Our Mission
What people are saying about our efforts
MATTHEW GRAD
CFO, St. Louis, Missouri
I first became interested in learning when I realized that the education my then pre-school children were receiving at the local synagogue was uninspiring. I enrolled my children in Aish HaTorah’s Sunday School program and my wife and I began sitting in adult classes while the children learned in their classes. Through Aish and Partners in Torah, I connected with Sender (Founder – Connections) and we have been learning consistently for 10 years. When I first began learning, I could not read Hebrew. Ten years later, I am an engaged member of the Torah community and my children and wife are passionately engaged in their Judaism. I am thankful and filled with hakaras hatov every day for the presence in my life of Aish and incredible people like Sender who have changed the entire trajectory of my life.
BILL KERN
Property and Portfolio Manage, New York City, New York
I see how effortlessly Sender (Founder – Connections) earns the trust of the people we would meet(possibly because he really listened to them). I realized then this was more than histrionics or an acquired technique- it’s a gift.
RON DILLER
Teacher, Ra’anana, Israel
Sender (Founder – Connections) has been a friend and mentor to speak with about personal and political issues as it relates to the Torah. We really enjoy one another. Ron Diller, Teacher
Rabbi David Lapin
Noted Torah Scholar
The work of CONNECTIONS, led by Sender (Founder – Connections Foundation) has never been more powerfully needed than it is in our current times. The only way the global Jewish Community can continue to survive in the current climate is if Jews, with all their diversity, are strong in their identity, united in cause and in commitment to our People, to our G-d and to our Torah. CONNECTIONS has demonstrated an impressive track record in being able to connect people who would otherwise have no connection, to one another and to their Jewish roots.
Our Mission & Goals
WHAT WE PLAN TO DO IN THE FUTURE.
We call it A MEDLEY OF WINE, WISDOM AND MUSIC.
Envision a trendy local, not the bomb shelter of the local shul. Envision 20 non religious and 20 religious Israelis sitting among one another, light live instrumental music in the background, noshing on kosher certified food and before anyone says anything, the moderator says we are not hear to listen to speeches, not even to listen to the music, we are here to hear one another, we are hear to listen to one another, we are here to see and feel the importance of one another. So the first thing I want you to do is to articulate 5 virtues of the person sitting opposite you. Once the ice is broken, the moderator in an entertaining manner begins to share time honored insights into how to listen to someone with whom you disagree, how to see beyond one’s current world view, how to nip away at our self centeredness, how to achieve a modicum of humility. The battle is about to be won. Each side is about to see the other side as people as real as themselves, the demonization of the other side is about to be lifted, the realization that we are one is about to begin.
OUR GOALS
Within 15 months, by October 2025 to have enlisted 1.000 people in our Whatsapp group on Achdut and of that number 250 will have participated in a MEDLEY OF WINE, WISDOM & MUSIC, and each of them will have a friend from the formerly otherside.