Malkie Schulman

There is something powerful about seeing 2,000 people excited about the same thing, and when that same thing is Yiddishkeit, it's even more moving. At the Oorah concert on the first night of Chanukah, Rabbi Chaim Mintz, founder of the Oorah kiruv organization, asked the audience to rise, place their hands over their eyes, and say Shema Yisroel. When everybody did that, I thought back to Rav Eliezer Silver. After the Holocaust, he searched convents for hidden Jewish children and discovered them by their reaction to his recitation of Shema. Rabbi Mintz, an unapologetic proud-to-be-a-Torah-Jew who truly loves all Yidden, I realized, is continuing Rav Silver's mission - bringing lost souls back to Torah. The concert to me was an expression of his love and why Oorah is successful. It's a rare melding of uncompromised Yiddishkeit combined with reaching down to bring up those not yet observant to see the beauty of our lifestyle.