Rabbi Mark N. Wildes is the founder and director of Manhattan Jewish Experience (MJE), a highly successful Jewish outreach and educational program that has resulted in 344 Jewish marriages. The program engages and reconnects unaffiliated Jewish men and women in their 20’s and 30’s with Judaism and the Jewish community. He is the author of The 40 Day Challenge: Daily Jewish Insights to Prepare for the High Holidays (Kodesh Press, 2021) and Beyond The Instant: Jewish Wisdom for Lasting Happiness in a Fast Paced Social Media World (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018).

Rabbi Wildes earned a B.A. in Psychology from Yeshiva University, a Law Degree from the Cardozo School of Law, a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and rabbinic ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University.

After serving in rabbinic and outreach positions at Ohab Zedek and Kehilath Jeshurun and teaching at Ramaz and Stern College, Wildes established MJE, dedicated to engaging thousands of NYC’s unaffiliated Jewish professionals. In its 22 years of existence, MJE has successfully reconnected thousands of Jewish men and women with Judaism, hundreds of whom are today living their lives and sending their children to Jewish Day Schools. Operating from its three Manhattan locations, with a talented staff of 15 professionals, MJE’s inspirational Shabbat dinners, beginner’s services, retreats, classes, holiday events, and trips to Israel have touched the lives of thousands of young Jews.  Wildes also teaches an outreach-training seminar at RIETS, Yeshiva University’s rabbinical school training new leaders for the future. He, his wife Jill and their four children live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.