As the Friction is Removed

Tags

change, community, future

How is Judaism going to change? What is going to happen to the Jewish community? How will it adapt?

I listened to a presentation by the Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson. He was talking about what happens when the typical constraints are moved to zero. When the economics of doing business tend to zero. He gave examples of when a few people controlled the bandwidth and we had broadcast TV. The whole country watched the same 5 TV channels. Everyone saw what everyone else did. When the bandwidth became cheap the entertainment got significantly more focused. Content is aimed at very small groups of people with similar interests. It is almost a one to one relationship. The constraints of the delivery mechanism went away and the system changed.

For hundreds of years the constraints of the autonomous Jewish community inside of the European state defined Judaism. It defined a very tight connection of community, norms and relationships with the rabbi. After the French  Revolution and the destruction of the autonomous communities there was a battle for the Jewish people. In the US they manifest themselves in Reform, Conservative and Orthodox. Each movement  aligned around a communal mechanism where community, norms and the relationship with the rabbi were not necessary for survival. The shift was made to the common center — the synagogue. Each group attracted members by their movement’s beliefs and the synagogues practices. The shift was tremendous and is still being battled today.

For about 30 years now there has been another shift in America. Jews no longer live in communities of Jews with tight families and walking distances to their synagogues. Synagogues are not the center of people’s lives and the idea of aligning with a movement maybe going to the wayside. America has people living everywhere and anywhere. People work and live many miles apart. Standard communication and interaction requiring a place has been replaced with simple communication channels and being where ever you want. Things in the world are catered to an individuals likings and beliefs.

What is Judaism going to do in this new world? How will it adapt? Should it hold on to the movement/synagogue ways? Should it focus on delivering to the individual something more tailored?

What are the future scenarios? What happens as the restrictions of the past are removed?

Shir Tikva: What could it be?

Tags

change, intention, Reform, Synagogue

What is the purpose of a synagogue? What is the purpose of a temple community? What does it mean to be reform? Does the old format work in today’s world? Should their be committees to determine general programming in the community? I wonder about this?

It seems to me that it is time to change the way the temple community is formed. It should not be looked at as a big cohesive community anymore. The community should look to differentiate itself out side and in. The community should be composed of smaller groups that all aspire to build community and highlight its unique characters. Rabbi Zalman Schechter Shalomi describes the worlds religions as organs in a body. Each organ is unique and important to the survival of the whole. However, each organ has its defined purpose and differences that are unique and effective. I like this idea and would like to apply it to the synagogue.

Why have one service for each occasion? Why have the one “appropriate” Shabbat service? Why not encourage the community to renew and aspire for meaning and to do Judaism with intention. Why not have teens create Friday night service where they go somewhere, to someone’s house or out in the woods and lead an alternative minyan. Why not have a Shabbat service that focuses on a different experience, a meal, music, wine, comfortable pillows, big chairs, candle lights, royal fabrics, hanging out , talking, singing, Song of Song jams (like poetry jams) — make it like a wedding — make it a place that people want to hang out.

For the high holidays have a family service and then have an experimental service that performs things in a much more traditional, ethnic or mystical way. Move people out of their comfort zone. Do something that challenges and expands the spiritual.

Have meditation classes. Wrap the tefilin. Wrap the prayer shawls. Put on the tzit tzit. Push practice and explore.

The community can be all inclusive allowing everyone to find their own thing but it does not need to be the same thing. It should be different. It should be exciting. It should have the regular things. It should have a distinctive feel, one where everyone is welcome where they are but allowed to move in any direction they like.

We should have a goal that every member attend something during the year outside of HIgh Holidays at least once. Something for everyone done by everyone. We should have the range of people who identify as Jewish and participate communally to those who want to practice and learn more and dive deeper. Let’s reform this Reform and bring the most to every individual where ever they are.

Pluralism: Why?

Tags

Christianity, Jews, pluralism, why

Why do we need Jewish pluralism? We can fight all we want about what it means to be Jewish. The Jewish community is only 14 million strong. The billions of other people are looking at all of us and saying “they are Jews.”

So what is the point? Are we worried because the community is not all getting along? That is another issue.

There is something about the concept of pluralism that is very warm and fuzzy feeling. It’s emotional. “Can’t we all just get along?”

What I do not understand is that all sects of Judaism recognize the existence of Christianity and Islam as legitimate bearers of the revelation of G-d, the one G-d, but need pluralism to do the same with each other? Why? If it is about getting along and being civil then have conversations. If it is about recognizing each other as equal, get over it. Each sect is created to forge a sense of together within the group. The sect uses the differences to define its need for existence. Look at Christianity they even do it better than us Jews.

Does plurality equal unity? They do not seem to be the same. We can all be Jews and have nothing to do with each other. Does plurality require easy movement between groups? That does not seem to work. The reason for separate groups is to be different. People have a hard time dealing with things that are different. It only seem natural that their will arguments over who is correct on different points.

Why do we care about pluralism? Is it because it is part of the American ideal. Why bother?

Pluralism: A Historical Perspective

Tags

Orthodox, pluralism, Reform

It is interesting because we are having a discussion at my temple about
Jewish Pluralism with a representative from the Orthodox, Conservative
and Reform movements. The beginnings of Orthodoxy and Reform come from
the same place with very different responses. Jews of Europe were
separate autonomous states within states until the French Revolution.
These autonomous states are what I would call traditional. The French
revolution had an almost complete rejection of the idea of separate
communities and religion as a whole. So there was a big issue of what
to do with the Jews. The Reform response was to become part of the
intellectual elite and reject all forms of traditionalism that did not
have to do with the core of Judaism that was said to be ethics. (This
was a response to the French elitists that said that Judaism was a
superstitious and out of touch religion that had nothing to do with
logic or ethics.) The Reformers decided to recast in that light.

The
Orthodox were appalled with the “throwing the baby out with the bath
water” approach. They wanted to keep as much of traditional Judaism as
was possible. Aspects of traditional Judaism focused heavily on the
post temple reforms where sacrifice could not be done. So how did you
do that in the world without a temple? Keeping the identification of
the ritually pure and profane was a significant aspect of religious
life. Rules were created to elevate standard Rabbinical practice such
as writing the Torah into a ritually pure act. For counter example, in
the temple it was ritually impure to enter the temple after a sacrifice
covered in blood. The priest would have to bathe first.

I
think it is a great challenge for Reform Jews to even come close to
understanding what the Orthodox are bemoaning because so little in
Reform Judaism outside of intellectual arguments is consider holy or
ritually pure (this is what they rejected).

So where is your temple? What does your community hold holy? Ethics? Traditional interpretations of Torah and Talmud? Will the reform movement be able to get out of its own historical way and embrace more traditional aspects of Judasim? Will Orthodox be able to accept Reform Jews? How many more variations of Judaism will we create? Is the Jewish community destined to be like the Christian community with many different approaches where some get along and some don’t believe the other is legit? Does inter-religious pluralism matter?