Am I Aished ?

B"H

Am I Aished ? The simple answer is "NO".

The Yeshiva AISH HATORAH was lately accused of brainwashing its students. The "Jerusalem Post" made a big fuss about it and countless comments followed the article.

Is there really a brainwashing at AISH HATORAH ? And why are always only AISH and OHR SAMEACH (also in Jerusalem) being accused of turning the former secular into frummies ?

This morning I went to the "Essential - Program" of Aish in Jerusalem's Old City. The "Essentials" take place daily from Sunday - Thursday. A whole day, lectures from different Rabbis are given. Including the famous book author and physician Gerald Schroeder (The Big Bang). Once I read a statement of an Aish or Schroeder critic who claimed that Schroeder was fired by Aish. Well, this cannot be true at all, as only a few hours ago he gave a lecture at the Essentials. Furthermore, Schroeder regularly teaches at the Aish - Discovery Program.

So, I participated in the "Essential Program". Almost every day they have a different schedule and different Rabbis. The program starts at 9.10am and I was more than on time. The classroom is rather small and people can just come in and walk out however they like. The program is free of charge and any Jew can come. No age limit, no nothing.

Today's first two lectures I couldn't really figure out. The first was still okay but the second was only about names. The Rabbi continually repeated the names of the people in the room. He showed us how great it is to remember people's names and that we should be comfortable with it. To me this lecture seemed a little out of place but maybe it does make sense when you go more often.

Every lecture lasts for an hour and after the "Name - Rabbi" the religious physician Gerald Schroeder walked in. I read most of his books and have been at some of his lectures before. Today however, he taught about the age of the universe where he explained the Ramban's (Nachmanides) approach on the six days of creation. How can it be that the scientific age of the universe (approx. 15 billion years) fit into the six days of creation. The lecture was great and encouraged me to collect more information on the Ramban's approach and comments.

The last lecture I went to was given by Rabbi Motty Berger. The subject was my favourite and obviously also his:
Judaism and Christianity.
We discussed the main differences between those two religions and how can it be that Jews and Christians basically consider the same things as idol worship: When others pray to anyone but G - d. But how come that Christians pray to a man ? Misinterpret the Torah and turn a man into G - d.

Rabbi Berger said that according to the New Testament, J. C. was a Torah observant Jew. And even when he criticized the Rabbis, everything was still in the frame of Halacha. The only person turning J. C. into something G - d was Paul. Paul who didn't even know J. C. In fact, the former real J. C. followers argued with Paul about his changing the principles of faith.

Motty Berger said that whenever there were new streams or directions in Judaism, some parts broke away from the actual orthodox Judaism. Just look at the reform movement or even Lubavitch. Well, Rabbi Berger is litvish and you have to take that into consideration - ironically speaking. However, he claimed that one day, Lubavitch (Chabad) is going to split off. And by the way, it is not only Rabbi Berger making this claim.

The last two lectures I enjoyed very much; probably due to the interesting subjects. Afterwards I thought about if I have been AISHED now. Brainwashed or whatever the "Jerusalem Post" claimed. The answer is still "NO", as I am not easy to brainwash.

Every Yeshiva, and it doesn't matter if it is a men's or a women's program, has its own system. And everyone looking for a Yeshiva has a special character or subjects he is looking for. In order to find a Yeshiva which fits you, you usually undergo the "Yeshiva Shopping". Means looking at different places and then making a decision. If people think that Aish is the best place for them, so why not ? Everybody has a free choice and if he doesn't like it or feels brainwashed, he is free to leave. As long as a new student is still in the Essentials or in the Mechina (I am talking here about ALL Yeshivot), things are going more smoothly. Once you are in the more serious program, of course there might be some pressure to get you adjusted. But every Yeshiva has this kind of policy. This policy builds its reputation and if I don't like it, I can switch to another place.

What Aish, for instance, is basically doing is giving the students certain thoughts in order to make them more aware of their surroundings and G - d. That there is a creator of this world. Usually people say: "Oh no, everything is more or less by accident". Aish then doesn't try to prove that there is a G - d but does make you think. Once people start thinking, suddenly they stop doing certain secular things. Maybe not in order to waste time with meaningless actions; but read a religious book instead. This is a very slow process and could lead to Torah observance but doesn't necessarily have to. The main goal is to make Jews more aware of their Yiddishkeit. I wouldn't really call that AISHED or brainwashed.


Link:

Aish HaTorah's response to "Being Aished"