By COLlive reporter
The Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE) is an outreach organization in New York City that is geared to people in their 20s and 30s becoming more committed to their Jewish heritage.
Guided by a Modern Orthodox ethos, in its twenty years of activity MJE had not included the teaching of Chasidus in their regular programming – that is, until last year.
A seed was sown when MJE director Rabbi Mark Wildes was asked to write a testimonial for the book “Practical Tanya,” a clear adaptation of the Alter Rebbe‘s Tanya authored by Rabbi Chaim Miller.
Rabbi Wildes kindly obliged, and soon began to become fascinated by the teachings of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of Chabad Chassidus.
With a Yeshiva University background, Rabbi Wildes had not been exposed to Tanya study and feared that Chassidus might be too esoteric for his constituents, but he was surprised to find the Practical Tanya extremely accessible and inspiring.
Eventually, he decided to conduct a regular Tanya class at the MJE for young professionals thanks to Rabbi Miller’s work.
“The class has become one of the highlights of my week,” Rabbi Wildes commented. “Rabbi Miller’s user-friendly translation and commentary of the Tanya has been incredibly helpful to my students, all of whom are beginners to Judaism. They are a bright group who appreciate the topics we are studying and are thankfully getting so much out of the class.
“Despite their lack of Jewish education, each week they are inspired by the wisdom and deep ideas of the Tanya. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Rabbi Miller for opening up this part of Torah to a whole new generation, creating a new portal of entry for more of our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
Last week, Rabbi Wildes invited Rabbi Miller on his popular podcast, the Wildescast, to discuss the importance of Chassidus and how it can be used as a transformative tool in our modern lives.
VIDEO:
Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-conversation-with-rabbi-chaim-miller/id1505237668?i=1000538453298
A delight to listen too.
This is awesome! A real breakthrough!