Mark Wildes, at The Blogs

Sep 20, 2024, 11:43 PM

In 1942 Ted Mogil, a US Marine was given a military-issued prayer book just before he was shipped out to the South Pacific. As the only Jew in his regiment, Ted grew especially attached to the prayer book as...

Aug 11, 2024, 7:15 PM

Jewish Resilience In Action

For the last twenty-four years I have had the great privilege, through the Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE), to bring groups of less affiliated yet curious, young Jewish professionals to Israel. This year our trip was very different both in...

Jun 28, 2024, 4:29 PM

Holy Soldiers

A number of years back when Israel received a number of additional F-35 fighter planes from the United States, the following question was posed to Rabbi Yehuda Aviner, head rabbi of Yeshivat Ateret Kohanim, and a brilliant halachic authority:...

May 22, 2024, 12:49 AM

Showing Love and Chizuk

In January 1948, just months before the Jewish State was declared, and the combined armies of Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon were ready to attack, Gold Meir was sent to the United States to raise funds...

Apr 17, 2024, 1:30 AM

Something For Your Seder

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchick told the story of a Seder he remembered from his early childhood. Yosef Dov, who would later become the great Rav Soloveitchick, was just about six or seven years old when he was sitting with...

Mar 6, 2024, 7:49 PM

Taking responsibility

In the 1960s, Reb Shlomo Carlebach used to travel to the former Soviet Union with Tefilin, Mezuzot, Yarmulkes and other religious items for Russian Jews. At the end of one of his trips, Reb Shlomo was packing his bags...

Jan 17, 2024, 2:07 AM

My Father My Teacher

The Talmud (Kiddushin 31b) relates that when quoting a father in a Torah discussion, one should not mention his father by name, but rather refer to him as Avi Mori – “my father, my teacher.” The Talmud goes on to relate how when...

Dec 22, 2023, 6:56 AM

Can Antisemites Change?

Between 2003 and 2012 Csanad Szegedi was a leader in the radical far-right Jobbik party of the Hungarian Parliament. In June 2011 he revealed that he had just learned that his maternal grandparents were Jewish and that his grandmother...

Dec 6, 2023, 8:34 AM

Israeli lessons for American Jews

My wife and I traveled to Israel with the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) to give some love and support to our Israeli brothers and sisters. We came (with MJE packed duffel bags for the IDF) to say: you’re...

Nov 8, 2023, 2:27 AM

Getting More Jews To Support Israel

I was recently on the phone with a student, an involved MJE participant, who also happens to be a volunteer firefighter in the New York area. To keep things anonymous, let us call him Bob. Bob set aside his...

About Me

Rabbi Mark Wildes, known as The Urban Millennials' Rabbi, founded Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE) in 1998. Since then, he has become one of America’s most inspirational and dynamic Jewish educators. Rabbi Wildes holds a BA in Psychology from Yeshiva University, a JD from the Cardozo School of Law, a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University and was ordained from Yeshiva University. Rabbi Mark & his wife Jill and their children Yosef, Ezra, Judah and Avigayil live on the Upper West Side where they maintain a warm and welcoming home for all.