Another time, I got a call from someone in Colorado, asking me to urgently call a non-Jewish lady there who was following my classes. When I asked what the urgency was, he told me that this lady had become so inspired by what she learned in my shiurim that she had decided to keep Shabbos. Since a non-Jew who keeps Shabbos is chayav misah, he thought I should call and warn her not to do this. I can’t remember if I called or not, but honestly, I wasn’t too worried. I was sure she wasn’t really keeping Shabbos halachically. That’s almost impossible to do without learning halachah in depth.

Another time, I gave an online course entitled “Mind over Matter” about being in control and making changes in your life. Out of around 500 participants, one of the most active people on the course didn’t seem to be Jewish, which was interesting.

Connections I’ve made

Another crazy story happened to me through the online presence of “Zichru,” Rabbi Avrohom Goldhar’s amazing program to ensure that you remember your learning. I became a Zichru member in January 2020, when we started this cycle of Daf Yomi, and I’m very taken by the system, which enables me to memorize the content of every page of the Gemara. I offered Rabbi Goldhar to make videos and promos for Zichru, and over the years, I’ve done several, which are available online.

One Chanukah, I gave a talk in Yeshivas Midrash Shmuel in Yerushalayim, and one of the rebbeim came over to me afterward. He recognized me from the Zichru content, since he was also a member, and started asking me how I manage all the review and memorization. I told him I had just decided to seek out a chavrusa, and we worked out that we could review together every night at 10 p.m. for five minutes, starting that night.

I saved his number simply as “Zichru chavrusa,” and we learned over the phone every night, sometimes for five minutes, sometimes for 45. But we never spoke about anything personal, and I didn’t even know his name. I once called him at 10 p.m. from a chasunah, and heard the same music through his phone, so that night we learned together in person. Still, I knew nothing about him, we just learned.

He once mentioned casually that he had a daughter going into shidduchim, and that he had some experience in writing up shidduch résumés. I said I had a daughter, too.

“If you want, you can send me her résumé to write up,” he offered.

A few days later, he mentioned he had a son in shidduchim, too, so I said, “Send me the résumé, in case I know someone.” At one point, I drove my daughter to a l’chayim in Rechavia, and thought I saw someone vaguely familiar.

“Zichru chavrusa?” I called out. And it was him. We said hello, he was with his wife and daughter, and I guess they saw my daughter for like two minutes, and that was it.

When I came home, I checked out his son’s résumé. Their name was on it, and I thought, well, the father seems to be a good guy. I checked out the references, the friends, and the rebbeim, and then I suggested his son meet my daughter. They gave it a shot, and it took them a short time to decide they wanted to get married. So my once-anonymous Zichru chavrusa became my mechutan.

Rabbi Uri Lati 

“A sheikh in Egypt asked me permission to use the material from my  shiur in his sermon in the mosque on Fridays”

Rabbi Lati was born in Damascus in 1981, and although he left for New York when he was three, he retained his Arabic and teaches Torah in Arabic all over the world, reaching in the most unexpected places.

When it all began

We started classes back in 2006, and they’ve been online since 2019. I post the shiurim on TorahAnytime in English and on YouTube in Arabic. Those are the full-length classes. In addition, I have someone posting short clips for me on social media almost every day.

It all started when I decided to post a shiur on YouTube for Syrian Jews in Eretz Yisrael. I posted one shiur, titling it with the name of the parshah and my name — both in Arabic. Overnight, there were 600 views. I couldn’t understand why. Then I started to get emails, things like: “Thank you for showing us the light… all our lives we thought Judaism is about hatred and killing….” and I realized that somehow, non-Jews had found it.

How often I post

The parshah shiur gets uploaded weekly after I deliver it on Wednesday evening, EST. The other clips go daily, but since I’m working alone, it can be a little inconsistent.

The languages I use

My audience in the local beit knesset is primarily Arabic-speaking, so my parshah shiur is given in Arabic. The short YouTube clips are in Arabic with Hebrew, English, and/or Arabic subtitles, depending on how much time I have.

My niche

The classes are centered around chassidut. There is my weekly Wednesday parshah shiur, generally based on chassidic teachings. Mainly Breslov ideas, but I also veer off into the sefer Amarot Tehorot, the Divrei Yoel, Noam Elimelech, or the teachings of Rachmistrivke and Bobov.

My core audience

It used to be Jewish, but I’ve discovered that it’s now primarily non-Jewish. More Muslims than Christians, I think. Since the war broke out on Simchat Torah, many more people are listening. People want to understand what makes the world hate Yidden so much. I began to edit my videos, so as not to inflame any tensions or endanger anyone. For example, I’ll use the phrase “ovdei avodah zara [idol worshippers]” instead of “goyim.” And of course, I avoid saying “yemach shemam.”

My followers

I’m not really allowed to say. What I can say is that some of them are dignitaries and ambassadors in the Arab world.

I’ve made a lot of connections with faith leaders such as Druze, Sunni, and Shiite leaders and priests, but I wouldn’t call them friendships. Sheikhs and imams find my number and call. I was invited to Egypt in 2021, but I didn’t go — I don’t have a bodyguard! I was invited to Syria, too, but I declined, because I don’t think there is any future there, and frankly, I don’t want to go back. Last year I was invited to Geneva for an interfaith meeting, but again, I declined. Recently, though, I did accept the invitation to an interfaith seminar in Berlin organized by Sharaka — an NGO established by people from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain — in partnership with the Abraham Accords Institute, since it was an official event with good security arrangements.

There is one sheikh in Egypt who wrote to ask me permission to use the material from my Wednesday shiur in his sermon in the mosque on Fridays. I agreed. I guess he takes whatever applies. He even invited me to lecture in his mosque.

The side of outreach

There is a guy in Egypt who claims he wants to convert. “Please don’t call me Achmed, call me Yehuda,” he’s been writing me. “I want to be Jewish and keep Shabbat. Please allow me to keep Shabbat.” And I keep telling him that there is no way he is allowed to, because he is a non-Jew. Meanwhile he’s stopped going to the beach because of shemirat einayim, and he is looking into shipping kosher food from Turkey. I don’t convert people, so basically, I’m just staying out of it.

Some of my viewers watch the class on Thursday mornings in secret. One guy in Syria watches it himself, reviews the class with his wife, then reviews it again with his friends. These are individuals who are truth seekers, who are tired of the lies they’ve been fed their entire lives. They want to hear the truth, and can sense it.

I know that many IDF soldiers are using my videos to learn Arabic, because they have Hebrew subtitles. And a few years ago, Yad L’Achim reached out to ask if they could use my videos to show them to Jewish women who are married to Arab men, to persuade them to leave and come back to Judaism.

The feedback I get

I receive feedback from almost every country in the world that has access to the Internet — Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, France, Sudan. Almost all of it is positive. Once in a while I’ll get emails stating things like, “you stole our land, go back to wherever you belong, you Zionists,” but that is rare. The people who are following me are often sick and tired of fighting and just want to live in peace. They’re the moderate camp, and they keep trying to invite me for interfaith dialogue.

But the truth is, I don’t have time to answer all my emails. Most commonly, they are from Arab listeners who get stuck with a pasuk or Hebrew quote. I don’t translate the Hebrew because the people in shul understand it, but the other audiences get stuck. I do try to help them out so that they can understand the rest of the shiur.

Sivan Rahav-Meir

“It’s like a bunker, where you can feel comfortable whatever your political opinions are, because this space is only about Yiddishkeit”

Sivan Rahav-Meir, Israeli television news presenter who’s considered one of the most popular female media personalities in Israel and around the Jewish world, began her media career at age six, working for a kids’ news magazine and youth television. She became religious as a teenager, married media personality Yedidya Meir, and has since been working for national media and teaching Torah. Her inspirational “Daily Thought” reaches audiences around the world. 

The languages I use

My posts are translated into ten languages.

My niche

My posts originally started with content on the parshah, with the commentaries of Rashi and Ramban. Then, during Covid, I wanted to give up-to-date optimistic messages, so I added those in. Today there is everything — divrei Torah, uplifting messages, and many personal stories that people are constantly sending me.

Many people send me content that they’d like me to post, but I weigh everything very carefully, since the audience is very broad. I have to consider whether it will resonate with Israelis, Italians, and everyone in between. People are giving me their time, so I want to give them something back for their time.

I might post about a Jew from Ukraine having a brit milah at age 80, but in general, I don’t like to post things like, “Wow, look at this hero and what he accomplished,” but rather offer everyone food for thought: “You can be a hero — just look within at what you can accomplish.”

One thing we never get into is politics. So there’s nothing on my posts about five elections here in three years, nothing about having a former prime minister who only won six seats, nothing about judicial reform or the Supreme Court or Trump or Bibi at all. It’s like a protected bunker where you can feel comfortable whatever your political opinions are, because this space is only about Yiddishkeit.

How often I post

I post on my WhatsApp status every morning, for people to enjoy with their coffee. The consistency is very important to me, and I think it resonates with others as well, because we all seek stability. I want to offer sanity in the balagan that the world has become. After that, I’m quiet until the next morning. I don’t bother my subscribers during the day with “here’s the omelet I made myself” and “here’s a joke I just heard.” I also send this Daily Thought in email form to subscribers who baruch Hashem don’t have WhatsApp.

The feedback I get

It was a crazy feeling for me when three mothers of hostages, Orli Gilboa, Shelly Shemtov, and Sigi Cohen each reached out to tell me that they read my posts daily and get chizuk from them. It was really amazing to realize that in my own small way, I had contributed to being mechazek these women.

People have contacted me saying that when I posted something about kashrut, they stopped eating nonkosher food, but I’ve also had many people complaining that I’m too right-wing, too extreme.

I’ve also had a car stopping next to me while I was walking down the street on Shabbat, and someone showing me his phone, saying, “Sivan, we read your posts together every Friday night, and often quote them.” That was interesting.

The side of outreach

Our translators, who get the initial feedback, often take the lead in replying to people who reach out with feedback to posts. They have helped people out, supported them, even invited them for Shabbos. One built a connection with an 80-year-old Spanish speaking lady who is married to a non-Jew.

My core audience

We don’t really know. I don’t think there is a certain key demographic. There are people looking to convert who want to feel Jewish, unaffiliated Jews, and also very frum Jews (I’m often surprised that they’re following me!). In our Spanish and Portuguese language departments especially, we know that there are plenty of Christians out there following my content.

I know that people are using my channel as a Jewish identity or kiruv tool. They’re casually passing it on to their unaffiliated friends, or even Jewish professionals who service them, like dentists and doctors. Someone told me that while she was touring Venice, she noticed a Magen David on a gondola. When she waved down the boatman, he said his mother was Jewish, so she gave him a link to my channel to offer him a Jewish connection.

My followers

In Eretz Yisrael right now, it’s cool to be traditional. (The next challenge is halachah… let’s hope.) So I know that a lot of celebrities and influencers are liking my posts. Actually, a peak listening time is before Yom Tov, because all the Israeli ambassadors and representatives are in need of something Jewish to say at the ceremonies they’re invited to.

One interesting thing that happened was when Rav Eliezer Igra, a senior dayan, told a beautiful story about Yoni Netanyahu, who fell during the rescue operation in Entebbe in 1976. I posted the story online, and it must have gotten to the ears of the prime minister, or someone in his office, because the next day, on Yoni’s yahrtzeit, they called and invited Rav Igra to speak.

Rabbi Tovia Singer

“The success of missionaries is rooted in our own failure to educate our youth”

Rabbi Singer, a longtime anti-missionary activist who served for several years as a rabbi in Indonesia before returning to Jerusalem, is the founder and director of Outreach Judaism, a Jewish counter-missionary organization.

My niche

I’ve been helping Jews get out of the church and return to their Jewish faith for more than 40 years. I got started as a young fellow, when I saw Jews for J. actively engaging Jewish people on the streets of New York. I thought it was vital to show them that their material was completely false. I began to respond both to the missionaries and to the Jews they were ensnaring. Today, I have millions of viewers who want to understand why our faith is true. In today’s cultural milieu, faith is under unending attack, so people desperately want answers. They want to be sure of their own faith and are hungry for information to strengthen them. I consider myself really lucky to be able to offer them this.

How I started

My books and audios came first. As soon as YouTube started, I realized that it would be a game changer and I seized on it. I think that was around 2010.

The languages I use

My material is mainly in English, but my videos get translated into Hebrew every Sunday. Israel has a tremendous problem with evangelists and messianics. You have to understand that they are “allowed” [in their religion] to lie in order to “save souls” – that’s actually sourced in their gospel. So they can pretend to be anything, from rabbis to chassidim to children of Holocaust survivors. They can invent Jewish identities; even say they grew up Orthodox. There’s a messianic family in Nachlaot who dress as chassidim and invite seminary girls for Shabbos.

There was one missionary here who had pushed himself and his family so deeply into the community that when his wife died of cancer, the community was fundraising for them. But we’ve had messianic families in Seattle, in Chicago, in other places, who are doing the same scam. I debate them publicly.

How often I post

On average, I release about five YouTube videos a week. But I’m also regularly interviewed on different shows and channels, and I send those out, too.

My core audience

I have over 100,000 subscribers. There’s no one core group. We have Jews whose faith is being challenged, and Jews who are in the church, already converted. (Why are they following me? Well, it’s like you invested in the stock market, and if you find out that your stocks are about to crash, you could sell your shares. So they got themselves in there, but what I have to say is of enormous interest, because if it’s compelling, they can “sell their shares” in Christianity and get out.)

As it turns out, some Muslims enjoy my programs. Moreover, they use what I teach to defend their own religion against Christian missionaries. And atheists, too. I’m interviewed regularly on atheist channels. Even chareidi Jews listen. They never learned Sefer Yeshayahu in yeshivah, so they’re happy to learn it with me.

My target

The success of missionaries is rooted in our own failure to educate our youth. Jewish education, outside the Orthodox community, is lapsing desperately. The church wants to convert every single Jew to Christianity, but there are contributing factors that make some individuals more vulnerable. For example, those who struggle with a low self-esteem are more vulnerable to evangelism. The spiritually lost, and those who never received a coherent explanation as to why Judaism has to be the true religion, are more susceptible to aggressive missionaries. While most people who become caught by the missionaries lack Jewish education, there are occasions when frum youth will become ensnared in Christianity, but that is rare. In these troubling cases, the individual has generally faced trauma or alienation in their frum upbringing.

My followers

My job is to get the material out there to help people. I don’t keep track of who’s watching, and my most important audience is not celebrities; it’s Jews who have doubts and questions. I get people who recognize me on the streets, but so far I haven’t heard feedback from Netanyahu.

The side of outreach

There are thousands of kiruv stories. I know young Jews who were targeted on university campuses, converted to Christianity, and came back to Judaism through my materials. I know more than one young man, from completely secular backgrounds, who used to belong to Jews for J. My outreach got them out to do teshuvah, and today they are bnei Torah. Another man, who is a frum lawyer today, was in the Jews for J movement and almost married a non-Jewish girl.

Some hundreds of people stay in touch with me, but my goal is not to keep up with people, but to rid them of the cancer of missionary bombardment. I’m just the oncologist. When they’re ready to go further, they can move to the frum community, to kiruv yeshivos or wherever they can learn more.

The feedback I get

I get feedback from any place on the globe where Jews are. That’s how it is with YouTube — you can’t control where the flame reaches, where the water flows. Since nearly half of world Jewry is in the US, that’s where a huge part of my audience is, but people who are influenced by my shows are all over the globe. I’ve received emails from thousands of people who are leaving the church and doing teshuvah, baruch Hashem.

I also have a chassidishe oilem — I get emails from Kiryas Joel, Williamsburg, Monsey, and Boro Park, from people who are enjoying learning Sefer Zechariah with me, and from yeshivah guys who are learning how to respond to missionaries. I don’t ask anyone why they are listening to me. It’s open to all and I’m happy to have them.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1091)