Was Rav Moshe the most important figure of the Kiruv Movement in recent years? At his passing, many said so. He certainly had more talmidim (and talmidim of talmidim) in the field than anyone. With his unique brand of both fire and love, he encouraged and guided them, empowering them to be as effective as possible.
I would like to share seven principles of kiruv that either I heard personally from Rav Moshe or that were shared with me by colleagues, based on the advice Rav Moshe had given them. They are based on my shallow understanding. Consistent with Rav Moshe’s sophisticated and nuanced pedagogy, we can assume that he may have said things differently to other talmidim or he could have changed the message for different scenarios.
SLABODKA ROOTS
The Alter of Slabodka’s encounter with Rav Yisrael Salanter was brief. Reb Yisrael, father of the Mussar Movement, had the ability to size up a person on the deepest level in just a few minutes. When The Alter asked, “What is my avodah in this word?” Reb Yisrael answered with the pasuk: “L’hachayos ruach shefalim ul’hachayos lev nidkaim (To revive the spirit of the meek and revive the hearts of the depressed).”
Based on this principle, the Alter went on to build a generation of Torah leaders. In an era where Torah and its followers were downtrodden, he gave them a sense of dignity and, indeed, royalty. The concept of gadlus ha’adam, the innate greatness of man, was channeled into pride, that we are given the privilege of serving Hashem. To use the example of the Alter, Shlomo Hamelech in Shir Hashirim [7:3] uses a metaphor of suga b’shoshanim, the Jewish people are “protected from sin by a hedge of roses.” Usually, people avoid the hedge of roses because they are afraid of being pricked by the thorns. A person who is mechubad will not climb over the fence, because he cannot bring himself to destroy the beauty of the rose.
Rav Moshe felt strongly that this approach was more urgent than ever before. Never has there been such a lowly and depressed generation as ours. We need to build people up by showing them the grandeur of Torah. Why waste your time with trivialities? Why be attracted to a lowly culture? You are better than that! In his words, “Don’t talk about muttar or assur. Talk about nivzeh and nechbad.” In other words, don’t talk about what is permitted and forbidden. It is ineffective and may be harmful. Talk about what is cheapening and degrading versus what is illustrious, honorable and elevating. For example, speaking in an unrefined manner should not be avoided because it is forbidden, rather because it is beneath your dignity.
TICKLING
Our generation is called Ikvese D’Meshicha, which literally means the Heels of the Mashiach. Rav Moshe explains that if the early generations are like the head of person, the last generations of history are compared to the sole of the foot. The sole is calloused and hardened, it is insensitive, able to step on small stones without getting hurt. So too with our generation: it is lethargic and not easily touched. There is, however, one way to bring the sole back to life.
Give it a tickle. A light brush on the sole and the entire body can burst into laughter.
Rav Moshe felt that the first step in front-line kiruv is to “tickle.” The information has to be attractive, entertaining, and relevant to the target audience. The medium can be humor or intellectual stimulation. Trips or Shabbatonim. The goal is to bring people alive to the reality that there is a Big Picture in life.
Step One, though, should be kept to a minimum. The moment your clientele is ready, bring them straight to the next step:
THE REAL THING
At the first opportunity teach men gemara. Preferably with Tosafos, so that they can taste the genuine sweetness of lamdus. This is the healthiest form of kiruv and directly connects to building gadlus ha’adam.
Women should be shown the chachma of Torah without gemara. Topics that bring a person to emuna—such as the parsha of Matan Torah—should be taught in depth. (Further hadracha on women’s kiruv are beyond the scope of this article.)
Rav Moshe strongly felt that kiruv should only be done by authentic talmidei chachamim with proper hashkafa. Anyone less could cause damage. He once mentioned that when he goes for a haircut he is subjected to whatever radio station the barber is playing. Occasionally he hears a kiruv lecture. Rav Moshe’s verdict? “If I was a teenager listening to this, I would be totally turned off!”
The goal is always to develop genuine bnei Torah. In answer to the famous question: “Is it better to nurture ten people who will be shomer Shabbos, or invest one’s energies into one ben Torah” Rav Moshe declared that without doubt one should build a ben Torah.
However, if you have a number of students in front of you and some have more potential to become genuine talmidei chachamim than others, you cannot pick favorites. Everyone should be helped along their road to teshuvah as far as possible.
GROWTH THROUGH BECHIRA
Rav Moshe was contemptuous of any pushiness or tactics that smacked of brainwashing. We have to assume our audience is intelligent. Present ideas that challenge people to think for themselves. In his words, give them bechira livchor b’chaim the free choice to choose life.
This is especially important when advising others about life choices. Everyone has unique talents and strengths, but only the individual can find these within himself. Our job is to facilitate each individual’s path, geared to their personal situation based on Torah values. We have to guide them to be absolutely honest with themselves, to prioritize what is important, and to learn what decisions should be done with emunah.
But the journey has to be their own.
It’s not surprising that Rav Moshe attracted the most brilliant minds to teshuvah. Reb Benny Lévy sat quietly on a side bench at our Friday morning shiur. When he suddenly passed away at the age of 58, Rav Moshe was devastated. We had no idea who he was. A leader of the May ’68 Student Revolt in Paris, he was the greatest student of Jean-Paul Sartre, a leading figure of 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. His last years were devoted as a beloved talmid of Rav Moshe.
Reb Mordechai “Pupik” Arnon was a legendary comedian and a household name in Israel in the 70’s. When he asked Rav Moshe if he could join his shiur, Rav Moshe had not heard of him. He asked if anyone could give him a recommendation. Reb Mordechai stuck his thumb in his mouth and, imitating the voice of a seven-year-old said, “Az Harav rotzeh she’ani avi petek m’Ima?” Does the Rav want me to bring a note from Ima? The place erupted in laughter. Rav Moshe grinned and accepted him as a talmid.
PARENTS
When a student embarks on a journey to teshuvah, extreme care must be taken to avoid alienating parents. Rabbi Eliyahu Ilani is the dean of Nefesh Yehudi, an organization that was the brainchild of Rav Moshe. Nefesh Yehudi runs classes and organizes chavrusahs, providing Israeli students with a window into Judaism. They teach beginners Torah at an advanced level. Reb Eliyahu shared that several times Rav Moshe would personally speak with parents to explain, b’darkei noam, the changes their child was making.
However, there are red lines that cannot be crossed. Reb Eliyahu shared a story how a Nefesh Yehudi graduate raised in a secular kibbutz invited everyone from his past to his wedding. When the kibbutz leadership found out that the wedding would have a mechitza they declared a boycott on the wedding!
Rav Moshe swung into action. He told everyone to bring friends from other yeshivos to make it an unforgettable wedding. Rav Moshe stayed till the very end, dancing without pause.
THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN KIRUV
“Oseh Niflaos L’vado.”
Hashem does wonders on His own. Hashem does not need us to do kiruv, He is perfectly capable of bringing anyone back to teshuvah without our help. He gives us the zchus to play a part.
The second most important words in kiruv?
Don’t mess up what He is doing.
In practice, this means that kiruv can never be done by compromising Torah values, especially in the area of kedusha. Rav Moshe was particularly frustrated at the abuse of heter kiruv, where a lenient psak was taken beyond the intent of the ruling. Especially in the leniency of co-ed kiruv, where a delicate line must be walked.
Rav Moshe once vented, “Sometimes I feel like closing the whole kiruv movement when I see what it does to my avreichim.”
Another area that bothered him was chanufa, flattery. Mekarvim would, for example, invite an irreligious donor to speak at a convention or allow him to determine how his money is used in a way that compromised the Torah’s honor. When Rav Mordechai Becher and Rav Moshe Newman wrote Avosos Ahava, a work on the halachos of kiruv rechokim, Rav Moshe would only give a haskama if there was a chapter that dealt with the laws of chanufa.
TEFILLAH
One should never stop davening for the success of one’s students in kiruv (for sources, see my sefer Rigshei Lev, Chapter 10, first footnote).
Rav Moshe helped me write a short tefillah for fertility to be said at the end of the Shemonei Esrei (included in my book, Rigshei Lev, pp. 303). When I asked him to write one for mechanchim and mekarvim he told me that it was impossible. Everyone needs to formulate his own nusach based on his unique situation.
Interestingly, when I asked Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky to write a nusach, he basically gave me the same answer as Rav Moshe. So I guess we should keep davening in our own words!
IN REAL LIFE
Rav Moshe saw the unusual success of the Kiruv Movement as part of the simanim of Ikvese D’meshicha, the Messianic Era. He would say, “The door is open. Anyone who goes into kiruv sees bracha, something that we were not zocheh to see in previous generations.” He would refer to the classic Zohar analogy that Galus is night. The darkest part of the night is just before the coming dawn. In that thick darkness, small specks of light can be seen far off into the horizon, heralding the coming dawn. These tiny rays of light are the source of the astonishing success of mekarvim.
The Talmud asks, “What should one do to be saved from the birth pangs that precede the coming of Mashiach? One should involve oneself in Torah and chessed” (Sanhedrin 98b). There are two conceptions of Hashem’s creation of the world. The first is histakel b’Oiraysa u’bara alma, using the Torah as the blueprint. The second is olam chessed yibaneh, through the building power of chessed. Rav Moshe explains (based on Sukkah 49b) that the combination of Torah and chessed is the engine of bringing Mashiach and that kiruv rechokim expresses that combination in its highest form.
Furthermore, every moment we are involved in kiruv, we fulfill the mitzvah of “tzipiya l’yeshua” awaiting the Mashiach.
Rav Moshe lived and breathed the imminence of Mashiach. He constantly spoke about it. To his talmidim who had the ability to do kiruv, it was expressed with a sense of desperate urgency.
Rav Eli Gewirtz is the founder and director of Partners in Torah, an organization that provides in-person, phone, and Skype chavrusahs with beginners. When Reb Eli proudly told Rav Moshe he had set up 5000 chavrusahs, Rav Moshe wasn’t satisfied. “You need to set up 50,000 chavrusahs” he told him.
Recently, Reb Eli was happy to tell me that he has passed the “Rav Moshe benchmark.” Partners in Torah now has over 60,000 chavrusahs!
Rav Aaron Lopiansky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington and veteran talmid of Rav Moshe, shares a story he heard from a menahel of a Torah institution for Israelis living in Florida. It perfectly illustrates his rebbe’s passion for kiruv.
“When I was deciding whether to build my school, Rav Moshe sat with me trying to persuade me to go to Florida. He ignored the clock and sat with me for a very long time. When I left, Rav Moshe ran after me and confronted me.
His eyes welled with tears. He said, “Listen carefully, yakiri. Every day another trainload of Israeli children living in America are heading straight for Auschwitz! If you can save just a few of them, your place in Gan Eden will be so high, afeelu lo uchal l’hatzitz alecha, I won’t be able to see you, even from afar.”
And then he started to cry…”
YOU ARE SHAKING UP THE WORLD
Okay, I admit we were jealous.
For years, we took for granted that Rav Moshe would speak at his home on the night of Shvi’i Shel Pesach. Beyond the dazzling shiur, it was a time of closeness with our rebbi, bringing an elevated closure to the Festival of Freedom.
In his last years, we lost that zchus. Rav Moshe spent Pesach at the Toras Chaim Yeshiva in Moscow. Leaving Yerushalayim for Yom Tov could not have been an easy decision for the rav and his rebbitzin. It was clear that he did so because Russia had a special place in his heart.
When one of the chevra asked Rav Moshe, “Why do you abandon us for Pesach?” he answered, “If you can find me another place where bochrim arrive having never heard of Yetzias Mitzrayim and a year later they are asking on their own the (highly complex) questions of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, maybe I will go there, too! In Russia I feel I am keeping the mitzvah of v’higadata l’vincha b’hidur rav, relating the story of the Exodus on the highest level.”
He once shared with us how deeply inspired he was one freezing day, when the heating broke down in the Toras Chaim Yeshiva. In Russia “freezing” means freeeeezing! With deep emotion Rav Moshe described how the bochrim came to the Bais Hamedrash and simply wrapped themselves in blankets, continuing to learn with tremendous hasmada. He said it was a scene that belonged to a different era.
When Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman asked him, “Why do you go to Russia for Pesach?” Rav Moshe answered, “Toras Chaim iz de shtoltz fun Klal Yisrael” (roughly translated – the talmidim of Toras Chaim are the cutting edge of Klal Yisrael), “the bochrim are baalei mesirus nefesh and therefore have extra siyata dishmaya. Their success is outstanding.”
He described a young man making a siyum on a mesechta. Six months earlier, he didn’t know anything about Hashem, Yiddishkeit or Torah. What was the occasion of the siyum? His grandfather’s bris!
He felt that 70 years of the Communist Freezer was melting in front of his eyes.
Rav Moshe Lebel, the Rosh Yeshiva of Toras Chaim, describes how from the moment Rav Moshe arrived in the yeshiva until his return flight, he would give shiurim or talk Torah with the students. At night, he would retire to his room for his personal learning. The light was almost always on in his room. Rav Moshe didn’t care much for sleep.
His love and patience for the bochrim was palpable. A novice bochur “stole” the Afikomen. He declared he would only return it if, “Rav Shapira will learn with me b’chavrusah when I make it to Israel.” Nobody considered it unusual when Rav Moshe agreed. To be honest, it was hard for the bochrim to process that they were in the presence of greatness.
When Rav Moshe spoke to the whole yeshiva, he did so with an interpreter. On his last Shvi’i Shel Pesach, however, he asked to speak without a translator. “I will speak neshama language. Your neshamos will understand me.” Here is a synopsis of his final words to the bochrim:
“My children! You have such a zchus to be learning here. The Rishonim say, ‘Ain baal haness makir b’niso, The recipient of a miracle is not aware of what has happened to him.’ Your ancestors were wrenched away from Yiddishkeit by the cursed Bolsheviks. You are living in the land of Tsar Nikolai, who declared war against Torah. He closed the Yeshiva of Volozhin. You are living in the city where Stalin reigned, where religion and Judaism were subjected to 70 years of terror.
“Now look at you! You are in a holy yeshiva. You are sitting next to Shasim, Rishonim and Achronim. You are sanctifying the streets of Moscow with your holy Torah. You are bringing merit to the neshamos of your unfortunate zeides and bubbes. I envy you! You are shaking up the world!
“Ashreichem, ashreichem!”
[Olami resources - thanks to R' Chaim Yehoshua ben R' Ephraim Hakohen]
