outside of the synagogue. Our rabbis need to see themselves as rabbis of the community—not just rabbis of those who pay dues—and congregants need to understand the role a rabbi plays to all Jews and not just to members of the “club.� ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO ATTEND JEWISH CAMPS, TO GO ON BIRTHRIGHT. It is well known that attending a Jewish camp can help solidify one’s Jewish identity in a powerful way. Encourage your nonreligious friends and coworkers to send their children to a Jewish camp or summer program. Such an intense Jewish experience can literally be life changing. NCSY, for example, runs a plethora of camping and summer experiences that are designed for unaffiliated kids and instills in them a deep and abiding appreciation for Judaism. Similarly, a trip to Israel can have an incredible impact on a young person. At the OU, we run Israel Free Spirit, the fourth-largest Birthright trip organizer in North America. We have seen firsthand how Birthright can help strengthen Jewish identity and bring Jewish young adults closer to their Jewish roots. This year, we will be bringing some 1,200 young people to Israel on Israel Free Spirit. For many of these participants, this trip will be the first time they will experience a Shabbat, the first time they will enter a synagogue. BECOME A PARTNER WITH THE OU. Each year we spend millions of dollars in an attempt to bring Jewish teens and young adults closer to Torah. Through our vast network of Jewish culture clubs found in more than 200 public schools, our array of meaningful camp and summer experiences, our NCSY regions reaching 20,000 Jewish kids each year, our Birthright trips and so much more, we are investing in the Jewish future. After the Pew report came out, I had the opportunity to bring our senior staff to meet with Professor Steve Cohen, the preeminent American Jewish sociologist, who served as a senior consultant to the Pew report. (Dr. Cohen partnered with the OU and RCA in giving a webinar to our rabbis.) His message to us: American Jewry needs the totality—not just rabbis and kiruv professionals—of the Orthodox community to reach out and engage the unaffiliated in a very serious way. Unfortunately, we will most likely not be able to stop all 71 percent of non-Orthodox American Jews from intermarrying and ultimately from leaving the Jewish people. But maybe we can stop 5 or even 10 percent, possibly more. If we begin to fully appreciate the enormity of the task ahead and the immense responsibility that we, as Orthodox Jews, have toward our Jewish brothers and sisters, we can try to prevent another Ten Lost Tribes and avoid another vachamushim alu Bnei Yisrael. g
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Summer 5774/2014 JEWISH ACTION 49