Chicago’s Role Model for Achdus

Rabbi Yosef  Cohen - a role model of Achdus (screenshot)

I have no illusions about why there is so little Achdus in Orthodoxy. Hashkafic differences tend to divide rather than unite. Which is ridiculous if you think about it. There is surely a great deal more that unites us than divides us. The mere fact that we are all observant should be the most uniting factor of all.  We all observe Shabbos and Kashrus. We all celebrate the same Yomim Tovim (religious holidays) And we all send our children to religious schools. And while there might be differences in dress or emphasis, we all live Halachic lives to one degree or another. In short - as I said - we have a lot more that should unite us than what actually divides us.

But as the number of observant Jews increase – exponentially with each generation - the level of Achdus decreases.  

While that might seem counter-intuitive - I believe it is actually one of the primary reasons for the decrease. What that does is create a critical mass of Jews with the same Hashkafa enabling them to form their own self defined group sharing common interests.  

While that is nice for those within the group, we are all a lot poorer for it as a people. Each group becomes so immersed in its own interests considering them so important that we see the other groups with other interests as negative. So we have less and less to do with each other if anything at all.

Nowhere is this phenomenon more true than in the New York/New Jersey area.  This part of the world has more observant Jews than there are observant Jews in all other communities combined (…except for Israel where the divisiveness makes American Orthodoxy look unified by comparison. The reasons for that include additional problems that are beyond the scope of this post.)

My impression of New York’s Orthodox Jews is that each segment has absolutely nothing to do with each other as Jews. And barely acknowledge each other other than paying lip service to their existence.  If there is a political purpose to it - they might combine with one another in a public advocacy sort of way. But there is no social cohesiveness. Modern Orthodox Jews have nothing to do with Charedi  Jews and vice versa. Additionally both criticize each other heavily. Sometimes  to the point de-legitimization!.

The opposite is true in a small Orthodox community. My frequent visits to South Bend for example (where one of my daughters and her family live) demonstrate that. There are a variety of people there with differing Hashkfos. And yet the community is very cohesive. Every observant Jew there respects and gets along with every other observant Jew in the spirit of camaraderie and friendship. Regardless of their Hashkafa. That is what Achdus is. That is the way it should be.

Chicago used to be just like South Bend. There was a time where all observant Jews were united. We practically all knew each other. That level of Achdus has been diminished somewhat because of our growth over the decades. But it still exists in a meaningful way in spite of that. 

How has it grown? When I moved to Chicago in the summer of 1962 at age 15, there had been one Orthodox elementary school, Arie Crown Hebrew Day School. They educated children from homes of all Hashkafos. But a new school had opened up to accommodate a right wing faction that had grown large enough to have their own school. Another day school had just opened to accommodate parents who wanted a coed environment and a stronger Religious Zionist approach. Today both of those schools have grown and are filled to capacity and beyond. As did Arie Crown. There are at five major day schools here now.

When I moved to Chicago, there was HTC’s high school and the coed Chicago (re-named Ida Crown) Jewish Academy. Telshe had just moved here a couple of years earlier with just a few students. Today there are several major Yeshiva high schools as well as girls high schools here that are flourishing. And that is beside the coed Ida Crown.

When I moved to Chicago there was no Kollel. Today there are at least ten successful Kollels that I can think of - off the bat.

That has caused Chicago to drift somewhat in the direction of New York/New Jersey. Sadly each school has little if anything to do with the each other. Nevertheless, Chicago is still a unified city for the most part. For example the philanthropy of Chicago’s wealthiest observant Jews is evident in all of Chicago’s Orthodox institutional fundraising. Regardless of the Hashkafos of the philanthropists or the institutions that benefit from them. For the most part, these philanthropists all know each other well, see each other socially, and work well with each other to keep Chicago  great!  

That said, there is one individual that is a one man dynamo of Achdus. Rabbi Yosef Cohen is perhaps more responsible for advancing that cause than any other single individual. Not through his wealth. He is not wealthy. He is one of Arie Crown’s exceptional 8^th grade rebbeim.

Rabbi Cohen has created and runs a Thursday night Mishmar program for students from all the Yeshivos, from the most modern to the most Charedi. They all come together on Thursday night to learn torah and interact with each other socially. Where else can you find such a thing? Where else can you find a rebbe like this?! A rebbe that is so dedicated to Torah study and Achdus? Instead of trying to describe what goes on in Chicago every Thursday night, I will let the video below speak for itself. 

Rabbi Cohen is a product of NCSY. Perhaps that is what underpins his enthusiasm for what he is doing now. I love that man and am proud to know him.