Inspired by a lecture

I have a car. In fact, I have cars for all of you. What I'm talking about is that I have a Rolls Royce for every one of you! You know, it's the car that has a steering wheel, and an engine. It even features an exhaust pipe. And you know what else? It has doors - all four of them! And it even has three, yes I'm not mistaken, three mirrors - two on the side and one under the ceiling. It also has enough seating for five. And, also, the wheels are round!!! And you know what, these cars are free to all of you because you, my dear readers, are all the heirs to the Rolls Royce empire, you hear that? For all of you!!!


This is how I felt at a recent Torah lecture. I felt that I was being sold a Rolls Royce with the selling points that could equally be applied to Kia Rio. Because the points the speaker was making could be heard in many other places. Like self-help books. Like college guidance center. Like a career center, or all other places where you go to get advice, for people to help you, etc. The only difference between those places and the lecture I've been to is that the speaker purported that all that he was saying was Torah.

And most people bought it as such!!! Why? The same way many people are persuaded to vote for certain candidates. Most people vote not because they researched all the options and weighed all the decisions with regards to policies. Rather, they rely on the charisma, and the credentials of the politician (and charisma definitely has more weight that credentials). Audience tends to like speakers (and politicians) who can make jokes that suit most of the audience. It does not matter if those jokes irk a select few in the audience, as long as they are not big donors to the speaker's cause. Therefore, these lectures are aimed at people who do not think outside the box, even though the speaker may promote the notion of doing just that. The audience does not realize that just because today, in front of them, this speaker ridicules something that they, too, find ridiculous; the same speaker may tell another audience something else that is ridiculous to that particular audience, but at the same time, not quite funny, or may even be very close to heart of this, current audience. It is just the matter of having a polished speech, good answers for Q and A session, and making the jokes that are appropriate for the bulk of the audience.

So the question to the audience: Is this a valid kiruv approach?