Over 1 million served…. On TikTok

June 12, 2022
Rabbi Burg

It is unusual for me to start a weekly newsletter with a “Mazel Tov.” Usually, I like to talk about what is going on at Aish which is important to the Jewish world. This week I feel the need to break from that habit in order to congratulate my dear friend, UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who was elected the Vice President of the UN General Assembly. Gilad will get to chair UN General Assembly meetings and help set the agenda for GA meetings. We just hosted Gilad and a wonderful group of UN Ambassadors at Aish so we have seen his crucial work up close. May the Almighty give him the strength and wisdom to represent the Jewish people to the world.

As we continue our post-covid journey, every week things get stronger in Jerusalem. This past week for the holiday of Shavuos, the Dan Family Aish World Center was at full capacity. There were classes available all night long for Jews from around the world. Starting this coming week, we will have a new series of classes available to the public. Although we have had a massive surge in our ability online to help Jews connect to Jewish wisdom, it is nice to see their smiling faces once again back at Aish in Jerusalem.

Given our two-pronged approach of online and in-person education, it is good to celebrate two milestones. One of the focuses over the past year has been to increase our presence on social media. For over twenty years, Aish has had the top website in the Jewish world. Aish.com has been the main place for Jews around the world to get their daily dose of Judaism. Millions of Jews seek out wisdom through our online portal. Yet, we realized that to reach a younger less affiliated Jewish demographic, we needed to be in the places where they are. Thus we started a major social media campaign.

One of our priorities was TikTok. We started from scratch, providing an array of content on TikTok with the aid of creative young Jews from around the world. We knew that even though we had a limited amount of time – literally several seconds – to catch their attention, we needed to do our best to speak to the younger generation. I am pleased to report that in just a year since joining the platform, last month we had over a million video views on TikTok! 1,008,454 in May to be precise.

I am very proud of the Aish social media team led by the always inspirational Jamie Geller. They have created a social media movement toward Jewish wisdom. We are inspiring young Jews in ways never seen before. This takes constant focus and an eye for detail. Stay tuned as Aish will continue to grow in every venue possible to reach our Jewish brothers and sisters.

Despite our online successes we still remain committed to in-person programs to facilitate Judaic growth. To that end we set out to build a women’s institution of higher learning. The question was where best to house that program. As the number of applications poured in for our new program we realized that we needed a place for both dormitory space and classes. For the first time in well over a decade we needed to expand our physical footprint in Jerusalem. Yet, the Old City of Jerusalem is limited in space for such an expansion. Where could we set up our new Aish Women’s learning program?

After an exhaustive search by our new Executive Director for Women’s programming, Michal Dubov, we are excited to announce that we have signed a contract for the new Aish Seminary to be housed at the Koresh Hotel. The hotel is on a quiet street located a block away from Mamilla and close to the Old City. It’s right off of Jaffa street, but the entrance to the hotel is on Koresh street, which is much quieter and more peaceful. So Aish Gesher Women has the advantage of being centrally located, without all of the hustle and bustle right outside our door.

The hotel was completely renovated before Covid and was barely used since. The hotel is beautifully and tastefully decorated with a modern Israeli aesthetic and a nod to the historical significance of its location. As a bonus, here is a video of our Aish Yeshiva and Seminary Director, Rabbi Rosman, playing a baby grand piano in the lobby!

I can’t begin to describe the excitement within the halls of Aish. We are expanding constantly in Jerusalem and in the metaverse. It is so exciting to see AISHVision 2030 become a reality. This is just the beginning. We will be constantly growing to meet our goal of connecting 3 million Jews to Jewish wisdom. Join us as we change the face of the Jewish Nation.