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Gateways is an international organization whose self-declared mission is it to "raise Jewish consciousness." [1]
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Gateways is an international organization whose self-declared mission is it to "raise Jewish consciousness." [1]
Gateways was founded in 1998 by Rabbi Mordechai Suchard with the stated goal of "providing opportunities for Jews to unlock the treasure of their heritage through dynamic educational and social programs." [2] The organization is based in Monsey, New York, United States. It began as an American offshoot of Arachim (meaning "values"), an Israeli Judaism outreach organization founded in 1979. [3] Funding for Gateways is entirely from individual donors.
The programs educate in Jewish values and traditions." [4] Gateways often joins with other organizations to co-sponsor events.
Programs include:
In addition to the New York metropolitan area, the organization hosts events throughout the United States. [7] [8] [9] [10]
Gateways is staffed by a team of 45 working in seven departments. [11]
Rabbi Mordechai Suchard is the founder [12] and executive director of Gateways. [13] He is a Jewish educator, speaker and author. [14]
Suchard was born in South Africa. [15] His father is a dayan (ecclesiastical "judge") on the Johannesburg Beth Din. He studied at the Telshe yeshiva, in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Ponevezh in Bnei Brak, Israel, and received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Itzhak Kolitz, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem and Dean of the Jerusalem Beth Din.
Suchard founded Gateways to promote the continuity of Judaism. He has established and run a network of outreach organizations targeting college students, young professionals, singles and Russian immigrants in the United States. He is active in Jewish education on the Internet. [16] Suchard has served on the rabbinical board of "Ask The Rabbi" [6] answering questions about Jewish law, philosophy and ethics. [17]
He speaks across America on Jewish issues such as prophecy and seeing God in one's life. [8] [14] [18]
Suchard was on the American delegation accompanying US President George Bush when he visited Israel in May 2008 to mark the country's sixtieth birthday celebrations. [19] [20]
Rabbi Suchard is a supporter of Senator Joe Lieberman, contributing to his political campaign from 2002 to 2006. [21]
Rabbi Mordechai Becher is an author and lecturer on topics of Jewish philosophy and ritual law and practice.
Born in Australia, Becher attended the Bialik College in Melbourne for elementary school. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, he started lecturing at Neve Yerushalayim, Darchei Binah [22] and Ohr Somayach College, remaining at the latter for 15 years. He also served as a senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach Thornhill for four years in Toronto, Ontario, from 1992 to 1996. [23]
Becher first moved to Israel in 1978, and served in the armoured infantry in the Israel Defense Forces,. [24] He was an army chaplain, [25] teaching in training programs for rabbis and educators. His wife, Chavy, is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1985 and lived for a time in Kiryat Moshe, Israel. [26] He has co-authored two books on contemporary issues in Jewish law and has responded to legal, ethical and philosophical questions on the Ohr Somayach "Ask the Rabbi" website.
Becher considers Rabbi Moshe Shapiro to be his rebbe, or primary mentor in areas of Torah and Judaism. [27]
Becher lives with his wife and their six children in Passaic Park. [23]
Becher is a Senior Lecturer for Gateways. [28] He also lectures for Project Genesis and is one of the leading voices in American Orthodox Jewish outreach. [5]
He is known for his sense of humor, evidenced by some of the lectures he delivers, with titles including "Guns and Moses: A Jewish Perspective on Politics," "The Rooster, the Tree and the SUV," "First Fruits, Cheeseburgers and Lord of the Flies" and "Shabbos: Who Invented the Weekend Anyway?" [29]
Becher is the author of books, including Avodat Ahavah (Labor of Love, available only in Hebrew) covering the Jewish laws related to kiruv . He co-authored After the Return: A Guide for the Newly Observant with Moshe Newman and wrote Gateway to Judaism: The What, How and Why of Jewish Life. Becher has contributed to the development of computer software programs related to Israeli geography.
Becher has a radio show on OU-Radio, which operates in a question and answer format. Becher is the host of a cable television show that airs on Shalom TV, carried on Time Warner Cable's Channel 1 On Demand [30] entitled "Dimensions of the Daf," a reference to the Talmud, a page of which is referred to as a daf. Becher has given lectures for organizations that include the UJA and the Zionist Organization of America. [24]
Becher has studied comparative religion, archeology and history and is on the speakers list of the Israeli Consulate in New York.
Rabbi Jonathan Rietti is an English-born Rabbi, educator, and prominent speaker.
Rietti was born in London, the son of British actor and director Robert Rietti.
A descendant of the Sephardic leader the Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Rietti studied at Dvar Yerushalaim under Rabbi Baruch Horovitz and then went on to receiving his rabbinical ordination from Gateshead Talmudical College [31] [32] and was then involved in establishing a growing kollel in Gibraltar. [33]
Rietti is a senior lecturer for Gateways. [17] He lectures on Jewish life and identity, lecturing throughout the United States. He possesses a Master's degree in education [34] and has been an educational consultant since 1986, offering guidance to parents of gifted and ADD children.
Rietti is the author of a book entitled The Art of Healthy Living, based on Maimonides' teachings of healthy diet.
He runs educational seminars and lectures, [35] focusing on inner growth, relationships, positive parenting, health, and support for the authenticity of Judaism. He has recorded over 200 lectures. [36]
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin is an American Haredi Lithuanian-type boys' and men's yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.
Aish HaTorah, also called "Aish," is an Orthodox Jewish educational organization and yeshiva.
Nachman Bulman was an American rabbi associated with Orthodox Judaism. He was born to Rabbi Meir and Etil Bulman after a blessing from the Rebbe of Ger, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter. He grew up on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, and was, for a brief period, part of the circle of the Rebbe of Modzitz, remaining close to the Rebbe until the latter's death.
Ohr Somayach, Monsey was an accredited men's college of Judaic studies offering both full and part-time programs.
Natan Slifkin, popularly known as the "Zoo Rabbi," is a British-born Israeli Modern Orthodox community rabbi and the director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Slifkin is best known for his interests in zoology, Judaism's relationship to evolution, Jewish and biblical history, and his writing on these topics.
Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu, was an Israeli rabbi, posek, and spiritual leader.
Ohr Somayach is a yeshiva based in Jerusalem founded in 1970 catering mostly to young Jewish men, usually of college age, who are already interested in learning about Judaism. It is known as a "baal teshuva" yeshiva since it caters to Jews with little or no background in Judaism, but with an interest in studying the classic texts such as the Talmud and responsa. Students are recruited either locally or from other countries where the yeshiva has established branches, such as in the United States, Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom, Australia, Ukraine and Russia.
Berel Wein is an American-born Orthodox rabbi, lecturer and writer. He authored several books, in both Hebrew and English, concerning Jewish history and popularized the subject through more than 1,000 audio tapes, newspaper articles and international lectures. Throughout his career, he has retained personal and ideological ties to both Modern Orthodox and Haredi Judaism.
Natan Gamedze is a Haredi rabbi and lecturer. Born to the royal lineage of the Gamedze clan of the Kingdom of Eswatini, he converted to Judaism, received rabbinic ordination, and now lectures to Jewish audiences all over the world with his personal story as to how an African prince became a Black Haredi Jewish rabbi.
Yeshivat Torat Yosef - Hamivtar is a men's yeshiva located in Efrat in the West Bank. The Roshei Yeshiva are Rabbi Yonatan Rosensweig and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. The institution is primarily focused on post college-aged students and is part of the Ohr Torah Stone educational institutions founded by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Rabbi Chaim Brovender.
Esther Jungreis was a Jewish, Hungarian-born, American author, and public speaker. She was the founder of the international Hineni organization in the United States. A Holocaust survivor and rebbetzin, she worked to return secular Jews to Orthodox Judaism.
Neve Yerushalayim is the oldest and largest college for Jewish women in the world. Founded in 1970 to educate baalot teshuva in the why and how of living an Orthodox Jewish life, Neve has approximately 35,000 alumni. Its campus in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem is also home to 11 schools and seminaries for post-high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from religious backgrounds.
Akiva Tatz is a prominent South African Orthodox rabbi, inspirational speaker and writer who is heavily involved in Orthodox Jewish outreach. He is also a doctor and world-renowned expert in Jewish medical ethics.
Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as Kiruv or Qiruv, is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life according to Jewish law. The process of a Jew becoming more observant of Orthodox Judaism is called teshuva making the "returnee" a baal teshuva. Orthodox Jewish outreach has worked to enhance the rise of the baal teshuva movement.
Asher Wade is an American-born international lecturer, college instructor and psychotherapist. Wade was a Methodist minister before converting to Orthodox Judaism and later becoming a rabbi.
Chona Menachem Mendel (Mendel) Weinbach was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, educator, author, and speaker. As the co-founder and dean of Ohr Somayach Institutions, a Jerusalem-based yeshiva for newly-observant Jewish men, he was considered one of the fathers of the modern-day baal teshuva movement.
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Rabbi Jonathan Rietti - a descendant of the Sephardic leader the Ben Ish Chai - received his rabbinical ordination from Gateshead Yeshiva.