One of the greatest joys of serving at Aish is discovering just how deeply this organization has shaped Jewish lives for more than half a century.
Everywhere I travel, regardless of the community or denomination, someone inevitably pulls me aside to share a story about how Aish changed their life or the life of someone they love. Those conversations never grow old. They remind me that the true impact of Aish cannot be measured simply by the number of students who have walked through our doors. It is measured by the generations of Jews whose lives were forever transformed because someone took the time to help them discover their heritage, their purpose, and ultimately their relationship with God.
This past week I was visiting a community made up primarily of Orthodox Jews when a respected Chasidic rabbi introduced himself after learning that I serve as CEO of Aish. Our conversation began with a family he knew well. Years ago, someone in that family first encountered Judaism through Aish. Today, multiple generations are living committed Jewish lives, raising Jewish children, and strengthening their own communities.
He smiled as he reflected on the familiar teaching from the Talmud that whoever saves a single life is considered as if he has saved an entire world. For many years he appreciated those words as a beautiful expression of Jewish values. Now he had witnessed them with his own eyes. One Jewish soul inspired by Aish had expanded into children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren living lives filled with Torah, mitzvot, and love of Judaism. One life truly had become an entire world.
Our conversation then moved in a direction I did not expect.
This rabbi spoke with remarkable familiarity about the teachings of Rav Noah Weinberg, zt’l. As a teacher himself, he explained that while his students possessed tremendous Torah knowledge, many struggled to develop a deep and personal relationship with God. They knew how to learn, but they were searching for a language that would help them strengthen their connection to Hashem. He told me that Rav Noah’s teachings had become an important resource in helping bridge that gap.
That conversation reminded me of something we sometimes overlook.
Aish was founded over fifty years ago to reach Jews with little or no Jewish background. Rav Noah Weinberg zt’l developed a curriculum that assumed someone knew virtually nothing about Judaism. Students did not need to know the Aleph Bet. Many had never opened a Chumash. Some knew almost nothing about Israel, Torah, or even God Himself.
The brilliance of Rav Noah’s approach was that he never simply taught information. He taught people how to discover God.
Whether through the Aish Discovery Seminar, the Aish Essentials classes, or countless lectures and conversations, every piece of the curriculum was designed to help people recognize that Judaism is not merely a collection of rituals or traditions. It is a living relationship with the Creator of the universe.
Years ago I read a graduate paper describing the Aish Discovery Seminar as perhaps the most widely attended Jewish educational seminar in Jewish history. That remarkable success came from addressing the questions every thoughtful person eventually asks. Why are we here? Can we trust the Torah? Does God exist? If He does, what does He want from me?
Those questions are just as relevant today.
Many of the people participating in Discovery today are already observant Jews who want to deepen their understanding of faith. Our online courses continue reaching thousands more across the globe. The audience has expanded, yet the message remains exactly the same.
God is real.
God loves us.
God wants a relationship with every one of us.
When I first joined Aish over eleven years ago, that truth struck me more than anything else. I encountered an organization that spoke naturally and confidently about God as a living reality. Not as an abstract philosophical concept, but as a loving Father who is actively involved in our lives and who longs for a relationship with each of His children.
That message changes people.
I remember shortly after accepting the position at Aish receiving a text message from a member of the New York City Council. I knew he was Jewish, although not someone deeply involved in Jewish communal life. His message simply wished me success at Aish. During our exchange he shared that years earlier he had studied at Aish as a young man and that experience had profoundly influenced his own Jewish journey.
Stories like that continue everywhere I go.
Some people spent months learning in our yeshiva or seminary.
Others attended a single Essentials class in the Dan Family Aish World Center.
Many never visited Jerusalem at all, yet Aish.com became their teacher. Our articles, videos, podcasts, and social media content reached them exactly when they needed guidance.
This week I shared with one of our partners the story of a young Jewish woman who had become involved with deeply anti Jewish circles. Covered with tattoos and carrying enormous feelings of shame, she wanted desperately to reconnect with Judaism but was too embarrassed to walk into a synagogue.
Instead, she began reading Aish.com.
Before every holiday she would return to learn what to do, what to say, and how to reconnect with her heritage. Slowly, article by article, she found her way back home.
That is what Aish exists to do.
Our mission has always been rooted in three simple values: wisdom, love, and responsibility.
Wisdom means helping people discover God’s truth.
Love means treating every Jew with warmth, dignity, and compassion.
Responsibility means recognizing that every one of us has an obligation to help another Jew find their way home.
As we prepare for Shabbat, I keep returning to the words of the Rambam in the opening chapters of Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah. Maimonides teaches that when a person contemplates God’s wisdom and His creation, “he immediately comes to love, praise, and glorify Him, and longs with a great desire to know Him.” The goal of Torah is not simply to fill our minds with knowledge. The goal of Torah is to awaken our hearts to a relationship with God. Every mitzvah, every page of Gemara, every class we attend, and every article we read is meant to bring us one step closer to the One who gave us the Torah.
Perhaps that has always been the quiet secret of Aish. We certainly teach Torah. We answer difficult questions. We inspire people to learn more and do more. Yet beneath everything we do is one simple aspiration: that every Jew should know that God is real, that He loves them beyond measure, and that He is waiting for them to take one more step toward Him.
We are living through extraordinarily difficult times. Antisemitism continues to rise around the world, and hatred seems to grow louder each day. Our response cannot simply be to fight darkness. Our response must be to create more light by strengthening our faith, deepening our love for one another, and taking responsibility for every member of our Jewish family.
Thank you for making that mission possible. Every student you support, every article you share, every class you help provide, and every life you touch has the potential to shape generations. That is the miracle I continue to witness everywhere I travel.
May this Shabbat bring each of us a deeper awareness of God’s presence, a stronger connection to His love, and the inspiration to help another Jew discover that same relationship.
