Oorah founder Rabbi Chaim Mintz doesn't let your soul go to sleep

Photos: Naftoli Goldgrab, Family archives

With insights from his own great rebbeim, Rabbi Chaim Mintz, who would go on to found Oorah, became a beloved mashgiach at the Yeshiva of Staten Island. But that was only the beginning. Reading a line about how Jews have an achrayus to help those distant from Torah, he looked around and said, ‘Nu? What are we doing for all the secular Jews?” The bochurim looked back at their rebbi. “There’s nothing we can do!” To which Rabbi Mintz responded, “You wanna bet?”

Rav Dovid Kronglas ztz”l, seldom cried. As the legendary mashgiach of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel Baltimore, his shmuessen were aflame with fiery passion, and at times, interlaced with humor as well.

But he didn’t cry.

When Elul came, the talmidim knew to expect the sudden transformation that would overcome their mashgiach. Fear would envelop him, he would hardly speak, and he never smiled. He gave more shmuessen than usual, and, with fiery passion and heartfelt emotion, he would speak about eimas hadin — the fear of judgment.

And still, he didn’t cry.

Rosh Hashanah arrived and he rose to stand before the amud. Cloaked in a tallis, his face the picture of fear, he began to recite Kaddish. Yisgadel v’yiskadash Shmei rabbah! May Your Great Name grow exalted and be sanctified. And suddenly, his voice would crack.

And Rav Dovid Kronglas cried.

The talmidim shuddered as they continued to daven, inspired and uplifted by their rebbi’s tefillos.

One talmid never forgot that cry. Chaim Mintz hailed from Scranton, Pennsylvania, and joined the yeshivah at the age of 13. He diligently attended Rav Dovid’s shmuessen. In fact, he missed only one shmuess in his seven years at the yeshivah — and that was because he was sitting shivah for his father. He learned a tremendous amount from Rav Dovid, gaining a mehalach halimud both in learning and hashkafah.

But most of all, he learned that yisgadel v’yiskadash Shmei rabbah is something to cry about.

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time, Chaim graduated from Ner Yisroel and became a rebbi, first in the yeshivah’s newly founded branch in Toronto, and then in Yeshiva of Staten Island. This led to a broader role as Chaim, now revered as Rav Chaim, assumed the position of mashgiach ruchani, mentoring hundreds of talmidim, both past and present.

Simultaneously, Rabbi Mintz embarked on a humble but impassioned mission to reach beyond the walls of the yeshivah — to those who never had a chance to dwell within its confines. This included endeavors such as sending special packages each Chanukah to the Jewish neighbors, imploring unaffiliated Jews he’d meet to send their children to Jewish schools, and arranging chavrusashafts between less affiliated Jews and talmidim of the yeshivah.

Over time, the various initiatives snowballed into what is now a behemoth kiruv organization: Oorah.

Oorah’s impact in the kiruv world is literally incalculable. Its two summer camps, one for boys and one for girls — collectively called The Zone — welcome some 1,500 campers annually. In addition to summer camp, Oorah runs kiruv programs throughout the year and operates numerous kiruv resources utilized by thousands of Jews around the globe. Their tuition assistance program funds the tuitions of over 2,300 children, enabling them to attend Jewish schools and receive a Jewish education.

Some 6,300 chavrusashafts are currently facilitated through Oorah’s TorahMates program, which links less knowledgeable Jews with those privileged to have had a Torah education. The pairs then schedule regular learning sessions with each other.

In a sense, the tuition assistance program and TorahMates work in tandem. As part of the deal Oorah strikes with parents, the funding of their child’s tuition is contingent on their agreeing to learn with a TorahMate. This arrangement fosters a dynamic of joint growth as both parents and children develop in their Jewish knowledge.

Rabbi Mintz’s lifework is divided into two primary focuses.

He is the mashgiach of Yeshiva of Staten Island where he mentors bochurim as they navigate through their years in a top-level yeshivah.

He is the manhig ruchani, the spiritual director, of Oorah where he has the last say on the many critical decisions that are made in the framework of such a massive kiruv enterprise.

The two positions may seem to have little in common but Rabbi Mintz doesn’t see it that way.

In his mind, the two share an objective. Sixty years after it was emitted, Rav Kronglas’s cry continues to reverberate.

Yisgadel v’yiskadesh Shmei rabbah.

It all falls under the same banner.