Standing room only...

Last night, our living room filled to its capacity. Chairs were pulled from every corner of the house, neighbors squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder, and people stood along the walls, hungry for...

Torah. (The chickpea curry was a close runner-up, but Torah takes the cake).

Over the years, people have raised their eyebrows when we tell them about our community's hunger to learn.

We have been told at panels and in board rooms time and again that young people are interested in Jewish experiences with low barriers to entry, and that Jewish spaces with too much of a particularistic flavor turn off young Jews.

But these voices seem to be missing a critical truth about young adults today: we crave meaning and community. We are looking for Torah.

It’s not just about "text study." It’s not about “content.” Torah, in the deepest sense, means letting ancient words lay a claim on your life. It means wrestling, questioning, disagreeing, and still finding yourself moved. It’s about sitting in a room where the air itself feels charged, because the words of our tradition are alive between us.

And here in Harlem, in 2025, people are hungry for that aliveness.