From 'The Kollel' to 'My Kollel': Orlando's Jewish community is writing its next chapter

On a recent evening in Southwest Orlando, hundreds gathered for what Rabbi Naftali Kassorla described as “a celebration of belonging — not just of learning.”

The Orlando Community Kollel’s annual “MY Kollel” event drew a record crowd this year. The name itself, Kassorla explained, captures the shift in how Orlando’s Jewish community sees the kollel. “We wanted people to feel that this isn’t the kollel, or our kollel — it’s my kollel,” he said. “It belongs to everyone who walks through our doors.”

For many, the word kollel may evoke images of secluded study halls. But in Orlando, Kassorla said,...