Gateways is an international organization whose self-declared mission is it to "raise

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish consciousness."

Origins

Gateways was founded in 1998 by Rabbi Mordechai Suchard with the stated goal of "providing opportunities for Jews to unlock the treasure of their heritage through dynamic educational and social programs." The organization is based in

Monsey, New York Monsey (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States, north of Airmont, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of Spring Valley. The village of Kaser is surrounded by ...

, United States. It began as an American offshoot of Arachim (meaning "values"), an Israeli

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

outreach organization founded in 1979. Funding for Gateways is entirely from individual donors.

Programs

The programs educate in Jewish values and traditions." Gateways often joins with other organizations to co-sponsor events. Programs include: * Family education. * Learning programs for collegiates and young professionals. * Services focused on the Russian American Jewish community. * Singles networking and matchmaking. * Learning opportunities via the internet, including an "

Ask the rabbi Ask the Rabbi is a term used in Jewish newspapers and on Jewish websites for responsa, known as ''Shut'' (Hebrew: שו"ת, literally Q&A), the traditional term for correspondence with rabbis, usually on a Halachic basis. This phrase is often us ...

" portal. * Life skills and professional development seminars. *

Jewish holiday Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. ...

programs. In addition to the New York metropolitan area, the organization hosts events throughout the United States.

Gateways personalities

Gateways is staffed by a team of 45 working in seven departments.

Rabbi Mordechai Suchard

Rabbi Mordechai Suchard is the founder and executive director of Gateways. He is a Jewish educator, speaker and author.

Biography

Suchard was born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. His father is a dayan (ecclesiastical "judge") on the

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

Beth Din. He studied at the

Telshe yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (; ; also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College of ...

, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. He attended Ponevezh in

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak ( ) or Bene Beraq, is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1,752 acre ...

, Israel, and received his rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Itzhak Kolitz, the

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and Dean of the Jerusalem Beth Din. Suchard founded Gateways to promote the continuity of

. He has established and run a network of outreach organizations targeting college students, young professionals, singles and Russian immigrants in the United States. He is active in Jewish education on the Internet. Suchard has served on the rabbinical board of "Ask The Rabbi" answering questions about Jewish law, philosophy and ethics. He speaks across America on Jewish issues such as

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

and seeing

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

in one's life. Suchard was on the American delegation accompanying US President George Bush when he visited Israel in May 2008 to mark the country's sixtieth birthday celebrations.

Political views

Rabbi Suchard is a supporter of

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; February 24, 1942 – March 27, 2024) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. Originally a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Dem ...

, contributing to his political campaign from 2002 to 2006.

Rabbi Mordechai Becher

Rabbi Mordechai Becher is an author and lecturer on topics of Jewish philosophy and ritual law and practice.

Biography

Born in Australia, Becher attended the Bialik College in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

for

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. He received his rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the

. Shortly thereafter, he started lecturing at

Neve Yerushalayim Neve Yerushalayim () is the oldest and largest college for Jewish women in the world. Founded in 1970 to educate '' baalot teshuva'' (female returnees to Orthodox Judaism) in the why and how of living an Orthodox Jewish life, Neve has approximatel ...

, Darchei Binah and

Ohr Somayach Ohr Somayach may refer to: * Ohr Somayach (book), commentary by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk **''Ohr Somayach'', common reference to Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk *Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, a network of yeshivas based in Israel * Ohr Somayach, Monsey, ...

College, remaining at the latter for 15 years. He also served as a senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach Thornhill for four years in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, from 1992 to 1996. Becher first moved to Israel in 1978, and served in the

armoured infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, mechanized infantry is distin ...

in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

,. He was an army

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, teaching in training programs for rabbis and educators. His wife, Chavy, is from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

in 1985 and lived for a time in

Kiryat Moshe Kiryat Moshe () is a neighborhood in Jerusalem, named for the British Jewish philanthropist Moses Montefiore. Kiryat Moshe is bordered by Givat Shaul and Beit Hakerem. History Kiryat Moshe was founded in 1923 with funding from the Moses Montef ...

, Israel. He has co-authored two books on contemporary issues in

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

and has responded to legal, ethical and philosophical questions on the Ohr Somayach "Ask the Rabbi" website. Becher considers Rabbi Moshe Shapiro to be his ''rebbe'', or primary mentor in areas of Torah and Judaism. Becher lives with his wife and their six children in Passaic Park. He is an instructor at

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

Gateways

Becher is a Senior Lecturer for Gateways. He also lectures for Project Genesis and is one of the leading voices in American Orthodox Jewish outreach. He is known for his sense of humor, evidenced by some of the lectures he delivers, with titles including "Guns and Moses: A Jewish Perspective on

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

," "The

Rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

, the

Tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

and the

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

," "

First Fruits First Fruits is a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, and Hebrew religions, the first fruits were given to priests as an offering to deity. Rome The first fruits of the field were off ...

Cheeseburger A cheeseburger is a hamburger with one or more slices of melted cheese on top of the meat patty, added near the end of the cooking time. Cheeseburgers can include variations in structure, ingredients and composition. As with other hamburgers, ...

s and

Lord of the Flies ''Lord of the Flies'' is the 1954 debut novel of British author William Golding. The plot concerns a group of prepubescent British boys who are stranded on an uninhabited island and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves that led to ...

" and "

Shabbos Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the cre ...

: Who Invented the Weekend Anyway?"

Other endeavors

Becher is the author of books, including ''Avodat Ahavah'' (''Labor of Love'', available only in Hebrew) covering the Jewish laws related to ''

kiruv Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as ''Kiruv'' or ''Qiruv'' ( "bringing close"), is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-Orthodox or non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life accor ...

''. He co-authored ''After the Return: A Guide for the Newly Observant'' with Moshe Newman and wrote ''Gateway to Judaism: The What, How and Why of Jewish Life''. Becher has contributed to the development of computer software programs related to Israeli

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

. Becher has a radio show on OU-Radio, which operates in a question and answer format. Becher is the host of a

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

show that airs on Shalom TV, carried on

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, o ...

's Channel 1 On Demand entitled "Dimensions of the Daf," a reference to the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

, a page of which is referred to as a ''daf''. Becher has given lectures for organizations that include the

UJA The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

and the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

. Becher has studied

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including human migration, migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study ...

archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...

and history and is on the speakers list of the Israeli Consulate in New York.
Lectures by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

Rabbi Jonathan Rietti

Rabbi Jonathan Rietti is an English-born Rabbi, educator, and prominent speaker.

Biography

Rietti was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of British actor and director

Robert Rietti Robert Rietti, (born Lucio Herbert Rietti; sometimes Rietty, 8 February 1923 – 3 April 2015) was an English actor, translator, playwright, and Dubbing, dubbing director. With over 200 credits to his name, he had a highly prolific career in t ...

. A descendant of the Sephardic leader the Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Rietti studied at Dvar Yerushalaim under Rabbi Baruch Horovitz and then went on to receiving his rabbinical ordination from

Gateshead Talmudical College Gateshead Talmudical College (), popularly known as Gateshead Yeshiva, is located in the Bensham area of Gateshead in North East England. It is the largest yeshiva in Europe and considered to be one of the most prestigious advanced yeshivas in ...

and was then involved in establishing a growing

kollel A kollel (also kolel) (, , , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced Torah study, study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features Shiur (Torah), shiurim (lectures) and ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. Rietti is a senior lecturer for Gateways. He lectures on Jewish life and identity, lecturing throughout the United States. He possesses a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in educationJewish Inspiration, Inc. - reverse side of audio albums and has been an educational consultant since 1986, offering guidance to parents of gifted and ADD children. Rietti is the author of a book entitled ''The Art of Healthy Living'', based on

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' teachings of healthy diet. He runs educational seminars and lectures, focusing on inner growth, relationships, positive parenting, health, and support for the authenticity of

. He has recorded over 200 lectures.

References

External links

*Gateways
Gateways website

The Brownstone

RAJE"Gateways' Russian American Jewish Experience (RAJE) Newly Top-Rated Jewish Nonprofit on GuideStar"
''ABC'', Lincoln, NE November 23, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gateways (Organization) Baalei teshuva institutions Jewish organizations based in the United States

Origins

Programs

Gateways personalities

Rabbi Mordechai Suchard

Biography

Political views

Rabbi Mordechai Becher

Biography

Gateways

Other endeavors

Rabbi Jonathan Rietti

Biography

See also

References

External links