Should You Go Into Professional Kiruv?

Hi, this is David Alowski with that question and answer series. How can I know if I should go into professional kira? What kind of person should or shouldn't do it? What skills does it take? What are the considerations or concerns, the financial burden and any other factors that play in? What does the job really look like practically? Everybody is m to do k. Everybody is m to reach out to your fellow Jews. That's not me saying this. This was the in Europe at the agura convention back in the 1920s where he said everybody is now to do and reach out to your fellow Jews. It doesn't matter how talented you are. you have to uh do it. At some point they came up with professional kirav workers. Now there was a time when uh a rv in the 1950s said to me every ruv of an orthodox shul was a kira of worker because the majority of the people in Yeshua were not from or if they were from they definitely needed to be makaz themselves. When NCSY started, it started not as a cure of organization. It started as the youth organization of the Orthodox Union and MA. It was a cure of organization because there were no day schools around and all the kids who dived in orthodox shores went to public school. So, Mala turned out to be a cure of organization. But as time went on uh they began what has been described as the Kiraov movement. Most people uh would say that the date of what we call the Kira movement began with the six- day war. The miracles of the six- day war suddenly awakened in many many Jews a sense of Jewish pride that brought them to uh look into Judaism and be proud of the fact that they were Jewish. Ironically, another wave of uh of cure vokum began um on with the terrible tragedies that took place when people suddenly realized how much people hated Jews. They started to look into their Judaism as well, people who work in Kir. But as as it started certain yeshivas began catering to people who were not religious looking uh for religion right or the diaspora yeshiva and they all started to be able to serve as a place for this. Um, additionally, uh, people started making Kirav organizations in America, some that worked on campus, uh, some that would be in communities, they would make a Kiraov center. And, uh, slowly they started to spread uh, around the country. So that at one point they actually started an organization called AJOP, the Association of Jewish Outreach Professionals to be able to uh provide training and support for people who decided to work in Kira. What do you need to be successful in Kirav? You have to really really really love Jews. Like really? Yeah. As I said once, the most effective kira technique you can develop is a sincere smile. Once you can fake that, the rest gets easy. Yeah. But people know if you are sincere or not. They can see if you really care about them. And therefore, as much as a person cares about somebody, Words that come from the heart go into the heart. So you have to really really care about people. And if you don't care about people, don't go into kov. You could go in a supportive role. You could raise money. You could handle technical things, but don't go into Jewish outreach dealing with people if you don't love them. And if you do, then nothing else matters. Many years ago, it's over 30 years ago, um, someone came to me who worked with Mayor Schusta. He was making a dinner and he wanted me to be the guest speaker and he [clears throat] says, "I'm asking on his behalf because he's very shy." I'm like, this guy stands at the Western Wall, goes up to strangers all the time, and engages them in conversation, takes them to yeshivas, works with them. Ah, come on. This is just a PR stunt. Anyway, he came down to meet with me at the house. He did not say a word. He just sat there. It was an awkward silence. And I tried this way and that way, and I couldn't believe it. Um, he had no apparent personality whatsoever and yet he was unbelievably effective. Someone told me when he first started to decide he was going to do this, his father-in-law said, "You're going to speak to non-f people, you can't speak to me." One of his donors told me, he says, "I always know when Risha is calling me because I don't hear anybody on the other side. If someone calls me I say hello and I hear nothing I say oh is that you Rabbi Shusta and yet he was an unbelievable kayak. You know why? Because he wanted to. As the altar of Narik said I never asked whether I could do something. I asked if something had to be done and I knew a would give me the power to do it. So if you love Jews and you want to help them, everybody can be a Kir worker. Having said that, not everybody can make a Kirv center. There are specific skills involved. You have to fund raise, you have to do administration, you have to do all kinds of different things. And in fact that has been the bane of a number of Kira workers I know who they used to just go around and make classes in people's houses and and speak to people and at some point they decided to make a curve center and that was the end they spent the whole time just raising money and dealing with all these other kind of technical stuff instead of actually talking to people. So when you say to be a professional kira worker I guess it really depends what you mean. If you want to work and talk to people, etc., and make that your profession, well, you have to figure out if you can get somebody to pay you for it. And if you can't pay for it, then you have to see if you're have the ability to be able to raise the money to do it. And uh and if you think that you have those to be able to raise money and build something administratively, then you can go and make a whole cure of a center. If not then to find someone who's talented at working with people and like I say the talent means that you love people. Then places like you know that in the age they would give you classes on how to teach a class, how to organize, how to answer basic questions. There are different kinds of programs that can give you the help you develop the skills. But the ultimate skill you need is to really love Jews. And if you do, you'll have siata desmay. Those of us who worked in professional kiev can tell you that sometimes we did everything by the book and we had nothing to show for it. And sometimes we did everything wrong and the people became firm because as Mosha Shapiro said once, the advice I give to people going into Kir is Msiach is about to come and is giving an opportunity to everyone who is ready to come back before the end. Your job is not to get in God's way. He's allowing you to participate, but don't ever think it has to do with you. And that's why I've seen where I talk to somebody and I'm arguing and we have a whole discussion. Nothing ever comes from it. But his friend who was sitting there quietly suddenly shows up in yeshiva. So you need you need to really care about. And if you have that level of love means that what comes out of the heart goes into the heart. The more sincere you are, the more effective you will be. This is Devon Dowski with that question and answer