Big Aish criticized for creating strictly exclusionary Jewish networking groups

Apparently seeking to validate the worst anti-Semitic stereotypes of clannishness and exclusionary policies, Big Aish is going far beyond singles events promoting endogamy, and is actually providing subsidized infrastructure for professional networking opportunities that rigidly rejects non-Jews, as well as those who are Jewish-identified but from diverse backgrounds.

With their “Young Professionals in Entertainment,” Big Aish is running an event that offers:

8 Tables. 8 people per table. Infinite Networking Potential.

The idea is simple. [Editor’s note – when a kiruv groups promises something is simple, be very wary – “it's simple” usually means they are about to fuck you!]

Join a table of 8 prospective business contacts on the creative side of TV, Film, Radio, Advertising, Interactive, and Theatre for the first course of a delicious 3-course meal.

Then, switch tables for the main course and meet 8 NEW people.

Enjoy words of wisdom from our special guest speaker, David Gavant, VP and Exec Producer of Major League Baseball Productions

Then, mingle over dessert and round out a night of innovative networking for uniting Jewish Young Professionals in the Entertainment industry.

Limited slots open. By application only.

So the Jewish Outreach Institute noted that,

When should it matter whether or not your mother was born Jewish? That’s the question we at JOI found ourselves asking after receiving a mass email from Aish NY about an upcoming “Young Professionals in Entertainment” mixer here in New York City. The application form has a series of standard questions like name and address, plus an essay box asking what field of the entertainment industry you’re in—but also included the question “Was your mother born Jewish?” This question seems oddly out of place.

Ostensibly, the event is about “innovative networking for uniting Jewish Young Professionals in the Entertainment industry,” and includes a dinner where you change tables three times for the three courses, allowing you to meet and mingle with different people at each new table. If the sole rationale for the event is professional networking—as the marketing would have us believe—the question about participants’ mothers is irrelevant.
[…]
If the applicant’s mother was not born Jewish but had an Orthodox conversion or if the applicant himself or herself had a similar conversion, they can register. But if the conversion was under the auspices of a Conservative or Reform rabbi, the applicant must put that on the registration form and the folks at Aish will “have to talk to their rabbis.”

These requirements are nowhere to be found on the registration page. We only learned this after calling. Imagine how many people end up disqualified for a professional networking event because Aish doesn’t recognize their Jewish background. If Aish has a definition of “Jewish” when they say their event is for “Jewish Young Professionals,” they should simply define who they consider Jewish rather than ask a question that creates doubt, confusion and self-consciousness among a substantial percentage of their stated target audience. At the very least, Aish should include an explanation of why they’re asking the question. But the ethical thing to do would be to simply state who is eligible for this event, period, rather than make people jump through hoops.

Big Aish just keeps putting its big nose into too many places where it doesn’t belong…