Since he was first featured in 36 Under 36 in 2018, Rabbi Ari Hart has expanded the many innovations and outreach that marked his first year at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue, a vibrant modern Orthodox congregation located near the Skokie-Evanston border.

Under his leadership, Skokie Valley partnered with other community groups, offering Chicago Jews the chance to combine Jewish worship with chesed –outreach to others. Members conducted food drives, protested gun violence, aided refugees, and delivered cholent to homeless Chicagoans. Each Passover, Skokie Valley hosts an “Open Seder” where all are welcome to celebrate and eat together at no cost.

This blend of spiritual uplift and inspirational leadership has seen Skokie Valley’s membership increase dramatically. “The success of each of these initiatives is due to the community and its passionate, innovative, and hard-working leaders, staff, and volunteers,” said Hart, 38.

When the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of communal life, Hart and Skokie Valley stepped up to help local Jews find new ways to connect. They organized wellness checks on synagogue members, delivered supplies to families who were sick or in quarantine, and organized daytime exercise classes and social spaces over Zoom to help keep seniors connected.

Instead of hosting their usual Open Seder during the pandemic, Skokie Valley delivered over 50 free Seders-in-a-Box across Chicagoland. Hart helped launch “Food For First Responders” with a dual mission: supporting Kosher restaurants under financial pressure and nourishing first responders.

With so many people suffering from loneliness during the pandemic–including himself–Hart came up with a novel way to help. “Rav Ari is lonely!” he announced to congregants. Synagogue members–and anyone else who wished–could book a date to visit with Hart out of doors. Within the next few months, he spent hundreds of hours with congregants and neighbors, listening, talking, and providing a much-needed personal connection.

Amid the pandemic, Hart also encouraged the Jewish community to think “beyond our borders.” When looting in May and June 2020 left some South Side neighborhoods without functioning grocery stores, Skokie Valley sent two refrigerated trucks to the Bronzeville neighborhood to help distribute fresh food to local residents. When a fire ripped through an apartment building housing Rohingya refugees last December, Skokie Valley members stepped in to replace kitchen supplies for two families.

Hart’s latest venture is launching Solu, an independent community-wide social action and education program. Solu –“path”–is the first word of Yom Kippur Haftarah, in which the prophet Isaiah explains that God desires us to “open the bonds of wickedness, dissolve the groups that pervert (justice, and) let the oppressed go free.” True to this vision, Solu will provide programs for individuals and families to combine Jewish learning with hands-on social action.

Programs will include building a Family Literacy Center in partnership with a church on the South Side of Chicago, aiding refugees, helping the homeless, and partnering with local organizations to tutor and aid at-risk students. Hart noted that many local Jews, especially those with young children, have a strong desire to reach out and help, but “there are so many obstacles” to doing so. With Solu, “We’re going to clear the way–we’re going to make a path.”

With his track record of energizing Jews to deepen their spiritual connections and do good in the world, the path Hart is forging is sure to make a difference in the Chicago Jewish community and beyond.

Yvette Alt Miller, Ph.D. lives with her family in the northern suburbs of Chicago.