As I take a moment to reflect on this past week, I feel a sense of “Mi K’Amcha Yisroel?” and tremendous gratitude for the support of our devoted students, alumni, community partners, family, and friends. It’s been a whirlwind for all of us at Emet Outreach. On July 10-11 we embarked on our largest Charidy campaign to date with the goal of raising 1.3 million dollars. The ambitious undertaking was not simply about a dollar figure. It was about raising the necessary funds to ensure that we can continue to expand and reach unaffiliated college students, young adults, and young couples with the beauty of Torah and Mitzvot. Baruch Hashem, the result exceeded our expectations and showed us the power of partnership and unity.
The theme of the campaign was in recognition of Emet’s “19 Years of Impact & Transformation.” During the course of Emet’s history, we’ve been fortunate to inspire over 7500 students. We saw that the relationships we’ve built extend both ways, and that our students and alumni are here for us when we need them. We invited the community to our team rally in advance of the campaign and to our campaign headquarters at the Young Israel of Jamaica Estates to join in our efforts. We are humbled by how many people came out for Emet. Even if they couldn’t be with us in-person, there were countless messages on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. We had more teams and individual donors than ever before. There were 337 teams and as of this writing 3490 individual donors! We are amazed that people are still contributing and showing their support almost a week later. This was a record-setting campaign for Emet in pure and simple achdus.
Throughout the campaign we felt tremendous chizuk from the “My Emet Experience” video series we shared. This series features heartfelt, personal accounts on Emet’s impact from some of our student and alumni ambassadors. Boris Musheyev, who has been involved with Emet for over 15 years, shared a moving insight. He relayed that for him, Emet provided the ultimate “second chance.” He didn’t have the classic Jewish education and as he was completing college, he didn’t really know where Judaism fit into his life. The Emet rabbis and staff became his role models in helping shape the person he has become. Today he is a true role model, together with his Marianna, in bringing Torah to their extended family and community. It is stories like this that drive us and encourage us to do even more.
At Emet, we are a family, and this effort would not have been possible without the dedication of our 20 staff members. Our 19th year was a success because of the tireless work of our rabbis and educators and the unwavering commitment of our students. I am proud of the 21 weekly programs and the resulting 750 hours of Torah that were studied on average each week. With Hashem’s help, and due to the support shown for this campaign, we look ahead to our 20th year with excitement for what’s to come! In addition to allowing Emet to increase our base programming with more mentoring, educators, classes, events, Shabbatons and transformative trips, we plan to expand our introductory College Fellowships and presence on college campuses.
Thank you for allowing Emet to support and educate more students and couples as they incorporate Judaism more fully into their lives. It is our greatest bracha and wish to share Torah as Emet moves forward.
Anyone interested in contributing to the campaign and partnering with Emet can visit www.EmetOutreach.org.
By Rabbi Akiva Rutenberg, Emet Co-Founder & CEO
A Thank You To The Community
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