Jewish Megatrends

Sidney Schwarz

Description

Visionary solutions for a community ripe for transformational change—from fourteen leading innovators of Jewish life.

"Jewish Megatrends offers a vision for a community that can simultaneously strengthen the institutions that serve those who seek greater Jewish identification and attract younger Jews, many of whom are currently outside the orbit of Jewish communal life. Schwarz and his collaborators provide an exciting path, building on proven examples, that we ignore at our peril."
—from the Foreword

The American Jewish community is riddled with doubts about the viability of the institutions that well served the Jewish community of the twentieth century. Synagogues, Federations and Jewish membership organizations have yet to figure out how to meet the changing interests and needs of the next generation.

In this challenging yet hopeful call for transformational change, visionary leader Rabbi Sidney Schwarz looks at the social norms that are shaping the habits and lifestyles of younger American Jews and why the next generation is so resistant to participate in the institutions of Jewish communal life as they currently exist. He sets out four guiding principles that can drive a renaissance in Jewish life and gives evidence of how, on the margins of the Jewish community, those principles are already generating enthusiasm and engagement from the very millennials that the organized Jewish community has yet to engage.

Contributors—leading innovators from different sectors of the Jewish community—each use Rabbi Schwarz's framework as a springboard to set forth their particular vision for the future of their sector of Jewish life and beyond.

Foreword xiii
Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat
Preface xvii

Part 1 The Changing Face of Jewish Identity in America
Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future 3
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz

Part 2 Perspectives from the American Jewish Community
Jewish Culture: What Really Counts? 43
Elise Bernhardt
Synagogues: Reimagined 54
Rabbi Sharon Brous
Jewish Family Foundations: "Come Together, Right Now" 67
Sandy Cardin
Israel and Jewish Life: A Twenty-First-Century Educational Vision 82
Dr. Barry Chazan and Anne Lanski
Denominationalism: History and Hopes 94
Dr. David Ellenson
"Getting" the Next Generation: Young Adults and the Jewish Future 107
Wayne L. Firestone
Jewish Social Justice: Looking Beyond Ourselves 122
Rabbi Jill Jacobs
Jewish Community Centers: Not Just a Gym and a Pool 135
Rabbi Joy Levitt
The Orthodox Difference 147
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Interreligious Collaboration: American Judaism and Religious Pluralism 160
Rabbi Or N. Rose
On Tribes, Food, and Community 174
Nigel Savage
The Federation System: Loving Humanity and the Jewish People 188
Barry Shrage
Jewish Education: From Continuity to Meaning 202
Dr. Jonathan S. Woocher

Part 3 The Way Forward
Toward a Jewish Renaissance 219
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz

Notes 238
Suggestions for Further Reading 247
About the Author 250
Index 251

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Jewish history
• Judaism
• Jewish leadership
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781580237208
• Langue: English

Extrait

Praise for Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future
Schwarz combines remarkable institutional building experience, [an] extensive network of relationships with the best and the brightest in Jewish life, and keen knowledge of the American religious landscape to produce a must read for those concerned with the genuine challenges of the next era in American Jewish life.... The book is insightful and creative ... sober and hopeful, realistic and idealistic, temperate and optimistic, pragmatic and visionary. Brims with wisdom and confidence....
- Rabbi Irwin Kula , president, Clal-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
Provide[s] an invaluable framework for understanding the challenging dynamics of contemporary American Judaism [and] a blueprint for the future that will inspire and motivate leaders of our community. Anyone who wants to see American Judaism thrive in the twenty-first century should read this book!
- Rabbi Marla Feldman , executive director, Women of Reform Judaism
Face[s] difficult issues head-on. The faith we share in a creative Jewish future is due in large part to people like Schwarz and those visionaries he has gathered around him in these essays. Rabbis and other Jewish leaders should pay careful attention.
- Arthur Green , rector, Hebrew College Rabbinical School; author, Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow and Radical Judaism
Throws down the gauntlet to Jewish community leaders seeking to engage the next generation in this perceptive book.... The result: a thoughtful road map for the future of the Jewish people in North America based on wisdom, justice, community and purpose.
- Dr. Ron Wolfson , author, Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community ; Fingerhut Professor of Education, American Jewish University; co-founder, Synagogue 3000/Next Dor
Spot-on in its analysis of the biggest changes in American Judaism.... Read this book to become informed, but more importantly, read it to become inspired to build the next vibrant chapter of Jewish life.
- Rabbi Elie Kaunfer , executive director, Mechon Hadar; author, Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities
A thought provoking, challenging and important book at this critical time of transition in Jewish life.
- Rabbi Laura Geller , senior rabbi, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills
Delivers an excellent and well thought out set of assumptions ... combined with some of the best thinkers and doers in the American Jewish community. I recommend this book to anyone searching to learn more about the major trends and direction of our Jewish community.
- David Cygielman , founder and CEO, Moishe Houses
Challenges us to do much-needed big picture thinking about the nature of American Judaism today.... By gathering and challenging major American Jewish thinkers in one volume, Sid Schwarz has given us the gift of a critical conversation wrapped into one important book.
- Dr. Erica Brown , scholar-in-residence, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington; author, Inspired Jewish Leadership: Practical Approaches to Building Strong Communities and Spiritual Boredom: Rediscovering the Wonder of Judaism
A thoughtful work that challenges the traditional biases of decision makers in the Jewish community and empowers them to take risks and step into what could be a glorious future.
- Rabbi Charles Simon , executive director, Federation of Jewish Men s Clubs; author, Building a Successful Volunteer Culture: Finding Meaning in Service in the Jewish Community
[A] compelling twenty-first-century case for a Judaism of four key value propositions-wisdom, social justice, community and sacred purpose-gains a fifth-honest conversation-through the voices of some of American Jewry s most creative leaders.
- Shawn Landres , co-founder, Jewish Jumpstart
Wisely and skillfully offers a multi-dimensional platform for reinvigorating the Jewish experiences and charts a course for a future of Jewish relevance.
- Rabbi Will Berkovitz , senior vice president, Repair the World
Brings ... many ... exciting developments [in modern Jewish life] into a focus that provides a fuller understanding of where we are and where we can go. It is a must read anyone thinking about the future of American Jewish life.
- Esther Safran Foer , director, Sixth & I
Insightful and honest analysis [as well as] specific ideas for how we must evolve as a community.... Offer[s] innovative strategies for building a Jewish community so compelling that future generations will be inspired to connect.
- Nancy Kaufman , CEO, National Council of Jewish Women
Offers us a roadmap to the unparalleled changes affecting the Jewish world today.... Uniquely lays out a new reality filled with challenges and opportunities that could not be more timely. After reading this book, one thing is for certain: the Jewish world of tomorrow cannot and will not look like the Jewish world of today.
- David Bryfman , The Jewish Education Project; co-designer, The Jewish Futures Conferences
A must-read for anyone who cares about the future of the Jewish community.... Present[s] a realistic, yet hopeful view of how the Jewish world is changing and how those with leadership responsibilities in the community can respond.
- Rabbi Laura Baum , OurJewishCommunity.org and Congregation Beth Adam, Loveland, Ohio
Engaging and spirited.... Calls for authenticity-a renewed focus on community, prayer, learning, social justice, Israel travel and cultural participation as ends in themselves, rather than as mere instruments to some other end. To get the best results, just do the right thing.
- Professor Steven M. Cohen , Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner
If you want to understand the here-and-now of the Jewish community in the twenty-first century, then read this book today.... Helps us better understand the new narratives and urgent challenges of Jewish identity, engagement, and continuity.
- Lori Weinstein , CEO and executive director, Jewish Women International
Schwarz s essay-as-premise and its responses reflect a Jewish world that is recalibrating and transitioning rather than floundering, and testify to the wealth of options for today s Jews to express Jewish identity and connect to core values, texts and tradition.
- Esther D. Kustanowitz , program coordinator, NextGen Engagement Initiative, Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Powerful ... provid[es] a compelling and nuanced vision of what a meaningful Jewish future can look like and the change-agents who are working to realize this vision.
- Rabbi Ari Weiss , executive director, Uri L Tzedek
A tour de force... I encourage all committed Jewish professionals and lay leaders to absorb and process the vision in this book.
- Jakir Manela , executive director, Pearlstone Center, Baltimore, Maryland
An impressive body of thought leaders offer their perspective on the key challenges of the twenty-first century, as well as their insights on how the community can respond with intelligence and creativity.
- Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block , rabbi-in-residence, Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
Gather[s] together an all-star cast of movers and shakers who have broken boundaries in their respective ways. Each contributes powerfully to a larger thesis that is important reading for all who take leadership seriously.
- Rabbi Avraham (Avi) Weiss , founder, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and Yeshivat Maharat; author, Spiritual Activism: A Jewish Guide to Leadership and Repairing the World


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To my children
Daniel, Joel, and Jennifer
Fortunate is the generation in which the elders listen to the youth.
Talmud, Rosh haShana 25b
Contents
Foreword
Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat
Preface
Part 1 The Changing Face of Jewish Identity in America
Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future
Rabbi Sidney Schwarz
Part 2 Perspectives from the American Jewish Community
Jewish Culture: What Really Counts?
Elise Bernhardt
Synagogues: Reimagined
Rabbi Sharon Brous
Jewish Family Foundations: Come Together, Right Now
Sandy Cardin
Israel and Jewish Life: A Twenty-First-Century Educational Vision
Dr. Barry Chazan and Anne Lanski
Denominationalism: History and Hopes
Dr. David Ellenson
Getting the Next Generation: Young Adults and the Jewish Future
Wayne L. Firestone
Jewish Social Justice: Looking Beyond Ourselves
Rabbi Jill Jacobs
Jewish Community Centers: Not Just a Gym and a Pool
Rabbi Joy Levitt
The Orthodox Difference
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Interreligious Collaboration: American Judaism and Religious Pluralism
Rabbi Or N. Rose
On Tribes, Food, and Community
Nigel Savage
The Federation System: Loving Humanity and the Jewish People
Barry Shrage
Jewish Educati