Oorah (organization)


Oorah, or sometimes Oorah Kiruv Rechokim, Hebrew for "awaken and bring in those who are far", is an incorporated Orthodox Jewish kiruv organization founded in 1980 "with the goal of awakening Jewish children and their families to their heritage." It is a United States-based 5013 non-profit organization.

History

Oorah, Inc. was founded by Rabbi Chaim Mintz and is based in Lakewood. Day-to-day operations are overseen by his son, Rabbi Eliyohu Mintz of New Jersey.

Programs

Oorah operates and/or funds 49 individual programs that target Jewish outreach and learning, family support, personal growth, and relationship counseling. It promotes family support and development. It runs summer camps for boys and girls, Jewish holiday enrichment, early, primary, and secondary educational support and enrichment, as examples.

Fundraising

Oorah employs a number of different fund-raising entities to keep its many programs running. They operate Kars4Kids and run an annual "Chinese auction", offering tickets for a variety of prizes at five dollars each. They have a mascot named Fiveish, a five dollar bill who has starred in YouTube videos in both animated and costume version. As a bonus to purchasing auction tickets, donors received a DVD and or CD of that year's edition of the "Shmorg". After the 10th edition, the shmorg is no longer being produced, however many Shmorg videos are still available through Oorah's website and through YouTube.

Legal issues

In the summer of 2007, 31 undocumented workers doing work for a subcontractor at Oorah's summer camp were arrested in a raid by ICE and local law enforcement. Camp director Eliyohu Mintz stated that the organization was not aware that the workers lacked employment authorization.
In September 2010, a website for some of Oorah's camps was hacked.