Orthodox but Diverse and Open Minded

This week’s post is by Yossi Rosenberg, co-founder of Kugel along with Simone Weichselbaum, in New York City, Kugel is a community-building organization aimed at uniting young and mid-career Jewish professionals who don’t fit into a box, as far as observance level.

Most Jewish communities in the United States are very homogeneous, especially in the Orthodox world. In April 2018, Simone Weichselbaum — a biracial Jew — ended her engagement to a young man who lived in Riverdale, a white American, modern orthodox Jewish community, where even an Israeli was hard to find. Simone, raised religious in diverse neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, felt out of place and didn’t mesh, with what she felt was, a provincial, insular Jewish culture. Not only were the skin tones all the same, peoples’ approach towards Judaism, politics and way-of-life appeared uniform too.

Simone’s best friend, Yossi Rosenberg, in an attempt to cheer her up, started organizing diverse, boisterous, Shabbat meals where they live in Manhattan. Yossi’s goal was to recreate the opposite of what Simone experienced in Riverdale: Build a series of meals, aimed at mid-career professionals like themselves, that invites a variety of cultures, opinions, and ethnic backgrounds.

The meals were a success. Yossi and Simone started to model their community-building efforts after a Jewish group called Chulent, where they first met in 2008. Chulent’s philosophy is to create a pluralistic, welcoming environment, for Jews from all sects and traditions. Over time, however, Chulent moved away from being a place that attracts creative Jewish professionals, and morphed into a social service program for disenfranchised, ex-religious Jews.

Kugel was named to honor Chulent — the community that birthed Yossi and Simone’s friendship. Fifteen months since Kugel’s first event in November 2018, the organization has reached scores of Manhattan Jews, mainly those from their late 20s to early 40s. Now on its 12th event, Kugelers — as they are called — say they are attracted to Kugel’s non-judgmental vibe. Although Kugel doesn’t consider itself a kiruv organization, Kugel strongly believes in maintaining Judaism’s sacred traditions. All of our food and wine is kosher and we work closely with Orthodox rabbis who lead either kiddush, havdalah, or benching (Grace after Meals) at each of our events.

Both Yossi and Simone grew up modern Orthodox, and while they no longer adhere to all of the details and regulations of halachot (Jewish law), they strongly believe in the heimisch culture that makes Orthodox Judaism special. What started as a way to heal heartbreak, has turned into an organization that’s now filling a need within Manhattan’s Jewish community — creating a space where Jews of all levels of observance and ethnic backgrounds can unite as one.

Most Jewish communities in the United States are very homogeneous, especially in the Orthodox world. In April 2018, Simone Weichselbaum — a biracial Jew — ended her engagement to a young man who lived in Riverdale, a white American, modern orthodox Jewish community, where even an Israeli was hard to find. Simone, raised religious in diverse neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, felt out of place and didn’t mesh, with what she felt was, a provincial, insular Jewish culture. Not only were the skin tones all the same, peoples’ approach towards Judaism, politics and way-of-life appeared uniform too.

Simone’s best friend, Yossi Rosenberg, in an attempt to cheer her up, started organizing diverse, boisterous, Shabbat meals where they live in Manhattan. Yossi’s goal was to recreate the opposite of what Simone experienced in Riverdale: Build a series of meals, aimed at mid-career professionals like themselves, that invites a variety of cultures, opinions, and ethnic backgrounds.

The meals were a success. Yossi and Simone started to model their community-building efforts after a Jewish group called Chulent, where they first met in 2008. Chulent’s philosophy is to create a pluralistic, welcoming environment, for Jews from all sects and traditions. Over time, however, Chulent moved away from being a place that attracts creative Jewish professionals, and morphed into a social service program for disenfranchised, ex-religious Jews.

Both Yossi and Simone grew up modern Orthodox, and while they no longer adhere to all of the details and regulations of halachot (Jewish law), they strongly believe in the heimisch culture that makes Orthodox Judaism special. What started as a way to heal heartbreak, has turned into an organization that’s now filling a need within Manhattan’s Jewish community — creating a space where Jews of all levels of observance and ethnic backgrounds can unite as one.

From day one, Kugel has always been about building community for Manhattan Jews who don’t subscribe to one particular Jewish identity. As Jews who grew up modern Orthodox and are no longer fully observant, Kugel’s co-founders saw a need to build space for those who also have a strong affinity for the traditions, yet at the same time, don’t adhere to the frum (Orthodox) label. In order to promote inclusivity, we respect the laws of shabbat and kashrutduring all of our events. Although a typical Kugel attracts Jews who aren’t religious, we want all Jews — from the fully observant to those who are new to Jewish practice — to feel welcome.

Now are on our 12th event, Kugel has produced two engagements and we openly promote the importance of halachically Jewish unions. Kugel co-founder Simone Weichselbaum, is a product of an interfaith marriage between an Orthodox Jewish father and an Episcopalian mother. Simone had to undergo two Orthodox conversions, one at the age of 7, and a giyur l’chumra (stricter conversion) a few years ago. Due to Simone’s background, Kugel believes that a big part of Jewish community-building revolves around family. And solid Jewish families begin with a marriage that’s accepted by all.

While Kugel is excited to be part of Kenissa, we feel that secular Judaism treats traditional Judaism unfairly. There is a misconception among secular Jews that their Orthodox sisters and brothers are “tribal” and “insular.” Kugel disagrees. Our organization is rooted in traditional Judaism since it is this belief-system that has held together the Jewish diaspora for more than two millennia. The fastest growing wing of American Jews is, in fact, the Orthodox community. According to some experts, within the next century, the number of Orthodox Jews in the United States will outnumber the Reform and Conservative Jews combined.  

That said, Kugel is still doing something novel by blending traditional Judaism with an inclusive mindset. We are welcoming to anyone — regardless of their race, sexual identity or gender definition. Kugel maintains that there is still a way to balance Jewish practice that is fully respectful of the tradition with contemporary mores and values. A typical Kugel event — depending on what time we start on a Saturday — begins with either a kiddush, followed by Shabbat lunch, or havdalah followed by an engaging speaker, panel discussion or a creative performance.

Our featured acts have come from a diverse group of Jewish, and non-Jewish, backgrounds. For example: our last event called “The Non Ashka-Normative Jew,” included a panel made up of a biracial ba’al teshuva, a Bukarian advocate who promotes mizrahi inclusivity and a recent Orthodox convert with mixed Jewish and Columbian parentage; For Yom HaShoa, we had a survivor of the Rwandan genocide as the headliner of the event. A rabbi from the Orthodox Union spoke as well.

Kugel believes that there is room inside the progressive Jewish tent for those of us who are both open-minded in our thinking and respectful of halacha.

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Yossi Rosenberg, co-founded Kugel along with Simone Weichselbaum in 2018. Based in New York City, Kugel is a community-building organization aimed at uniting young and mid-career Jewish professionals who don’t fit into a box, as far as observance level. Yossi has a background in marketing for media start-ups, which has helped to grow Kugel’s audience. Kugel uses shabbat programming to promote both traditional Judaism and diversity.

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