The Next Frontier in Religious Growth

Shuls ranging from intensely yeshivish to left-wing Orthodox reached out to host us. Though we did not have opportunities to spend time with the ever-growing and increasingly pivotal American chassidish and Sephardic communities, my observations may nevertheless be of interest to those kehillos.

During our visits, my wife — who until recently was an active shadchan — would often meet shidduch prospects and their parents. I would deliver derashos and shiurim, and host the perennial crowd favorite, Q&A sessions.

But most valuable were the private conversations we had. I schmoozed with rabbanim and mechanchim, lay activists and ordinary community members. They would tout their accomplishments and concede their disappointments. In response, I would share lessons I had learned from my rebbeim and from observing other communities, all the while discerning for myself the keys to their successes and the factors that possibly contributed to their failures.

I hope the host communities enjoyed our visits, but admittedly I had personal goals as well. These visits gave me the chance to convey important values and messages; but they also gave me unrivaled opportunities to learn the true nature of the American frum community. And I did, in fact, learn a lot.