The Jewish Future is Here by David Lewis

James Hyman

The

Jewish Future is Here A New Vision of Identity and Community

The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning The Partnership is a team of innovators leading a way forward for the Greater DC Jewish community. Our collaborations provide thousands of learning opportunities, for whole families or anyone of any age interested in exploring core Jewish values and culture. Programs bridge arts and faith, balancing innovation with tradition. We provide unique online resources, ground-breaking professional development for educators, and partner with JCCs, congregations, schools and social service agencies to help expand and deepen their reach. 12230 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852 Telephone: 240-283-6200 Fax: 240-283-6201 Email: info@pjll.org Website: www.pjll.org Copyright ÂŠ 2011 by Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without the prior written consent of the publishers.

James Hyman

The

Jewish Future is Here A New Vision of Identity and Community

Table of Contents The Jewish Future is Here 1

Notes 22 Acknowledgements 23 About the Author 24

Preface This document is a concept paper, presenting many pieces of a puzzle yet not all of them. It is not a definitive description of what a community should look like although it includes a fictional vision. The final picture will be determined by each community. However, we strongly believe that there are three key elements described herein that are imperative if we are to be successful at transforming the American Jewish community. They are: a much broader notion of Jewish identity; re-defining the core mission of the American Jewish community as education and engagement; and based on these two premises, creating a comprehensive collaborative educational system which would encompass a broad array of organizations and institutions within the community.

ver the course of 3,000 years, in response to the challenges that Jews have faced, Judaism has been adapted, transformed and re-invented, allowing us to survive and even to thrive.

The current challenges facing the American Jewish community â&#x20AC;&#x201C; complacency and apathy, coupled with Jewish illiteracy and a shrinking donor base â&#x20AC;&#x201C; are significant, but survivable if we transform ourselves once again. The infrastructure of the community looks much as it did 60 years ago. However, the identity of American Jews does not. The question is how can we create a communal infrastructure that reflects what it means to be a Jew in America in the 21st century? In this monograph we will offer a new vision of Jewish identity and Jewish community in the United States showing how collaboration and the pooling of communal resources must become the norm. For millennia, Judaism was defined by a diverse set of experiences that reached far beyond what we understand to be religion today. It involved prayer and rituals to be sure, but it also encompassed art and philosophy, language and history, and a distinct set of values that informed the daily lives of Jews. Today in America, the institutional Jewish community is focused almost exclusively on Judaism as a religion, frequently compartmentalized from our daily lives; for some people relevant on the Sabbath, for most only on major holidays and in recognition of life cycle events. This focus does not seem to be effective. By rediscovering a broader understanding of Jewish identity, one that is experienced as enriching our lives as Americans, we could build a communal infrastructure that is more exciting and engaging than the one we have today. In addition, we must develop ways of making the most valuable

resources available to the maximum number of people. For too many Jews, membership in a sub-community (for example membership in a congregation or a JCC) constitutes the totality of their Jewish affiliation (severely limiting their exposure to the rich resources that exist in most Jewish communities). In this new paradigm, membership in the sub-community will function as a portal to a larger collaborative community. Institutions will be structured in ways that require them to share resources, thereby maximizing the use of outstanding talent. Such a shift would enable us to see beyond the walls of institutions and organizations, opening up creative ways to bring together different entities in collaboration with each other and the community as a whole. For both financial and ideological reasons we must pool our resources and create a communal infrastructure

which

collaboration

between

institutions,

organizations, and the sharing of human resources is the norm. Finally, Jewish education, broadly understood, must become the core mission of the American Jewish community. If we begin to think that the purpose of a Jewish community is to embody a unique or culturally distinct set of values, then the mission of the communal endeavor must be to inculcate those values into its members.1 Each discrete program, institution and organization would work collaboratively to educate communal members. As the most basic and fundamental Jewish value, education would be the driving force undergirding the communal structure itself. This is not a plan to replace Hebrew School or to more effectively educate children, though it does encompass both goals. Our ability to create meaningful educational experiences for our children and for future generations will succeed

only if Jews of every age are actively engaged in nurturing their own Jewish identities and, in turn, supporting a strong Jewish community.

The Educational Collaborative of the 21st Century What would such a community look like in practical terms? Let’s envision it through the eyes of a hypothetical family encountering this new Jewish community for the first time: The Weiss family – Josh, Wendy and their children Laura (15) and Jake (12) – had just moved into their new home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C. Worn out from unpacking, they were both surprised and relieved to receive a “Welcome Box” from a Jewish Federation representative on their first night. In addition to a delicious (and kosher) dinner for four, the box included what at first seemed to be a paper catalogue, but turned out to be a box holding a thumb drive. Curious (and a little bored: as of yet they had no internet or cable service set up), the family inserted the thumb drive into a laptop and settled in to see what it contained. The program opened with a flourish of music and colors, which morphed into a title: “The 2015 Catalogue of Everything Jewish in the Greater Washington Area” and the tagline “The Doors of the Jewish Community of Greater Washington Are Always Open.” Virtual doors on the screen opened to reveal a digital catalogue with everything you could ever want to know about Jewish institutions, organizations and initiatives. It had a section on private tutors for individualized learning from bar and bat mitzvah training to text study to learning Hebrew. It also had a whole section of

activities that were connected to serving the community, both Jewish and non-Jewish. As they watched, the Weissâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; were almost overwhelmed by this dazzling array of ideas, locations, programs and people, all geared towards the same goal of helping them connect to and express their Jewish heritage in whatever ways they might find most meaningful and appealing. As the Weiss family began to become part of their new community they saw and experienced how the images in the digital Jewish catalogue were brought to life by a myriad of creative and vibrant institutions and professionals. They were contacted by the organization that administers the Collaborative and were connected to an Educational Guide. This person was able to help them navigate what was being offered in the community and to make some choices about learning opportunities for themselves and their children. Her job was to get to know individuals and families on a very personal level and make them feel truly welcomed and embraced by the community. The Guide had a special role in welcoming new people to the community. She would not only connect with the Weissâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; early on, but in addition she would work with them over the course of their lives, meeting with them several times per year helping them shape a set of experiences that would speak to their particular needs and interests. She told them about the opportunities that the community offered both within and beyond traditional institutions. The Guide explained that the Collaborative worked with many different organizations and institutions throughout the area. Most of the congregations were affiliated with the Collaborative, along with JCCs, local Hillels, summer camps, social service agencies, youth groups, independent organizations, museums, theaters and national agencies with offices in

the area. It also had a special fund to seed and nurture exciting start up initiatives. The Collaborative utilized technology extensively, creating social networking groups and developing interactive learning modules for a whole range of different things, and offering online courses – some of them live webinars and some courses that you could engage in at any time of the day or night. It had also rented two public spaces: one near the Weiss’ house and one in Northern Virginia, attracting a diverse population of families and individuals. Some of these families were interfaith, some were not, but all had expressed reluctance about institutional affiliation. So the public spaces had made connecting easier for many people. The key was accessibility and acceptance, so that whether you were elderly, were someone with special needs, lived or worked in the far reaches of the community, or your professional work made it impossible to participate in person, everyone had a rich variety of opportunities to learn. As more institutions and organizations joined, the programs expanded dramatically. Each year the Collaborative started home-based learning groups matching families and individuals in the same area and stage of life. Word of mouth spread quickly – great teachers and no value judgments; whatever you want to do or not do – no questions asked. There were a series of community blogs and chat rooms and social networking sites that in turn created a number of community groups. The community had grown rapidly over the course of the first years of the Collaborative and it was reaching people that had been reluctant to engage with the Jewish community of the past. People could participate in any activity on a pay-as-you-go basis or become “partners” (annual members) which offered substantial discounts for many of the programs. In addition, becoming a partner offered them a voice in helping to shape the catalogue for the coming year,

as all partners were invited to planning sessions that took place each fall. A high school classmate (and soon BFF) of Laura’s, Jennie Lander, invited her to join a Jewish theater troupe at the local JCC, igniting in Laura a new-found passion for theater. Jennie and Laura had met shortly after the Weiss’ moved to the area. Her family had reached out to the Weiss’ as they lived just a few doors down on the same street. The Landers had lived in the community for just over 10 years. The parents, Brooke and Jon, had not been involved in the Jewish community when they first arrived. But Jennie had gotten involved in the theater troupe and over time Jennie’s involvement had drawn them into the larger community. It had started with a weekend at the local camp at which all of the parents with kids in any kind of a theater troupe in the Collaborative were invited to attend. At a certain point just before the end of the weekend the parents were asked to make a commitment to do something back home that would enable them to stay connected to what their kids were doing. The Landers agreed to host an initial meeting of a group that would read the work the kids were performing and discuss it. Brooke was not Jewish, though she had agreed to raise their children with a Jewish identity. So she reached out to the Collaborative for help in organizing the first meeting. Their Guide helped the family navigate the programs and institutions within the Collaborative, connecting them to people who were welcoming of interfaith families. The Guide became a very important friend and opened doors that they simply didn’t know existed. The Landers encouraged the Weiss’ to try a few different programs that the Collaborative was offering in the area. By the time Laura asked if she could join the theater troupe, the Weiss’ were already comfortable with the Collaborative and were very supportive of her interest. After her third

year of involvement, Laura traveled to Israel with her theater troupe. They joined up with other teens their own age involved in theater in Israel and developed a number of friendships that lasted long into adulthood. Josh and Wendy learned that Jake could prepare for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah ceremony by spending a year working on his passion, environmental issues framed by relevant Jewish learning, followed by a two-week intensive “Torah reading boot camp” at a retreat center. This plan was far more appealing to both Jake and his parents than the traditional Hebrew School program they had expected to follow. Josh and Wendy sampled from a smorgasbord of Jewish learning options – many of which were held in private living rooms, bookstores, cafés and other appealing locations. After a few years, their Guide suggested that Josh and Wendy organize a neighborhood group that was comprised of people interested in environmental issues and how Jewish identity might inform and enrich their interests. There was a couple who belonged to the modern orthodox congregation a few miles away, yet had not had much interaction with Jews outside of the orthodox community. There was a single woman who worked for the government and was very involved both professionally and personally in environmental issues and there was a gay couple who lived close by and who had two adopted children. They had never participated in any Jewish activity in the past but were both very active environmentalists. Their older daughter had become friends with Jake Weiss in school and the parents had developed a friendship with Josh and Wendy. They were very reluctant at first, but over time they became part of the core of the group. Those 18 people developed enduring friendships and together studied with a teacher that specialized in travel

education. They traveled to the Amazon Rainforest with their teacher to explore and study the Jewish value of caring for the environment. Some of them joined the board of the Collaborative. Others joined the Jewish Federation and some joined congregations. A number did not join any additional institutions or organizations, but they continued to meet as a group and celebrated life cycle events, shared joys, and helped each other through the difficult times they were to face in the future. For the first few years they were in the community, the Weiss family enjoyed a variety of “a la carte” opportunities. Then a point came when they decided to become “partners” by purchasing an annual membership, which offered them significant discounts for programs and classes, allowing them to connect and give back on a deeper level to the community which had given them so much (even Laura, now deeply involved in her university Hillel, retained strong feelings of connection to her home Jewish community.) It also offered them less expensive ways to connect to congregations, which had developed multi-tiered fee structures. The costs varied depending on how often you wanted to go and what features you were looking for. This enabled the Weiss’ to connect to multiple congregations depending on what they were looking for at any given point in their lives. They realized that making the choice to become partners would facilitate their ability to enjoy everything Jewish Greater Washington had to offer.

The Tapestry of Jewish Identity The vision of a Jewish community just described is grounded in an expanded understanding of Judaism and Jewish identity. Imagine,

if you will, Jewish identity as a tapestry, a great weave comprised of innumerable threads, colors and patterns founded upon a set of value concepts and grounded deep in the history of our people. The tapestry includes religious belief and practice, in addition to art, philosophy, history, music, languages, traditions, and a distinct set of values that form the foundation for a community, to name but a few components. If we broaden our understanding of Jewish life and experience to embrace the entire tapestry of Jewish identity, it could enliven and enrich us far more deeply. The tapestry in its fullness offers American Jews a path to meaning that transcends the self and a destiny attached to something beyond the individual. The more connections or touch points we can find in the tapestry, the more it speaks to us and the more we experience a sense of attachment and meaningfulness. The modern manifestation of this tapestry is unique, as each historical manifestation has been unique. Jewish life in America has the capacity to flourish in ways that are only possible because we live at this time and in this remarkable place. The degree to which we feel connected to the tapestry and empowered to make our own contribution to it, to add our own pattern, color and design, is the degree to which Judaism will continue to be a vibrant part of our lives. For most American Jews, their experience of Judaism is much more limited. This reflects a deeper problem facing the American Jewish community: when asked, the great majority of American Jews define Judaism as a religion with a particular denominational interpretation of prayer, life cycle events, and the study of sacred texts.2 But studies show that the actual beliefs and practices of American Jews indicate few behaviors that correspond to a strong religious identification.3 And that is a cause for great concern. The great American Jewish thinker Mordecai Kaplan warned us about this:

Normally, religion should take its place by the side of social, economic, scientific and esthetic activities without attempting to overshadow them or subordinate them to its own aims... It is imperative, therefore, to find outlets other than religion for the collective life of the Jewish people. Paradoxical as it may sound, the spiritual regeneration of the Jewish people demands that religion cease to be its sole preoccupation.4 A prophetic warning, and we see the results today in the widespread apathy among many American Jews toward Jewish beliefs, practices, and institutions. While many of us feel as though Judaism is far more than a religion, to a significant extent, the institutional Jewish community does not reflect this broader understanding. This is not in any way to suggest that religion is not important, even central, to Jewish identity. Rather, as Kaplan declared 80 years ago, religion does not exhaust Jewish identity and we have yet to create an infrastructure that truly supports the breadth and depth of what Jewish identity has been for millennia. We believe, however, that America is an environment in which the full tapestry of Jewish life could create opportunities for powerful and deeply meaningful experiences for our people both as Americans and as Jews. In order to communicate that effectively, we need to approach Jewish education and engagement in a very different way. Religion requires a set of beliefs leading to action with a particular set of behaviors. However, American Jews have been raised in a culture in which freedom of

choice is the sine qua non of their values and we cannot expect that religion as a coercive force will successfully engage most Jews today.5 As long as being a Jew is primarily understood in religious terms, it threatens our sense of autonomy. So how can we engage Jews? John Dewey, the father of modern American education, offered the most salient insights into what successful education requires. “The [learner’s] own instincts and powers furnish the material and give the starting point for all education. Save as the efforts of the educator to connect with some activity which the [learner] is carrying on his own initiative independent of the educator, education becomes reduced to a pressure from without.”6 This is axiomatic: that which is meaningful and exciting to the learner must be the beginning of the educational process. In order to resonate with learners, what is being taught must connect to some deep and essential part of their inner selves. To have an impact on American Jews, we must demonstrate how that which is most meaningful to them in the general culture can be enriched by their Jewish heritage. Isa Aron, Professor of Education at Hebrew Union College, argues that the “knowledge, skills and even values and attitudes will only remain in an individual’s active memory when that person’s culture affords him or her the opportunity to exercise them.”7 Such learning is only retained if it has resonance beyond the classroom. Aron uses the term “enculturation” to describe a process which “is both more holistic and more serendipitous; it is also more enduring” than traditional classroom learning.8 This is the exact opposite of the compartmentalization that characterizes so much of Jewish life in America. Far too often we create educational

experiences that implicitly and explicitly reinforce the notion that Jewish identity and American identity are separate compartments, separate experiences and that there is a chasm between “real” life and Jewish life. Therefore, to have an impact on American Jews, we must demonstrate how that which is most meaningful to them in the general culture can be enriched by their Jewish heritage. In the 21st century in the United States, we must recognize that we cannot legislate belief. We must create educational experiences that are deeply meaningful and compelling to Jews as Americans. Jewish education divorced from American cultural experience becomes precisely the “pressure from without” that Dewey warns us against. Learners must generate their own connections between the content of their Jewish education and the contexts of their lives, an endeavor which usually leads to frustration and failure. Much has been written about experiences that do seem to have a profound impact on participants. They are: Israel trips, summer camps, and day schools. We suspect that part of what is so powerful in the Israel experience, as well as day schools and summer camps is that there is a far broader set of experiences that participants can connect to, seamless touch points of Jewish identity that are not compartmentalized. In addition to religion, there is community and culture, history and language, philosophy and art, and a powerful set of culturally distinct values. Jews experience multiple connections to their identity, spread over a far broader set of touch points and everyone feels a part of the whole while still maintaining their unique place and story. Jewish experiences in America need to expand Jewish life, making it broader than any modern notion of religion alone can offer. We must be able to embrace experiences that are proven to be transformative in multiple

domains – Jewish activities that are value laden, connected to Jewish heritage, and are at the same time relevant to modern American culture. Two examples of this can be found in numerous communities today: Service-learning, or the study of Jewish values that are then acted upon in service to the Jewish or the general community and then reflected upon, is one of the most effective means of engaging Jews today. It is an approach to Jewish life that encourages people to learn in order to do. In the doing, participants feel the power of a tradition, a heritage and a set of values that enhance their own lives as well as the lives of people around them. Similarly, philanthropy education programs have a consistent impact on participants. A group of people is brought together typically with a small amount of funds to distribute and then taught a set of values tied to their Jewish heritage that guides their search for worthy recipients and an ongoing connection to those values is woven. Often viewed as a program that impacts teenagers, philanthropy education is a model that is effective with multiple age cohorts. Truly meaningful Jewish education cannot simply be about learning ideas, prayers and rituals, but must entail learning towards doing, towards action, for it is in acting out a set of values that participants find deeply meaningful attachments to their heritage. The more ways one can find points of connection, the more an individual feels the power and meaningfulness of the activity. By offering both the education piece that is meaningful to us both as Americans and as Jews, along with the “values-in-action” component, we are empowering people to act out of a set of values that have great meaning and purpose to them both as Americans and as Jews.

As they become more familiar with these values and where they come from, they begin to feel a sense of ownership, a sense that they are indeed expressing these values in their actions and that these values are both integral parts of their identity and a part of the tapestry of Jewish life. Their lives as Jews would flourish, because Judaism would greatly enhance their lives as Americans, making it richer and more meaningful. Judaism is designed to be lived, not just â&#x20AC;&#x153;learned about,â&#x20AC;? and the vibrancy of Jewish life is most fully realized when one lives out of a set of values and beliefs. If we can place Jewish educational experiences that involve the entirety of the Jewish tapestry at the core of our communal endeavor, then perhaps we can build institutions that will energize, excite and create deeply meaningful experiences for many more Jews. This does not mean watering down or taking the path of least resistance. Rather, it is about the simple fact that being Jewish is much more than religion alone. We are selling Judaism short by limiting it and we are losing Jews who are disinterested in what has been a narrow understanding of it.

Institutions, Collaboration and Change We are blessed with a tremendous set of resources in the Jewish community today. Congregations have a great deal to offer and of course they are not alone. We have day schools, which, generally speaking, have the greatest Judaic resources in any community but only serve a small portion of it. We have JCCs, summer camps, adult education programs, Judaic faculty at local universities, independent minyanim, youth groups, private tutors, event planners, independent

institutions, and hundreds of initiatives. To be sure, there is still plenty to be created, but what if the center of education was shifted to the community? What if the wider Jewish community began working together to offer a vast and deep set of complementary experiences for Jews, affiliated and unaffiliated alike? What could we create? This new structure must be a coordinated system in which multiple institutions, organizations, programs and initiatives all work together collaboratively to provide multifaceted opportunities for Jews to learn, to engage in actively living Jewish values, to develop community, and together to make their lives more meaningful as Americans. The math is quite simple â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one institution has a fraction of the resources of multiple institutions. If we compare the resources available to a single institution with the resources available in a community at large, we can see the vast array of missed opportunities that characterize modern Jewish life in America. Congregations, JCCs, day schools, museums, national organizations, independent prayer groups, small start up programs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all exist in each and every major Jewish community and to a large extent work in isolation (or worse, in competition). What if we created a community in which organizations and institutions shared resources, one in which the walls of the buildings werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t metaphors for institutional boundaries and isolation? In a community committed to collaborating on a community-wide level, vast resources could be pooled and multiple opportunities developed to provide a rich and multifaceted set of experiences. This would be a new kind of community, focused on working together to enrich the lives of all of its members as Americans and Jews.

The Infrastructure of the Educational Collaborative Of course, a revolution like the one envisioned would never be possible without an intricate and substantive infrastructure working behind the scenes.

While many details of this

infrastructure will necessarily evolve along with the community, a

few

key

prerequisite

components

are

discussed

below:

Professionals: In our new community, professionals connected to institutions (sub-communities) would not work in isolation from one another but would collaborate across institutional boundaries. Why? Because members of sub-communities whom professionals serve will also be members of the collective community and will have the opportunity to learn and nurture their identity in multiple domains. Therefore, educators will need to work across institutional boundaries to ensure that community members have access to the breadth and depth of opportunities that the community can provide. This will require a set of master teachers: those individuals who have the ability to weave together Jewish value concepts with Jewish tradition and heritage, and who can inspire their learners to want to be engaged in living those Jewish values. We will need to nurture expert educators who have the knowledge and ability to engage people across the life span. Congregations, day schools, summer camps, JCCs, youth groups and other organizations have many outstanding educators. However, the current structure is one in which such talent is isolated in many different institutions, spreading them too thinly across the community.

Typically people are educated within a single institution and therefore are rarely exposed to the great talent that exists in the larger community. The sad truth is the current structure requires too many educators, many of whom are not capable of inspiring people and engaging them in meaningful experiences. This problem could be eased by facilitating the opportunity for master educators to teach in multiple domains, together with other master educators. Developing and investing in a network of master educators will create a powerful incentive for talented people to live and work in a community and it will enable the best educators to be employed in a more full time capacity by the community. As noted above, in order to take advantage of the full array of opportunities available, the community will need to create a new professional position: an Educational Guide. These professionals will be responsible for getting to know each individual and family. Some of the Guides will be connected to a particular sub-community while others will be employed by the community at large. They will be fully informed of all of the educational opportunities available in the community at large, both through regular interactions with professional colleagues from around the community and through access to an online resource that is kept up to date on a daily basis with accurate information. Community-Based Administration: Numerous aspects of the Collaborative, such as the creation and oversight of the catalogue, staff training and the development of comprehensive evaluation instruments, will need to be centrally administered in order to operate effectively. This center will develop new programming, as well as respond to issues and challenges that arise. It will need to ensure that

the programs offered will be high quality and cutting edge. It should be governed by a board of lay volunteers and professionals representing a broad cross-section of the community. The combination of grass roots lay volunteers and Jewish professionals working together to oversee the health and welfare of the collaborative educational system will guarantee a high level of support and guidance from the community at large. Funding: Programs, courses and experiences will need to be offered on an a la carte basis or as part of an annual fee. The annual fee could be structured such that it includes some free programming, membership in the system at large, and discounts for everything else. The money would follow the learner, so that the money one person pays into the system would be divided amongst the programs and institutions that the person engages in over the course of a given year. That would allow funds to be distributed throughout the system. In addition, the a la carte fee available for each and every program would encourage those for whom institutional membership is a barrier, to participate in high quality Jewish educational programming. Institutions could offer multi-tiered fee structures, basing the cost of membership on the services one wants in a given year. We would expect that this could be a hardship for some institutions over the short run. However, if we can significantly increase the number of people engaging in Jewish activities, then over the long term more money, more donors, and more overall participation would be the likely outcome. Consider this in light of the declining membership and donor base in most American Jewish communities today. Clearly the overall finances of the system need to be studied by business leaders and entrepreneurs in order to analyze the impact of different funding models.

Institutional Change: We cannot expect institutions to adopt such a new and different approach to membership, community, and education without a great deal of groundwork and preparation. We must create a dynamic developmental process, a road map which enables each institution to grow and change at a pace that is uniquely suited to its own personality. This will require the engagement of organizational development professionals with expertise in institutional change and transformation, as well as educational consultants who can help to shape the institutionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s programmatic vision, goals, and strategies. As each institution (sub-community) goes through this process, it will create unique areas of educational specialization that it can offer to the community at large. The educational infrastructure of each sub-community may shrink, but each will focus their resources on more limited areas of expertise. It will entail the engagement of the new Educational Guides and it will require the re-training of many of the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educators. While this process will not be easy at first, with sufficient investment of time and resources many institutions will achieve success in this new paradigm, with the ability to reach more people in more meaningful ways.

Conclusion: A New Evolution in Jewish Life After the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai and they heard the divine voice and saw the lightning and smoke around the mountain, they built the golden calf. God responded by exiling them into the desert. Over a 40 year period the Israelites transformed themselves from a

rag tag group of ex-slaves into a People. After the political-religious leadership of the ancient priesthood had been corrupted by money and power, Rabbinic Judaism emerged. The greatest and most influential Jewish text, the Talmud, evolved as a direct outcome of the destruction of the Second Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish People. From medieval philosophy to Jewish mysticism, from the rise of Jewish denominationalism to the creation of the first Jewish state in 2,000 years, we are a People that adapts and changes – we transform ourselves. And we do so by learning from the past and creating a new future. Each epoch that we have mentioned is marked by the creation of new and exciting texts and institutions that formed the foundation for the future communities that were created. This value – that individuals, communities and a whole people can, by learning from their past, evolve into something greater – lies at the very heart of our heritage and our tradition. American Jewry has seen breathtaking successes, built magnificent edifices and helped to make the world a better place for itself, for Jews throughout the world, as well as for oppressed people around the globe. It has been a critical partner with Israel in helping it to evolve into a modern democratic state that is a haven for all Jews as well as an economic powerhouse. There were two powerful and lasting Jewish communities after the destruction of the second Temple, one in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) and the other in Babylonia. Today, the Jewish populations of Israel and America combined comprise 85% of world Jewry. It is time to establish our rightful place as the full partner with Israel in creating vibrant and compelling Jewish experiences for Jews throughout the

world. Jewish life must take place both within and beyond the walls of the institutions. Jewish values and traditions must be interpreted in ways that make our lives as moderns richer and more meaningful, and they must transcend the narrow definition of religion that has come to characterize our understanding of Judaism in the modern period. As the 21st century unfolds, we must take full advantage of what the American Jewish community has achieved.

Building on our

extraordinary successes, it is time to take another step forward to transform ourselves once again, and by doing so strengthen Jewish identity and expand Jewish communal affiliation throughout the world. Let us find ways to create collaborative communities in which our major investments are in the best resources that are shared across institutional and organizational boundaries. Let us move beyond our primary affiliations with organizations and institutions and find a way to embrace community as a whole. When we do that, we will have many more Jews involved in many more Jewish experiences and we will achieve the goal of transforming Jewish life and creating a new future for world Jewry.

Notes 1. We believe that every great culture has a distinct set of values. While the individual values may overlap between one culture and the next, the way the values are understood and the way they are experienced by members of the community makes the set of them distinct to that particular group. 2. Leonard Saxe, U.S. Jewry 2010: Estimates of the Size and Characteristics of the Population, Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies; December, 2010 pg. 8. 3. National Jewish Population Survey 2000, Section II Jewish Connections, or the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life: US Religious Landscape Survey. 4. Mordecai Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization pg. 345. 5. For a fascinating analysis of this topic, please see The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar. Hachette Book Group 2010. 6. John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed School Journal vol. 54 (January 1897), pp. 77-80. 7. Isa Aron. 32 Tikkun vol. 4, No. 3. 8. Aron, Ibid.

Acknowledgements This work is the outcome of a collaboration that I have been engaged in with JoHanna Potts over the past 5 years and reflects our perspectives on the American Jewish community. I would like to thank the entire staff and the Board of Directors of the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. In particular, I would like to thank JoHanna Potts, Barry Krasner and Dr. Meredith Woocher for reading and re-reading every draft of this monograph and always offering thoughtful and insightful suggestions. I also want to thank Adva Priso, David Lewis and Jessie Nathans for production and design.

About the Author Dr. James Hyman is Chief Executive Officer for the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning. Dr. Hyman has served the Jewish community in a variety of roles for over 25 years. Prior to joining the Partnership, he served as Director of Education for the Mandel Foundation, North America, developing new initiatives for Foundation programs and partnerships in Jewish communities throughout North America. Formerly, Dr. Hyman was Director, Leadership Development Program and Adjunct Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary. At the New Teacher Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Dr. Hyman was Co-Director, New Teacher Initiative: Mentoring New Teachers in Jewish Day Schools. Dr. Hyman received an MA and PhD from the Department of Religion at Stanford University, and an MA from The Institute for Contemporary Jewry of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Hyman is also an ordained rabbi. Dr. Hyman lives in Potomac, MD with his wife, Jessie Nathans, and their two children.