T he most effective kiruv is that which demonstrates to a nonobservant Jew that the Torah has the power to dramatically increase his or her life satisfaction.
Rabbi Noach Weinberg’s world-famous series of classes “48 Ways to Wisdom” was the key component of his initial outreach to newcomers to Torah. Show young searching Jews that Torah works that it contains unimagined wisdom Reb Noach felt and it becomes much easier to demonstrate that it is true.
One area in which this principle has demonstrated itself time and again is the laws governing family purity. The requirement instituted by the Chief Rabbinate of South Africa in the mid ’70s that all couples marrying under its auspices (i.e. almost all South African Jews) would receive private one-on-one instruction in the laws of family purity is generally believed to be one of the major impetuses of the powerful teshuvah movement that swept the community in the 1970s and ’80s.
Most nonreligious couples enter marriage today acutely aware of the fragility of the marital bonds in modern society and knowing that the chances of divorce are far from negligible. They worry that the excitement that they feel at the time of their marriage will wane with the passage of time. When they learn that the Torah has a time-proven formula for keeping the flames of marital bliss burning brightly they are keen to learn more. In addition marriage is one of those points in life when people are most open to considering new paths.
