Wow. Many years ago ultra-Orthodox Jews looked upon the non-religious as "goyim" (not Jewish at all).
They were vehement in their criticism of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and what they perceived as his wild and crazy efforts to reach out to the unaffiliated and uninterested among the Jewish people. They even wondered if what he was doing was correct according to Torah. When the Rebbe went on Cable TV they felt he was immersing words of Torah in a non-kosher medium. Now here it is some 40 years later and Haredi Jews have launched a television channel in Israel to "ignite the Jewish spark." A promotional piece features the headline, "Gedolei Yisrael (sages of Israel) declare: BRINGING THE GEULA MAY BE AS EASY AS WATCHING TV!" And who is pictured on the cover? Not a happy, wholesome, sweet-faced lad or lassie but a guy with an earring in his ear, a tattoo on his neck, dark sunglasses and wearing tefillin (prayer phylacteries) and a prayer shawl! This is outreach to the furthest extent "out." They are serious! Every Jew counts, and why? Because they want the Redemption.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe urged everyone to "open their eyes and see that the true and complete Redemption is here in actuality." When you see this cover, and read their heartfelt plea for support for their efforts to
reach their "brothers and sisters," how can you help but thrill to the evidence that the world has turned!
“Chazal (our sages) tell us that the final Redemption will come
when Am Yisrael (the Jewish people) does teshuva (repent)….
And this, frankly, is where the whole drive to geula (Redemption)
grinds to a screeching halt.
You see, kiruv (outreach) organizations can reach just a few
estranged Jews at a time…but there are millions out there – 3 million
secular Jews in Israel alone, and untold millions that haven’t (yet)
intermarried in the United States!! How will they ever get back? How
can you reach them all?
The answer is simple: TV, of course….a Torah TV channel that
will reach our estranged brothers and sisters in their own living rooms."
- Excerpt from Hidabroot the Magazine
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