Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of AISH, speaking at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference held at the Friends of Zion Media Center in Jerusalem, said that after the Hamas attacks on October 7, many Jews chose different paths, terming the phenomenon as the “October 8 Jew.”
“On the day after,” said Burg, “Jews went in two different directions. Some of them were so appalled at what they were seeing that they felt the need to speak out in a way they hadn’t before. Other Jews, frankly, were embarrassed and joined our enemies.”
Burg shared that Aish, whose site registers over one million views per day, speaks to more Jews daily than any political organization. Addressing Aish’s participation in the World Zionist Congress, he said, “It is impossible to separate Jewish education from Jewish activism and support of Israel. You can’t separate it. Therefore, Aish has a responsibility to be there.”
Touting the organization’s social media skills, Burg said that Aish is far ahead of almost every Jewish organization in the areas of social media and AI. “We have to fight it in a way that the next generation can understand,” he said. “That way, we can bring our brothers and sisters back to support Israel and the Jewish people. When people are searching for spirituality, we have to be there to give those answers. Our enemies are far more advanced than we are, so it’s about really understanding how to utilize these tools.”
Burg said that the challenge is in making Judaism relevant to the next generation. ”We have to figure out how to take 3,500 years of history and give people ahead of us, the young Jews, the ability to tell their story in a way that can be heard. We need to reach out to our brothers and sisters because we are only powerful when we stand together.”