your picture of Scranton's Orthodox community, although well-written,
is inaccurate. There is active and positive kiruv going on, on many
levels, and it is a way of life. Your opening statement is not correct.

First of all, there is open learning - chavrutah style  - for men and
women on separate nights at Beth Shalom, an Orthodox shul which
everyone in the community feels comfortable to. Each pair ( or
sometimes, threesome) decides on its own topic of study and book(s).
Often, friendships grow out of these chavrutahs of people who are
holding at very different places in their observance - some of them
close friendships.  Then, there are classes given by Rabbi Saks and
Vivi Brodtsky in Clarks Summit. Rabbi Saks has been doing outreach to
teens and their parents for years, and has met with such success, that
people who were totally alienated now feeling close both to yiddishkeit
and to the local community. AND, some of them spend Shabbos or yomtov
in town once in a while.

Rabbi Fine's class on Wednesday morning which draws women from
throughout the community - again, no pressure, no judging, all are
welcome. He used to give a once-a-week lunch class at the JCC that drew
people from the entire community, too. That ended with the advent of
other things and the loss of rooms in the JCC to their early childhoood
center.

There happen to also be free tutoring classes for all kids who need it
for the Day School - whether you are from the Russian Jewish community,
or one of the few from less observant families, or a child of
one-parent families who have no one to learn or study with. This is not
strictly limudei kodesh - just free help, which again, nurtures
friendship and good feelings.

Then there's the new Chabad of the Abingtons which not only brings the
ENTIRE community together for huge Chanukah/Purim/Lag Ba'Omer
celebrations, but has built an incredible center with a library, game
space, meeting room, etc. Some of the volunteers  - not just the
participants -  are from the Reform and Conservative communities, as
are both the children and adults who take advantage of the classes,
lectures and programs (many of which are fun-related, like arts and
crafts, challah baking). There is no judging, and a wonderful sense of
community exists. The entire community - and I mean not just
Or/Cons/Reform, but also unaffiliated - are invited to and turn out to
every bris and upschern and other sinmcha that the Rappaports have.

Teachers from our Day school and UHI (who live in our community )
invite families to their for Shabbat alll the time. One of the rebbeim
who gives private lessons has for years taught Jewish kids who attend
public high school who then stay connected b/c of the kiruv factor long
after they graduate. And, sometimes, they have chosen to live more
observant Jewish lives as adults b/c of this.

There are also functions for families, for youth and specifically for
Israelis in the entire region ( Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and  the
Poconos) which are run by Rabbi Salkow (of the Community Kollel). These
functions accept people exactly at the level they are and seek to form
personal relationships so Jewish adults and kids can simply be friendly
with other Jewish adults and kids. And, surprise! - the group includes
inter-married families. Talk about kiruv!

The Orthodox community also reaches out in subtle ways: The residents
of the Jewish Home get more visits and caring from the Bais Yakov girls
than from any other group of people in town.  If you polled the entire
Board of the Jewish Federation - most of whom are not "frum" - and
asked which institution in town they respect most, believe it or not,
the answer would be "Bais Yakov". That may not be true kiruv, but it's
a subtle force for yiddishkeit. The same is true when yeshiva boys are
always available to help with funerals and burials (which at your stage
of life you cannot appreciate yet) - believe me, people recognize that
they practice what they learn - and it's also a subtle form of kiruv.
Same for the chevrah kaddisha which makes no distinction on which
congregation the deceased is from, but it's the Orthodox who do the
taharas.

There is also a lot of person-to-person kiruv which you are not aware
of since you haven't really lived here as a participating member of the
community, both one-on-one and families, and informal social
gatherings.

Are there people who are judgemental? Yes. That is true in all
congregations and all communities. Are there issues which arise which
people differ on/ Decidedly, yes. But the community as a whole is far
more open and accepting than you know.
Your written piece is based on the impressions gained during your
younger years, and, as in all things (not just the subject of kiruv),
the impressions from our youth are not necessarily reflective of the
whole or of the now.

I have a question to all those discussing kiruv: What do you each
personally do to be makarev?