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To listen to a
recording of the event please
see below |
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PHONE
AND LEARN – AN EVENING OF INSPIRATION
(SEPTEMBER 2005)
To
listen to a recording of the event
please see below |
| Some 700 men and
women attended a pre-Rosh Hashanah
lecture given by the acclaimed
American storyteller Rabbi Paysach
Krohn last Monday evening. The
event, which was held at the Menorah
Primary School in Golders Green,
was organised by a new UK outreach
organisation, Phone
and Learn. |
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Phone and Learn was set up three
months ago at the urging of Rabbi
Krohn, who suggested it would
be a fitting memorial to a much-loved
Jewish educator, Sammy Homburger.
The programme, in which participants
delve into the Jewish topic of
their choice in telephone learning
sessions, is based on a successful
American model that currently
boasts around 10,000 enrolees. |
| During the course of his lecture,
which represented the public launch
of PaL, Rabbi Krohn discussed
ways in which the Jewish community
can reconnect with itself and
with G-d in the run up to the
High Holidays. His suggestions
included counting ones blessings,
literally through increased prayer
and figuratively by being grateful
for the good in our lives. He
also urged the community to make
more time for its children. |
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At the end of the evening, PaL
committee member Dov Harris asked
people to sign up to the programme,
either as students
or prospective tutors.
Dov said: “We are delighted at
the success of this evening, which
has seen many people encouraged
to become part of this great project.
In future months, we hope to run
a series of tutor training courses
given by international experts
in the field.” |
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For
more information visit www.phoneandlearn.org
or call 08000 J-LEARN (553 276)
|
Please use the player
below to listen to the recording of
R' Paysach Krohn at the event
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PHONE
AND LEARN HOLDS FIRST TRAINING
SEMINAR (FEBRUARY 2006)
How‘yearning’ can be translated
into ‘learning’ was one of the
questions posed at Phone and Learn’s
first tutor training seminar on
Sunday evening. The event, which
saw Seed’s Rabbi Yosef Grunfeld
and a host of other speakers address
an audience of approximately 50
men and women at the Ner Yisrael
Beis Hamedrash in Hendon,
was geared towards both current
and potential PaL tutors.
Welcoming the attendees, PaL Chairman
Mr Dov Harris gave a brief outline
of the organisation’s origins
and remit. Born from the seed
of an idea planted by Rabbi Paysach
Krohn, who spoke at the hesped
for Mr Sammy Homburger z”l
back in December 2004, PaL aims
to match as-yet-unaffiliated Jews
with appropriate tutors from the
community, for weekly one-hour
telephone learning sessions. The
UK programme is based on and closely
linked with the highly successful
American ‘Partners in Torah’ organisation.
In recent months, PaL has also
become involved with Rabbi Krohn’s
‘meoh brochos’ project,
distributing thousands of CDs
and wall charts to schools and
shuls across the UK.
Following Mr Harris’ introduction,
kiruv veteran and PaL committee
member Mr Jonny Rabson led a 40-minute
workshop on effective communication.
Mr Rabson asked the audience to
consider some possible scenarios
arising from PaL sessions and
come up with ways to deal with
them. In the case of telephone
learning discussions, for example,
participants have to be aware
that there are no visual clues
as to how their partners are enjoying
or reacting to what they’re learning.
Suggested strategies to combat
this difficulty included taking
the time to get to know your partner
on a personal level, learning
to listen to them more carefully
and using open questions as much
as possible to encourage them
to participate.
At the workshop’s conclusion the
audience was treated to a ‘behind
the scenes’ look at PaL given
by programme coordinator Siobhan
Newman. Miss Newman explained
how tutors are carefully matched
with their learning partners after
an in-depth interview and with
the help of the organisation’s
unique database. The PaL office
remains available to offer help
and advice once the partnership
has been set up, drawing on the
wisdom of a bank of outreach and
community Rabbis.
Following a short break for refreshments,
the session’s keynote speaker
Rabbi Grunfeld was introduced.
Described as “the father of Jewish
outreach in the UK”, he was invited
to speak about the “power and
privilege of kiruv”.
Rabbi Grunfeld began his impressive
shiur by outlining the
current profile of Anglo-Jewry.
In a population of approximately
250,000 Jews, some 57% affiliate
themselves with mainstream Orthodoxy
but tragically, around 40% of
Jews who choose to wed in the
UK, marry out. On the bright
side, he commented, more than
50% of Jewish children today
attend Jewish schools, so while
it is something of a battleground
out there, we are also being
presented with a unique opportunity
to make contact with those less
committed and knowledgeable
than ourselves. Rabbi Grunfeld
proceeded to explain the enormous
achrayus upon each
and every one of us to reach
out to these ‘lost’ Jews. Quoting
the Chofetz Chaim, he
explained that if we come into
contact with non-religious Jews
and do not try to show them
the Torah way to live, their
aveiros will be transferred
over to us. Conversely, if we
do choose to get involved, we
will receive a great deal of
zechus from the mitzvos
they do in the future.
Rabbi Grunfeld concluded by
looking at a variety of situations
that could arise, offering hints
and tips for responding to difficult
questions. What is vital, he
explained, is to be sure to
listen to the question properly
– for example, if someone asks,
“why can’t I turn on a light
on Shabbos”, he may be saying
“turning a light on is not work,
therefore I should be able to
do it”. On the other hand, his
question could be quite different
– “does G-d really care if I
turn on the light on Shabbos?”
In the first instance, the correct
answer would include an explanation
of precisely what the term melocho
refers to. In the second instance,
however, one would have to explain
how the minutiae of hilchos
Shabbos are there to protect
the day for our own sakes.
PaL already has more than 50
people currently learning over
the phone each week and has
plans to hold further training
seminars.
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PHONE AND
LEARN DRAWS THE CROWDS ONCE AGAIN
(SEPTEMBER 2006)
To
listen to a recording of the event
please see
below
|
| THE innovative UK
kiruv organisation Phone and Learn
(PaL) held its second annual pre-Rosh
Hashonoh lecture on Tuesday evening.
The prospect of hearing Dayan
Yonasan Abraham of the London
Beth Din speak on the subject
of “The Heart of Communication”
drew a large crowd to the Menorah
Primary School in Golders Green,
where the idea for PaL was originally
mooted back in December 2004. |
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Introducing the proceedings,
committee member Mr Dov Harris
welcomed the audience, making
special mention of the many PaL
tutors and partners in attendance.
To date, PaL has set up some 120
learning partnerships, including
three chasanim who have
signed up to learn more about
their heritage before embarking
on building true Jewish homes.
Mr Harris was delighted that many
PaL partners had experienced their
first Shabbos and Purim Seuda
at their tutors’ homes.
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| Before opening up the floor
to Dayan Abrahams, Mr Harris pointed
out that the speaker in fact had
an extremely heavy schedule in
the run up to Rosh Hashonoh,
but had chosen to find the time
to address the PaL event because
it is a “cross- communal
outreach organisation that he
fully supports”. |
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On taking the podium, Dayan
Abraham first commented that he
felt like he had “returned
to the scene of the crime”,
having studied at the Menorah
Primary as a child! On a more
serious note, he reminded those
assembled of the origins of PaL:
an organisation that was set up
in the lasting memory of Mr Sammy
Homburger z”l, that truly
reflects all that he stood for
as an outstanding communicator,
chinuch activist and talmid
chochom. |
| Dayan Abraham began his shiur
by expounding on a Rashi
in this week’s sedra,
on the words “atem nitzovim
hayom kulchem”. He commented
that PaL is surely one of the
greatest declarations of this
phrase, as it is an organisation
that aims to unite individuals
from across the whole spectrum
of the community. |
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The main body of
the Dayan’s lecture was
devoted to the concept of the
power of speech. He recounted
a well-known midrash on Parshas
Tazria, where a merchant
offered to sell an ‘elixir
of life’ to a group of townspeople
that included the great Amora
R’Yannai. The merchant refused
to sell his dubious product to
R’Yannai, showing him the
posuk in Tehillim
“mi ho’ish hechofetz
chaim”. R’Yannai’s
response was astounding –
“all my life I said this
posuk and I never realised
what it meant”. How could
it be that the great R’Yannai
(who, as Dayan Abraham dryly pointed
out, understood Tehillim
even before the advent of Artscroll!)
did not understand the posuk until
a lowly merchant showed it to
him? After clarifying his point
further with a gemoroh
in Sanhedrin, Dayan Abraham concluded
that what R’Yannai actually
understood afresh was not simply
the concept of “who wants
the reward of life”, but
“who wants to live –
to use his life and truly fulfil
his potential with his faculty
of speech”. Speech, whether
one is talking Torah or talking
socially, is invested with the
incomparable power to heal, inspire
or build, and it is this gift
that sets us as human beings apart
from the animal kingdom.
Dayan Abraham finished his shiur
by commenting that PaL takes away
any lingering excuses we may have
had not to use our power of speech
to draw all of klal Yisroel together
in Torah. Perhaps the ‘P’
and ‘L’ of Phone and
Learn, he quipped, are actually
a ‘pey’ and
‘lamed’,
standing for “pichoh
ulevovecho”,
because with their mouths and
their hearts Phone and Learn and
everyone associated with it are
doing tremendous work that will
surely help us be zocheh to see
a complete geuloh and
yeshua in the very near future.
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For more information
email info@phoneandlearn.org
or telephone 08000 J-LEARN (553
276). |
PHONE
AND LEARN RABBI KROHN INSPIRES
THE UK FOR PAL (SEPTEMBER 2007)
To
listen to a recording of the
event please see
below
|
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Almost 1,000 people came
to be inspired by the international
speaker, renowned author and
storyteller, Rabbi Paysach Krohn
when he spoke at the Hasmonean
High School for Boys in Hendon,
London two nights before Rosh
Hashono.
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Rabbi Krohn had flown into
London especially for the event
that was arranged by Phone and
Learn (PaL),
the telephone-based outreach
organisation which Rabbi Krohn
had launched in the UK two years
ago in memory of his friend,
the much-loved askan Sammy Homburger
z”l.
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As the record crowd filled the
hall, there was standing room
only for many who had come to
hear Rabbi Krohn at this unique
event. |
In making his introductory
remarks, PaL
Chairman Dov Harris described
how PaL is
a division of Partners in Torah
in America, a unique Jewish
identity-building initiative
committed to fostering unity
among Jews of all backgrounds
and that PaL
matches Jews who want to know
more about their heritage with
a friendly, knowledgeable tutor
for an hour a week |
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of Jewish study and discussion,
over the phone. “The growth
of PaL is testament
to the desire of many to discover
more about their Yiddishkeit being
able to learn whatever they want
to learn, wherever they want to
learn, whenever they want
to learn”, explained Mr
Harris. |
Mr Harris thanked Rabbi Krohn
for having made the effort to
come to the UK just two nights
before Rosh Hashono and for
his constant input and wise
advice that he has continued
to give PaL
since its inception two years
ago. |
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Rabbi
Krohn opened his address by
referring to his long time connection
with the family of Sammy Homburger
z”l in whose memory PaL
was founded. “I am sure
his soul is looking from Heaven
in pride and joy at what has
been accomplished in his name,”
Rabbi Krohn commented.
Rabbi Krohn enthralled the
captive audience with lessons
and ideas as they listened with
both tears of laughter and sadness
as he gave divrei Torah and
recounted powerful stories with
thought-provoking ideas.
As we approach the High Holidays,
explained Rabbi Krohn, we should
look at the characteristics
of Hashem and adapt them for
ourselves. What is the truth?
We have to be honest and truthful
in business, in finance and
in our relationships. Hashem
will answer the prayers of all
those who maintain honesty and
integrity. Don’t make
promises you can’t keep,
be careful not to lie, exaggerate
or speak loshon hora (improper
speech). We can’t begin
to imagine the long term effects
of dishonesty or falsehood on
our families.
Rav Mendel MiRimanov, a student
of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk
recounted the story of a child
who went off the Jewish way,
ascribing it to the effect of
food he ate as a child. This
food was treif (not kosher),
but not in the formal sense.
It was treif (not kosher) because
it had been acquired with money
that was improperly earned.
This food affected the soul
of the child. “Taking
money that does not rightfully
belong to us has a devastating
effect on our souls.”
Rabbi Krohn held up as an example
the honesty and integrity of
Rabbi Shimshon Refoel Hirsch,
who was concerned that if he
happened to die in the middle
of a month, his salary would
continue to be paid until the
end. “In the event he
passed away on 31st December!”
Rabbi Krohn went on to suggest
ways in which we can enhance
our mitzvos (good deeds). One
of his focuses was nichum aveilim
(visiting mourners), and he
expressed some original ideas
about helping to make shidduchim
(introduction of singles), with
innovations that had been seen
to work. Throughout, his message
was that God wants us to be
involved so that other Jews
will be inspired by us –
in essence, the message of PaL.
“There are 13.3 million
Jews in the world. 1.8 million
are religious. This means that
86% of Jews are lost, many to
assimilation. It’s our
responsibility to try and bring
these Jews back”.
“Everyone can have arichas
yomim (fulfilment of life),”
Rabbi Krohn concluded, “by
making every day count.”
Visitors from all over the world
who were in London on the evening
came to experience this unique
event and said that they had never
seen anything as inspirational
before! Many members of the audience
signed up on the night to help
others connect to their heritage
by volunteering to learn with
another Jew through PaL. |
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Please
use the player below to
listen to the recording
of R' Paysach Krohn at the
event
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