The Avos Ubonim program is an ideal opportunity for fathers and sons to join together each week in special, memorable learning sessions. But for boys whose fathers aren’t interested in learning—or boys who don’t have fathers at all—an awareness of the world-wide program is just another reminder of what they’re missing.
Oorah’s Learn and Earn Program offers a thoughtful, practical answer to this problem. It began just one year ago when several sympathetic bochurim—all counselors at Oorah’s BoyZone camp and participants in the organization’s TorahMates program—approached Oorah founder, HaRav Chaim Mintz, with an acute observation: Each Motzei Shabbos, tens of thousands of Yidden worldwide participate in their local shul’s Avos Ubonim programs. Oorah’s counselors, who volunteer their time to learn year-round with their Torah Mates, asked if they could build a custom Avos Ubonim program for their kiruv kids. Who would be the fathers to these bonim? Oorah.
“Avos Ubonim programs are wonderful, but they are typically non-staffed events because fathers are literally learning with their sons and not much else is needed,” explained Rabbi Yehoshua Weinstein, head of Oorah’s successful Kiruv Programs. “Our bochurim understood that creating a program like this would require new and regular staff commitments — father-figure chavrusas for not only the many kiruv boys who would attend, but also chavrusas for any of the boys’ fathers who we also hoped to entice to join us. It meant new commitments for lots of people—but how can you say no to this? These kiruv kids are like family members to their Torah Mates. So we thought about it and said let’s go.”
Last year, Oorah selected Rabbi Yisroel Reisman’s shul, Agudas Yisroel of Madison in Brooklyn, to initiate a program that everyone agreed was hugely successful. But this past Motzei Shabbos, the program exploded. Beginning its second season under the direction of R’ Asher Futersak, a BoyZone mashpia who was one of the program’s founders, Oorah saw the number of its learners nearly double.
“We had well over 100 participants,” an Oorah staff member reported. “It was beautiful—the learning was inspired and everyone left looking forward to next week. We were very proud of our kiruv families who participated, but it’s our volunteers who went beyond the call of duty.”
“It was so nice to attend Oorah’s event with my son Boris,” said one of the men who participated for the first time. “I was happy to learn something , too, but for me, what was nice was to see boys who did not have fathers there to watch them, and Oorah’s young men sitting there with them like they were family. You could see what this did for these boys.”
(Yehudah Meth – YWN)
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4 Responses
Just beautiful.
when we first got married and when our sons where too young for avos u’ banim, my husband “adapted” a yasom and other boys whose fathers where unavialble and took them to Avos u’ Banim- it is a great mitzvah!
I am so incredibly impressed by the bochurim who realized there was a problem. So often those of us who have don’t realize the pain of those who don’t, and are unintentionally insensitive.
We should all remember to be sensitive when dealing with people who don’t have parents, or spouses or children.
We have an AVOS U’BANIM program in our shul. A few years ago, we opened the Ezras Nashim for a little boy and his mother to learn Chumash together. There was no father, and the boy wanted to learn. KOL HAKAVOD!!