“What is most remarkable is that this is the middle of their summer vacation! These are teenagers who, just several months ago, knew nothing about Torah and had posters of the leading soccer players or pop stars adorning the walls around their beds. Now the only thing on their minds is the machlokes between Abaye and Rava on the sugya that they are learning. This is the power of Acheinu’s Yeshiva Dover Tov!”
“The main thing,” says Rav Dov Sloschitz, the Rosh Yeshiva, “is that we learn Torah with them. The light of the Torah is the greatest kiruv tool available. …Just setting up a chavrusa partnership with a yungerman is all they need and they begin to shine, to love Torah and to even want to give up their summer vacation in order to stay in yeshiva!”
The yeshiva’s sojourn in Givat Zev has not been a bed of roses. Rav Meir Weinberger said, “When the yeshiva opened in a non-religious neighborhood in Givat Zev, some neighbors and others sought to inflame sectarian discord and tried to do everything possible to close the yeshiva. We did our best to try calming things but it has not been easy. I am confident, however, that the kedushas haTorah that is suffusing this neighborhood simply from the Torah being learned in it, will eventually transform our biggest detractors into our most loyal patrons!”
“We Don’t Go Down, We Raise them Up”
When asked how avreichim raised in a sheltered environment can find a common language with their charges, HaGaon HaRav Matisyahu Solomon, Acheinu’s educational philosophy was encapsulated that at the first Acheinu Kiruv Conference: That Kiruv rechokim is based on a piyut from Yom Kippur that “culminates triumphantly, ‘Veyitnu lecha keser melucha–they will give You the crown of sovereignty.’ Those words are immediately preceded by ‘Veyishmu rechokim veyavou–those from afar will hear and will come.’ … Kiruv rechokim means drawing rechokim close to us! Not bringing ourselves down to their level! Kiruv rechokim must be the outgrowth of a feeling emanating from within a ben Torah, a feeling of, ‘My burning love for Hashem and His Torah is so powerful, how can I not try to share it with my fellow Jews?’”
Acheinu Enrolls 1,500 New Bachurim into Yeshivos
Yeshiva Dover Tov is the latest of Acheinu’s yeshivos, joining its three other yeshivos all catering to talmidim at different levels of the kiruv chain. This summer, Acheinu broke all previous yeshiva enrollment records. In addition, Acheinu works with hundreds of yeshivos across Eretz Yisrael to find just the right fit for each of its charges. This Elul, Acheinu enrolled more than 1,500 new talmidim in yeshivos! “It is because of Acheinu’s tremendous devotion to follow up, that we have had such success in enrolling boys into yeshivos and keeping them in yeshivos until they become true bnei Torah,” said Rabbi Shlomo Rozenstein, Acheinu’s Director of Public Affairs.
Acheinu’s Placement Division at the Forefront of Kiruv Kerovim
Acheinu has been providing “follow up”–perhaps the most important word in the Acheinu dictionary. They have a whopping 93% success rate in retaining the young people they are mekarev. They place their charges in mainstream yeshivos chosen for each boy. Acheinu yungeleit have a comprehensive, intimate knowledge of hundreds of yeshivos throughout the country. This expertise has been remarkably effective as a kiruv kerovim tool as well. When bachurim are having difficulty, either picking an appropriate yeshiva or getting accepted to a yeshiva, their parents call Acheinu first. Acheinu has been successful in placing hundreds of bachurim from haredi homes into yeshivos that suit them.
As its name implies, Acheniu’s mission is to care for and be mekarev all of our brothers, and bring them me’afeilah l’or gadol!
By Yosef Sosnow
