Thursday, March 22, 2007

The Kiruv Ballet


“Hello Minero Jewelry..
Yes come in Rabbis, Steve will be right with you”.
The two young, good looking Rabbis from ______ sat down on the plush couch, their polished black shoes on the polished mahogany floor as Tchaikovskys Swan Lake echoed through the hall at just the perfect volume.
Yakov and Shimmy were right on time for their Corporate Lunch learning session with Steve Golden CEO and Seth Hauer the young Vice President of Minero Jewelry one of the the largest watch manufacturers in the world.
Yakov turned to his partner and said “it’ll really be cool if we can get Steve to come to our corporate Pesach seder”.
“I know” replied Shimmy, we already have 2 other CEOs signed up, but he’s really big. By the way when should we schedule our under 30 yuppy trip to Israel for?”
“I’m not sure, Karen is checking the flights and hotel vacancies.” “I know ______ is planning theirs for October, I don’t want to lose that crowd y’know?”

“Hey guys come on in..”
“Steve” exclaimed Shimmy with a hearty handshake and a slap on the back..
“Seth, good to see you.."
They entered the large ornate office attache cases in hand and took their seats.

Unbeknownst to them, just 30 feet away on the grimy side of the south facing wall, under the din of heavy machinery sat 42 year old Greg, toiling away for minimum wage, sweat pouring down his face. He was able to work in peace, headphones blaring ethnic music into his ears.
You see no one seemed to be fighting for his soul.
Just not cool enough to be mekarev..


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10 Comments:

Blogger smb said...

Sad, Greg is a fellow Jew and he deserves to learn about his heritage just like other Jews.

March 22, 2007 5:16 PM  
Blogger the dreamer said...

Ouch.
That hurt.

March 23, 2007 12:50 AM  
Blogger socialworker/frustrated mom said...

That is hurtful I hope it really does not happen like this. Did you make this up or is it based on any experiences?

March 23, 2007 10:49 AM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

March 23, 2007 12:26 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

lvnsm...
absolutely

dreamer...
indeed..

swfm...
this is indeed based on a true story...
I used t work for an organization..
but this post i guess is dramatizing a trend I find lately..a sort of glamourization of certain kiruv organizations..where certain demagraphics are targeted...a certain image is created....
While I applaud the wonderful work that they do..there is definitely a certain Mesiras nefesh lacking..

March 23, 2007 12:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This may be your best post to date. Although I'm not involved in kiruv, it hit home and pierced my heart. It's a simple short post, yet it's so sad. Beautifully written (as usual)

March 24, 2007 9:33 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

allie...
Thank you

March 25, 2007 3:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey, nice post, but I am sure that most rabbis don't climb for the big fish only to make kiruv, they have open houses, and any one who comes in touch with them had a chance, the frequent colleges, street gatherings, and any place they can put their hand on a wondering Jew, so the answer is yes, every one get a chance.

March 25, 2007 3:47 PM  
Blogger socialworker/frustrated mom said...

That is so sad sorry to hear this is based on a true experience.

March 25, 2007 7:41 PM  
Blogger David_on_the_Lake said...

nuch...
I'm not insinuating any malice here..but there is definitely a large group that falls through the cracks of the untargeted demagraphics..

March 25, 2007 10:34 PM  

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