Ready to Use Kiruv Programs

Jewish Parenting Course

A Five Week Course written by Torah observant therapist and author, Sarah Chana Radcliffe called Help! I Have Children. This course, including a tape by Rabbi Yisroel Roll on how to give the course, gives parents hands on parenting techniques and the Jewish sources for the ideas presented. Study the course materials and the tape and give the course yourself. Course material and tape: $25.00 plus $5.00 for shipping. You can then order Help! I Have Children materials for your talmidim as you give the course as its good or the talmidim to “look inside” as they review the techniques.

Jewish Pride Seminar

A three week seminar based on 90 minutes of video clips of events that evoke Jewish Pride. The seminar and video are divided into three sections: Renewal, Israel and Redemption. Events on the video include: Hagannah Ship Exodus, Sharansky being Freed, Operation Solomon, Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Eichmann's capture, Six Day War, Entebbe, Senator Lieberman, Tamar Goodman…and more. The lecture materials give guidelines on leading the discussion after each video section. Good for high schools, culture clubs, young adults and living room discussion groups. Goal: Translate your Jewish pride into Jewish action. $25.00 for video and lecture materials plus $5.00 shipping.

Five Week Course with lecture materials on the Meaning of Life based on a baseball model. First Base:Physical Pleasure; Second Base: Love; Third Base: Integrity; Home Run: Leave your mark in the world; Win the Game: Spirituality. Course written by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf and Rabbi Yisroel Roll. Cost $10 plus $1.00 for shipping.

Six tapes of lectures by Rabbi Yisroel Roll on themes discussed by Rashi plus a source book of Rashi sources. This is not a course on reading Rashi, rather, it introduces beginners to concepts of hashkafa addressed by Rashi including: Integrity, Astrology, Love, The Secret of Life, Suffering and Spirituality. Course can be introduced with Rabbi Wein's film called Rashi: A Light After the Dark Ages (sold separately at www.rabbiwein.com ). Cost of six tapes and source book $25.00 plus $5.00 shipping.

Encounter Keynote Address by Chief Rabbi Lau

Video of a powerful and dynamic 45 minute kiruv drasha by Chief Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau. Also included: Keynote lectures by Rabbi Abraham Twerski and Chief Rabbi Sacks.
Cost of video: $10.00 plus $3.00 shipping.

Self Esteem Workshop

Purchase an audio tape by Baltimore self esteem therapist, Rabbi Yisroel Roll called 12 Steps to Building Children's Self Esteem. Cost: $6.00 plus 50 cents for shipping. Visit Rabbi Roll's web site www.12steps2selfesteem.org

Rabbi Roll is available to give Self Esteem workshops in your community.

For further details contact Rabbi Yisroel Roll at 410-585-1138 or yisroelhillel@aol.com

Send orders by email and mail a check to Encounter USA, 6204 Cross Country Blvd, Baltimore, Maryland, 21215.

Crossroads

A new teen outreach program run by Shlomo Horwitz, a musmach of Ner Yisroel. Shlomo has been working part-time in kiruv for over 15 years with both adults and teens. For over a decade he has been running Crossroads, a program he founded in 1992 and whose mission is "to instill within teenagers uniquely Jewish values and approaches to crucial life issues, in an informal, non-intimidating setting, with an emphasis on their interaction and growth". The program has touched over 1,000 kids in the Greater Baltimore area and that number continues to grow. Shlomo has a full-time job in the software industry but is available on a limited basis for presentations in other cities. He has most recently presented in Philadelphia and is in discussions with synagogues and schools in Seattle, Westchester and Miami for future programming. He has just entered a partnership with a Baltimore synagogue to provide ongoing family programming to include parents and children together, through lively lectures, skits and plays. His range of topics includes, in Shlomo's own words:

• 'Paratrooper in Jerusalem' A first-person account of the liberation of the Kotel - I become one of the dati paratroopers who liberated the Kotel during the Six Day War. As I recount 'my' childhood in the Ir Ha'atika and later my journey to the Har Habayit I have flashbacks to the major Biblical events that took place in those very spots.
  
• 'Jihad' in which I become a Palestinian Arab from Beit Sahour near Bet Lechem, and 'justify' suicide bombings and the Arab claim to the Land. It gets ugly, with kids forgetting who I really am, and shouting at me. I leave the room and come back as myself, praising the kids for their answers and giving them additional 'ammo' to better understand our own claim to the Land and the fact that the Arab claims are mainly skillful and often malicious PR.
  
• 'The Truth about the Pesach Seder' in which I become a missionary and demonstrate that the Seder rituals were developed to show our belief in Jesus as our savior. This is based on an actual Jews for Jesus pamphlet I was given years ago (it's now on their website). Again, I stir up strong emotions among the kids. Using materials I received from Jews for Judaism, I totally debunk the missionary arguments at the end.
  
• 'What Happens When You Die', in which I give an overview of traditions about what really happens when one dies. I rely heavily on 'Asey Lecha Rav', Vol 2, as well as many interesting sources in R' Aryeh Kaplan's Handbook of Jewish Thought, Vol 2. I include a story about a Rav from Baltimore who had a near-death experience which has been written about in the series 'Visions of Greatness' and taken seriously by people like Rav Heinemann. The man in question agreed to a personal interview for this presentation.
  
• 'Break Glass in Case of Emergency' in which I give an overview of a Jewish wedding, and why we do the things we do. Covers everything from the Badekin through the Kesuba and Sheva B'rachos.
  'Home A'Clone' in which I discuss the halachic ramifications of cloning, surrogate parenthood, including paternity and filial relationships, etc.
  
• 'The Exorcist' in which I cover what Judaism teaches about Dybbuks and Reincarnation. I act out a story witnessed by Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman in which a Dybbuk was actually exorcised in Eastern Europe.
  
• 'Poison Pens: The Nazi Attack on the Torah' - this is based on an amazing rare sefer I discovered years ago which was written by the chief defender in a debate about the Talmud on the pages of Der Stuermer in the 1930's. He was a rabbi in Vienna at the time, and survived the war by being rescued by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In this session I become a moderate Nazi from the period, and ask the kids (who play the role of the Nazi's neighbors) the actual questions raised by Der Stuermer. Then the kids try to answer the questions and ultimately guidance is provided.

For further information, please contact Shlomo Horwitz at shorwitz@systemautomation.com to get a packet of literature, including references from educators and kids.