It was an evening of appreciation all around.
More than 100 JNet volunteers gathered at the Jewish Children’s Museum on Sunday night for an event in their honor that featured a welcome by Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, a keynote address by Rabbi Levke Kaplan, and a delectable dinner.
As they enjoyed sushi and a hot buffet in the elegantly lit room, dozens of volunteers stopped for video interviews to voice their appreciation for JNet and reveal the gains from their involvement in the program. “I look forward all week to speaking with my chavrusa,” one guest said. “My weekly JNet session has enriched my own personal learning,” said another. “I love being involved in shlichus from Crown Heights,” they all enthused.
JNet – the Jewish Learning Network – was launched eight years ago by Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch with the aim of making personalized Torah learning available to everyone, everywhere, at every level. Volunteers are matched with chavrusas and learn the topic of their choice once a week on the phone or Skype. Under the direction of Rabbi Yehuda Dukes, JNet has grown to include thousands of chavrusas learning every week and has expanded to online courses, learning campaigns, and a “JNet en Espanol” branch that has more than 220 chavrusas learning in Spanish every week.
The evening’s program opened with a video of the Rebbe speaking of the shlichus that every Jew is entrusted with – that of spreading Torah and mitzvos – and the level of devotion that it entails.
“When the shliach is dedicated fully to his mission, he is indeed one with the Rebbe, but there are two halves here,” the Rebbe said. “The shliach’s part is crucial. The shliach… must devote himself as much as humanly possible.”
Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, Vice Chairman of Merkos L’Inyonei Chinuch and Chairman of JNet, praised the volunteers for that level of devotion they show to JNet and warmly blessed them to see the fruits of their efforts. Such fruits were very apparent as Rabbi Dukes described the impact that JNet volunteers have had on the people they study with.
“A young man who had drifted away from his Modern Orthodox upbringing was set up with a JNet chavrusa, but lost touch after only one conversation,” Rabbi Dukes said. “I called him to ask if there had been a problem – perhaps he hadn’t connected well with the chavrusa? The young man told me that actually, since that conversation with his chavrusa – that one conversation! – he had started to once again put on tefillin every day.”
Amongst other anecdotes, Rabbi Dukes described a Jewish rice farmer in Thailand who learned to read Alef Bais and a 65-year old man who celebrated his bar mitzvah after learning his Haftora with his JNet chavrusa.
“You may not realize how much of an effect you have, since you don’t actually see your chavrusa in person,” he said, “but every conversation can make a difference in their life.”
The event’s keynote speaker Rabbi Levke Kaplan, a veteran educator and himself a JNet volunteer, spoke candidly of having felt lost as a young bochur in yeshiva. “One night I was walking through the Zal, and a bochur was sitting by himself and learning,” he related. “The bochur looked at me and said, ‘Come, learn with me.’ That evening began a three-year long partnership of nightly learning, and remains to this day my most treasured memory of Yeshiva. When the bochur left Yeshiva, it was then my turn to find a young bochur and tell him, ‘Come, learn with me.’ And that chavrusa continued for three years as well.”
“I’ve found that when someone truly has a love of learning, it’s almost always been sparked by someone else,” Rabbi Kaplan said. “It’s up to us to transmit that love to others.”
The crowd listened intently and many took notes as Rabbi Kaplan shared practical tips on how to get the most out of learning sessions. Cards on the tables displayed highlighted points of the Rabbi’s speech, titled “Five Ways to Enhance Your Chavrusa Experience”.
Rabbi Dukes thanked his hardworking team, JNet’s women’s coordinator Mushkie Shemtov and Spanish coordinator Rabbi Chai Kohan, as well as Chava Namdar who coordinated the evening.
As the guests left, they received a parting gift from JNet – the book “Seeds of Wisdom”, a collection of short stories and encounters with the Rebbe.
“To our volunteers,” the in leaf read. “A token of appreciation for your dedication to this Shlichus.”
Visit www.JNet.org to sign up as a volunteer today.
JNet is a division of Merkos L’Ionyonei Chinuch and was established with a generous grant from the Rohr Foundation.
A lo s de habla hispana Saludos e. Especial a dos cotrabajadores shloime hilel and jany s hilel nuestras felicitaciones bh Broja bhatzlaja para ellos y toda jnet moshiaj now
Uriel H.Argentina
there are some in c.h and also other places that feel lost etc not happy don’t feel the meaning in life etc see the article about landmark and kiyadua cots set up a chavrusa with someone teach chassidus or what ever it is give and you will recieve more than you can imagine.i went there and did that and came ”here” and do this and the ‘results’……
RabBi levk kaplan is absolutely amazing!
U are such a hard worker!!! U go girl!!!
Unbelievable, thank you. I love doing j net and I’m very happy, excited and emotionally touched by this project you undertook. I like it. Good Baruch Hansen.
Keep up the outstanding work! We are so proud of you.
Your fans in Hillside, NJ
What a beautiful event! Kol HaKavod! May your impact only increase.
What a beautiful event! An evening to show accccapreciation for those who volunteer to share their time and knowledge. Here’s praying the Rebbe has lots of continued nachus from all of you! Kudos to Rabbi Dukes and his crew!
Grande Chai!!
yasher koach yudi
He is loved and admired by all his friends and coworkers,
Not only is he smart and a doer, he is also a person you can count on for advice and to have a good laugh.
Somehow while always being busy, he will find time to help with what I need.
In Spanish we say he is the most “capito.”
Jnet is lucky to have him. And so are the Jewish people.
You rock!!!
Great to see events like this happening in CH
I’m one of those people who said I look forward to learning with my chavrusa all week. Living in Crown Heights can be a bit of a bubble and getting to teach someone about yiddishkeit every week really make me look at my own yiddishkeit in a different way. Yasher koach Rabbi Dukes & yelchu michayil el chayil.
She’s our favorite!
great guy, you get so much done and accomplished and all with such grace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
rabino koan el mas grande de todos
Rabbi Kaplan’s speech was both inspiring and practical… Great evening and thank you JNet for letting me be a part of it!!!
thanks to chava namdar all this was posible
It was such a beautiful event and made me so proud to be a part of such a wonderful organization! Thank you Rabbi Yehuda Dukes! This event made all of us really feel appreciated! Kol Hakavod!