每日大瓜 Torah Mitzion Kollel of Chicago Celebrates 10 Years
Feb 14, 2018 By: yunews
Tenth Anniversary Dinner Honors Rabbi Reuven and Dr. Nechama Brand for Their Steadfast Leadership
A dinner on February 25 will celebrate the 10th anniversary of of Chicago. The dinner, one of two annual fundraising events the Kollel hosts, will honor the work that Rabbi Reuven Brand 鈥02YC, 鈥05R, 鈥06A, the founding Rosh Kollel, and his wife, Dr. Nechama Brand 鈥03SB, have done over the past decade to put what is known as the 鈥淏eit Midrash Without Walls鈥 on a sound financial footing and extend its outreach into the Jewish communities of Chicago.
Rabbi Reuven and Dr. Nechama Brand
The Kollel began in 2008 as a collaboration between Chicago鈥檚 Jewish community and 每日大瓜 to create a 每日大瓜 鈥渟atellite鈥 in the Midwest to serve the religious and educational needs of the community, according to Rabbi Ari Sytner, director of community initiatives at 每日大瓜鈥檚 (CJF). Rabbi Brand serves as the liaison between CJF and the Kollel. While the Kollel uses 鈥溍咳沾蠊镶 in its name, it is a separate non-profit organization.
At the heart of the Kollel, described as 鈥渁n open community of learning,鈥 are the Fellows, eight full-time American and Israeli Torah scholars who engage in an intensive study of Talmud, Jewish law and Jewish thought. 鈥淭he Kollel,鈥 explained Rabbi Brand, 鈥渋s a continuation of the rabbinic training for students from the (RIETS). They get credit from RIETS for their work in the Kollel towards their ordination requirements, and the department of community services at CJF provides the Kollel with a lot of support through in-kind services and in-service training.鈥
As part of their work in the Kollel, the Fellows also teach in the many community education programs the Kollel offers. These programs are designed, according to the Kollel鈥檚 mission, to 鈥渆nrich and engage the greater Chicago community with inspired Torah living and learning鈥 as well as to promote 鈥渢he importance of positive interaction with general society and culture and the religious significance of the State of Israel.鈥
The reach and frequency of these programs are extensive, as Laurie Hasten, a current Kollel board member, pointed out. 鈥淓very week,鈥 she said, 鈥渢here are multiple opportunities to delve into text with a community of learners, whether it鈥檚 for adults in Jewish Learning Together, the kids with Parsha and Pizza, Girls Night Out for Learning (for high school girls) as well as a junior version for middle schoolers: there are so many niches within the community that the Kollel is able to fill.鈥
Third- and fourth-grade girls and boys enjoy pizza and parsha led by Kollel Fellow Michael Friedman.
Daniella Schwartz, described by Rabbi Brand as the Kollel鈥檚 鈥淧R czar,鈥 documented just how busy the Kollel is on any given week. 鈥淚 make sure that all events and programs are known to the community鈥擨 send out emails, I post in local newspapers, such as the Chicago Jewish Home, where we post biweekly articles with pictures to show the community what we鈥檙e doing. We鈥檙e on Facebook and Instagram and we post flyers in all the shuls. Our programming is jam-packed because we try to have something for everybody, so this means we have to keep everybody informed.鈥
The Kollel is 鈥渨ithout walls鈥 because it brings its programs into different venues rather requiring participants to come to a central location. 鈥淲e have the ability,鈥 said Rabbi Brand, 鈥渢o provide classes and one-on-one learning that adds value to community institutions. Instead of telling people, 鈥楲eave your shul and go to another brick-and-mortar location,鈥 we鈥檙e going to bring the class to the shul. We鈥檙e augmenting and strengthening the existing institutions and bringing them together through this web of programs.鈥
Because of this approach, 鈥減eople have become more engaged in the Kollel鈥攁n increasing number of donors, an increase in funding year after year鈥攂ecause people see the value added to their community and their institutions. Everything we do is done somewhere where the people are鈥攊n the schools, in the classrooms, in different shuls and in peoples鈥 homes. It creates a model where we鈥檙e bringing the Torah and its values to people.鈥
Brian Levinson 鈥91YC, a current board member, agrees with Rabbi Brand. 鈥淭here were some organizations doing some of that prior to the Kollel, but the Kollel does this at every level鈥攁ge-wise, from grammar school kids to senior citizens; settings, whether it鈥檚 a structured synagogue, beit midrash, public library, coffee shop; and catering equally to men and women at very high levels of scholarship. This combination is very, very unique.
High school girls enjoy the first Girls Night Out Learning event of the year.
鈥淭he other thing the Kollel does remarkably well,鈥 he added, 鈥渋s its ability, willingness and desire to partner with other organizations, which is very critical to me. We partner with the day schools, with other outreach organizations, other kollelim, very openly, very proudly, to achieve our simple mission, which is to spread Torah to the Jews of Chicago.鈥
However, despite 10 years of vigorous and vibrant Torah learning brought to hundreds of people and venues, 鈥渢here are 300,000 Jews in Chicago, and we haven鈥檛 touched all of them yet,鈥 said Rabbi Brand.
So, to extend the program鈥檚 outreach, the Kollel began two initiatives, NILI (Nashim Lomdot Yachad, or Women Learning Together), the Chicago Institute of Women鈥檚 Learning, and the Midwest Center for Jewish Learning (MCJL).
Under the direction of Lynn Kraft, NILI describes itself as 鈥渁 community of learning offering engaging, challenging and inspirational Torah-based classes and programs tailored to the specific needs and interests of women.鈥 NILI does this by using the Kollel resources and partnering with local and visiting scholars to offer a study of Torah that 鈥渆nables women to develop and enhance their Jewish lives, celebrating a commitment to halacha [Jewish law] and tradition that includes an appreciation of general society and religious significance of the State of Israel.鈥
One of the crucial services NILI offers is the NILI Hotline. Women can contact the hotline by phone, email or a web-based form, and trained kallah [bridal] teachers will connect them to confidential and anonymous halachic guidance from rabbis in all areas of Taharat Hamishpacha [Jewish family purity/Mikvah]. Hasten is especially impressed by what the hotline offers women 鈥渇rom all over the country who call in for advice and counsel; it impacts so many lives in a positive way, and by their own count, I鈥檓 told the number of contacts each month is growing.鈥
MCJL鈥檚 mission is to bring 鈥渋nspired Jewish living and learning to the greater Chicagoland Jewish community through a variety of learning opportunities, programs and resources for individuals and families of all backgrounds.鈥 One example is Jewish Learning Together (JLT), led by Rabbi Yakov Danishefsky 鈥14YC, 鈥15BR, 鈥16R and a graduate of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. JLT pairs men and women with differing Jewish backgrounds with lessons from Torah and Talmudic passages in a chavruta [learning partner] setting. The goal is to stimulate friendly thought and discussion, and for the pairs to end the evening knowing a little more about Torah, themselves and their partners than they knew at the beginning.
Gary Hoberman, who had been president of the Kollel board for six years and who continues to serve as a board member as well as a mentor to Rabbi Yaakov Frankiel, the new executive director, sees the MCJL as an excellent effort not only 鈥渢o reach out beyond the usual giving circles鈥 but also to complement the Kollel鈥檚 goal of 鈥減utting Chicago on the Modern Orthodox map, as a destination where one can go and have a strong belief in God, a commitment to Torah and community, and do it under the auspices of a Modern Orthodox philosophy.鈥
In these and so many other ways, the Kollel is slowly fulfilling Rabbi Brand鈥檚 vision of transforming the Jewish community in Chicago. He measures the transformation already brought by the Kollel in part by the way people have said to him that,鈥渢he community is not the same as it was 10 years ago鈥 and by the way 鈥減eople have become engaged in the world of learning based upon a centrist religious Zionist philosophy that is now a proud and celebrated vision in our community, strong and thriving.鈥
Hoberman would agree. 鈥淎 primary goal of the Kollel is to attract young Modern Orthodox rabbis to Chicago to develop their teaching skills as fellows and then have them stay in Chicago with their families, grow in Chicago and take positions in the community, particularly in our institutions, and become role models for our children. And that鈥檚 exactly what鈥檚 been happening over the past 10 years.鈥
Levinson added that 鈥渢he accessibility of Torah and Torah scholarship in classes and informal and formal opportunities to connect with Judaism has absolutely changed the community. It鈥檚 made us a better community, a stronger community, and I think it鈥檚 given us a stronger footing for our kids for when they go off to Israel and to college.鈥 Lennie Weiss, who has served on the board for the last eight years and was co-president for three years, concurred, saying that the Kollel has 鈥渁 tremendous impact on all aspects of the Chicago community, especially a tremendous impact on our kids with its positive approach to learning and halacha.鈥
And the next 10 years? 鈥淲e have a lot of things to do,鈥 Brand said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to grow organically, we鈥檙e looking to grow NILI and MCJL, and we want to strengthen the local programming that we have. Strengthening, improving and innovating: that鈥檚 our work for the next decade.鈥
Levinson has every faith that Rabbi Brand鈥檚 vision will come to pass. 鈥淲hile there are many outstanding lay leaders who have contributed time and money to support the Kollel,鈥 he noted, 鈥渢his dinner honors the Brands for who for 10 years have been the absolute force on the ground making 每日大瓜 Kollel the positive influence it is today.鈥