Roei Eisenberg and the Open Tent Young Jews Are Building Themselves

In an era where Jewish organizations boast million-dollar budgets and decades of institutional history, Roei Eisenberg launched a political movement with just $200 and a dream. What he had that legacy organizations didn’t: an Instagram account that spoke the language of millennial and Gen Z Jews who felt increasingly alienated from traditional communal spaces.

The result? ANU:A New Union, a party that ran for the World Zionist Congress, gathered nearly 900 signatures, built a follower base rivaling much larger Jewish organizations, and—most remarkably—transformed isolated college students into active community builders, all through the power of strategic social media engagement.

“For a new organization like ours, there was no question that we needed social media. Because we had no organization, no legacy organization behind us, no organizational institutional backing. We were contributing our own funding. And so we ran this election on a $200 Wix website.”

Speaking at the AZM biannual National Assembly, Eisenberg laid out not just a vision for millennial and Gen Z Zionist engagement, but a masterclass in how social media can build real, lasting community when wielded with intention and authenticity.

The Philosophy: Build or Destroy

Eisenberg’s approach to social media is refreshingly candid. He doesn’t romanticize it or dismiss it—he sees it for what it is: a neutral tool whose impact depends entirely on how it’s used.

“Social media is a tool and like a hammer, right? You can use it to build or you can use it to undo. And so we have to meet people where they are. Millennial, Gen Z, they’re on Instagram, they’re on TikTok, they used to be on Twitter. And so we have to be there.”

But simply being present on social platforms isn’t enough. Eisenberg emphasized that content must be intentionally crafted for the medium and the audience.

“You can’t create content just for the sake of creating content,” he explained. “You can’t post your newsletter on your Instagram feed or your prepared remarks. You can’t put a speech on there. You have to tailor your content on social media to the audience, to what is engaging, to what will they share, and to what will inspire them and touch their heart and get them to actually activate and do more than scroll or press like.”

This insight—that social media must inspire action beyond digital engagement—became the foundation of ANU:A New Union’s strategy. And the results speak for themselves.

The Story That Changed Everything

For Eisenberg, the true measure of success came not in follower counts or signature totals, but in a message from a college student he’d never met.

The Transformative Power of Connection

A college student who had been following ANU:A New Union’s content reached out after the election. She had felt profoundly isolated as a Jew on campus—until she discovered the organization’s Instagram account.

The student began sharing ANU:A New Union’s posts, and something remarkable happened. Other isolated Jewish students on campus started connecting with her. Digital engagement sparked real-world community.

“She said that when she started following us,........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)