Moishe House, the Jewish young adult shared living organisation, is more active than ever on the heels of October 7, its CEO has said.
This includes the three Moishe Houses in London – Camden, Kilburn and Hackney – making the UK capital the organisation’s most active city outside North America.
The concept of Moishe House is a simple one, which grew out of the need to find a space for young Jewish adults who wanted to engage with their Jewish identity but were too old for campus life and too young for the traditional Jewish programmes on offer.
In 2006, the first Moishe House opened in Oakland, California, as a place where Jews in their 20s and early 30s could live and also host Jewish activities for their friends and community in exchange for subsidised rent. Since then, some 140 Moishe Houses and pods (living spaces) have opened in over 30 countries around the world, with 2023 seeing a 20 per cent increase in the number of young people engaged in their activities.
Speaking to the JC, Moishe House CEO David Cygielman, 42, from San Francisco, said that the growth of Moishe House was due in part to a desire among many young Jewish people, particularly in the last nine months, to “lean in” to their Jewish identities.
David Cygielman, CEO of Moishe House (Photo: Moishe House)
Cygielman, who was recently visiting Moishe Houses in the UK, explained that since October 7, “we’ve all heard stories of alienation and ostracization of young Jewish people from their peers on campuses or at work, and reports of friendships being lost. They report feeling like they’ve been ‘othered’.
“In the present climate, even those who only feel marginally Jewish seem to be having to confront or reconcile their Jewish identities.”
Moishe House offered many of these affected young people a “refuge”, Cygielman said, providing them a space where they’re able to “recharge, breathe, reconnect, build new relationships; a place where they’re able to be proudly Jewish and embrace their Jewish identities”.
New Moishe Houses are still being opened, particularly in the Baltic states as more young Jewish adults are leaving Russia to live in countries like Estonia and Latvia. The newest Moishe House to open, located in Israel, was set up specifically to accommodate the Ethiopian Jewish community.
Within the houses, it is up to the respective residents around the world to design and organise their own programme of events that works for them.
But events are also organised centrally and last year, Moishe House hosted 126 of its own “immersive Jewish experiences” in 2023, which included staff-led weekend retreats, peer-led retreats, camps and experiences, each a “pit stop for learning, leadership and meaningful engagement”.
David Cygielman, CEO of Moishe House, speaking during a recent visit to London (Photo: Moishe House)
Since October, Moishe House leadership has been focused on strengthening relations between the diaspora and Israelis, with Israel-related programming initiatives having increased by 250 per cent.
Seventeen Moishe House members reported for duty in the IDF in the days following October 7, and Moishe House residents around the world immediately took the initiative, organising supply drives to support those impacted and facilitating learning sessions and fundraisers.
Cygielman said: “I’ve seen tremendous leadership and courage from young adults these last months who, in the face of knowing friendships might be challenged or workspaces may become difficult, are still proudly Jewish, working to strengthen their communities, relationships, and live vibrant Jewish lives.
One resident of Moishe House in Hackney, Yoni, 25, told the JC it was “very difficult” relocating to London from Birmingham nearly two years ago.
He said: “In Birmingham, you have a feeling of knowing people when you walk around, bumping into familiar faces, having a community. But London was this big, scary city in which the kind of community I was used to was very hard to find.”
Hackney Moishe House resident Yoni
Thankfully, Moishe House was able to provide him with the familiarity he was looking for and Yoni is now one of a small group of residents who run around seven events a month, ranging from organised outings to quiz nights, Friday night dinners, art and music evenings, and Jewish learning events.
Yoni said: “Moishe House provides my housemates and me with a really lovely, relaxed, and open environment. I think there’s something about joining in with communal activities and discussing topics with people in your own home, as opposed to going to shared spaces like a synagogue, that engages people differently and makes them feel very welcome and heard.”
