Envisioning Jewish Peoplehood (בית כנסת ישראל)
Rather than thinking creatively about how to engage this population of unaffiliated Jews who want to receive Jewish information, education, ritual and worship, they continue the status quo while watching their numbers decrease as they look out in the pews. Ethan Tucker addressed this issue in the Zeek article, “What Independent Minyanim Teach Us About the Next Generation of Jewish Communities.”[3] He cites the following three reasons why Jews do not join synagogues. The first is that “Jews live modern, autonomous lives outside of the sphere of coercive rabbinic power…and thus will make their own normative choices.” The second is that highly educated Jews have been trained to think critically about texts as sources of wisdom and not authority. And, lastly, despite the challenges from modernity, many young adults do care what Judaism has to say as a source of help when dealing with personal and communal concerns.[4] They need community of some sort to assist with decision-making and crisis. This means they want and need something, they just know it isn’t the typical synagogue.
Today the word “belonging” has new meaning when one can belong to any community in the world via a Facebook group or fan page. In the free marketplace of the Internet membership no longer means paying dues but clicking “yes” to a request to join. Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz and Dr. Shlomi Ravid, in their study entitled “Best Practices of Organizations that Build Jewish Peoplehood,” outline the historical context for opting into the Jewish collective belonging.[5] The shifts began in the 17th century, with the first shift lasting until the early 20th century. This was a time of Traditional Belonging, in which membership was mandated by law. The second shift is known as Enclave Belonging, and marked the early 20th century until the time of World War II. The Time of Affiliation, the third shift, where membership became a choice, extended through the 1960’s. The sixties through current time is known as the fourth shift, or the time of no affiliation. Now is the time for employing a new model of thinking about being Jewish to turn the tide.
UN's Double Standard for Arab Refugees (Defense/Middle East - Israel News - Israel National News)
Science, Religion and God (Books Jewish Journal)
Who’s the better Jew? The Hassid who believes in the literal truth of the Bible, denies the findings of modern science and reprimands women who stray too far from the home or the Jew who goes to synagogue, observes the Sabbath, encourages his wife to get a PhD in astrophysics, and regards some of the Bible’s teachings as inapplicable to the modern world? If you said the Hassid, you are confusing literal-minded extremism with the true rabbinical tradition writes modern orthodox Rabbi Marc D. Angel, Ph.D., in his courageous new book, “Maimonides, Spinoza, and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism” (Jewish Lights: $24.99). Angel smokes Jewish fundamentalists out of their lair and systematically destroys their claims to authority with his brilliance and peerless scholarship.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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