In my old blog I wrote a post about how to lower the intermarriage rate. I listed four activities which I claimed in my cheeky way would lower the intermarriage rate in half. They were 1) hang out with a Jewishly identified social set. 2) Have a meal Friday night.3) Send your kids to a Jewish summer camp and 4) Make sure the kids go to a college where there are Jews to date, (evanstonjew 10/05/06.) Is your low hanging fruit designed to keep the Jewish people intact, increase the participation in Conservative and Reform denominations, bring simple mitzvot into the lives of unlearned Jews or some other deeper religious goalI am missing? What exactly is a Jewish bang? A more exact specification of the goal might yield different answers.
Is the omission of ethical mitzvot intentional?
I think the festivals are a good place to start. Like Tu'Bshvat and Shavout to name two. These are not endowed with the same kind of anxiety that some feel when confronted with ritual they do not understand.
I would also say that Tifillin is so successful because you have to be totally involved. You cannot put on T'fillin and think that you are not a jew (even if you think you look silly). That sense of belonging (which is further re-enforced by the person helping you put it on) makes it an excellent outreach tool. It's quick, it re-enforces identity, it provides a connection with fellow jews.
Thanks for including the Omer in your short list. It seems rather rare in Reform communities though (some of my Rabbis have given it a nod, but the wider congregation rarely seems to be Involved) I feel it's a good way to communicate ideas about time in Judaism.
Great post, Bruce. But I'm gonna have to agree with BZ here. As much as I love ritual (I have a whole blog that's about liturgy http://davidsaysthings.wordpress...dpress.com)
,why only talk about mitzvot bein adam l'chaveiro here?
EJ - good question. I was thinking of how to make Judaism meaningful for less knowledgeable and observant Jews. Reform and Conservative synagogues might try to program this. And if it is successful, it might end up helping with Jewish continuity. (If Judaism is important and meaningful to parents, they are more likely to be able to make it more important and meaningful to their children.)
BZ - I didn't mean to exclude any mitzvot. But given the goal of making Judaism more meaningful, the ethical mitzvot presented a problem.
Ethics tend to be universal. So someone might place a very high value on treating people fairly, being honest in business dealings, giving charity, and working for social justice. Judaism certainly advocates these things, but so does much of western culture. A person could be very ethical in this sense and still not feel particularly Jewish. Another way of thinking about this is that when many people act ethically, they do so out of a sense of more general human obligations rather than particular Jewish obligations.
Your question prompted me to think about Jewish ethical rules that run against American cultural norms. The prohibition against l'shon hara is counter-cultural, and I just added it to the list. Refusing to gossip or listen to gossip seems to be a distinctly Jewish activity, although I would welcome the day when American culture caught up.
I think that one of the central issues is developing a sense of community. It might sound silly, but if we work on making the shul a warm and inviting place it goes a long way.
Think I just might write a post about this, or maybe a couple.
Its certainly nice to make the shul warm and inviting, but that's not specifically what I had in mind. Lots of places are warm and inviting, and there is nothing distinctly Jewish about that. I was trying to focus on particular practices that would make someone think that Judaism itself was important and meaningful.
An odd but perhaps helpful way of thinking about this is to suppose (hypothetically) someone is religiously Jewish, has absolutely no knowledge about Judaism, no ethnic feelings towards Judaism at all, but is looking for a positive and meaningful life experiences. He has lots of options. He is thinking about joining a synagogue, joining a church, joining the Masons, getting more tickets to the opera and the symphony, joining a gym and working out more, taking up woodworking, starting a contemporary fiction reading group, taking some social studies and humanities classes at the local college, or just staying home and watching more TV. He's decided to seriously try Judaism for six months. What are the sorts of practices the synagogue should suggest that he learn about and do to have a meaningful Jewish experience.
Another way of asking the question. Suppose a couple joins a Reform or Conservative synagogue when their oldest child is 7. They are largely indifferent to Judaism. They will remain members until their youngest child "gets a bar-mitzvah." So they will be there for (say) 8 or 10 years. They are not hostile, but don't really think much about Judaism. They will attend RH and YK services, some family events, and perhaps an occasional program. What can are the sorts of practices the synagogue should suggest that they learn about and do to have a meaningful Jewish experience?
With all that said, I certainly would encourage people to make the synagogue a warm and inviting place.
Judaism is a communal religion. If you really want to get something more out of it then you need to be a part of a community.
As such the synagogue serves as a good hub. I understand what you are asking/saying about trying to develop/determine what practices serve as a meaningful Jewish experience.
I would argue that there are distinct reasons for making shul warm and inviting. If you don't understand how to daven, you may be afraid or reluctant to place yourself in that sort of situation.
That doesn't take into consideration the question of belief in G-d, but I'll save that for a different time.
So going back your question of what is going to be meaningful to people, I would look at communal events, Shabbat dinners, meals in the Sukkah- all of these fall in line with the suggestions that you made in your post.
In addition I would say that part of what needs to be included is an education about the who, what, when, how and why we do these things.
A better understanding of what is minhag and what is halacha and the difference between the two is important also.
This reminds me of a conversation with friends who are FFB in which I asked them why Judaism is important to them.
BTs had no problem answering, but some of the FFBs really wrestled with that.
I guess that's right. Many of these experiences require other people, and they often come from the community.
I think I am the only Jewish man on the planet with a tablesaw and several routers.
I know of at least one other. My father worked as a cabinet maker for many years and still builds things for our family. But he never built a sukkah that I know of.
I suspect that most of the people commenting here are not actually in your target demographic. As someone who is in your demographic (I'm even intermarried, though my husband doesn't actively practice another religion. Does that make it too late? I hope not, because I've been proceeding over the last several years as if it doesn't), I think this is a pretty good list.
Re: ethical mitzvot ... You are right that these are fairly universal and may not, for many people, feel Jewish. Conversely, for people who are not particularly observant, that may be one way they already feel Jewish. I know that growing up I always felt that my sense of ethics and justice were tied in with being Jewish. That's very important, but when it's completely removed from any ritual observance, I think it becomes a bit abstract. It doesn't have the same tangible quality as some of the things on the list.
If I had to pick just one thing, I would pick Shabbat. It is immensely challenging in the modern world and with work obligations, but 1) very counter-cultural and 2) very appealing. I want to do more to distinguish it from the rest of the week. (We're doing okay on Friday night. Saturday is proving much more difficult.)
I do think some sort of prayer should be on here, but I'm not sure what the "best" thing to start with is (Jewish bang for your Jewish buck-wise). I say the Shema with my son every night, which might seem so basic and obvious to most of you, but it wasn't something that my parents did with us.
I would argue that there are distinct reasons for making shul warm and inviting. If you don't understand how to daven, you may be afraid or reluctant to place yourself in that sort of situation.
This, I think, is actually a pretty important point. Our rabbi once mentioned, in a discussion of prayer, that when they ask people what types of classes they want, the single biggest request is for a class on Jewish prayer. He then went on to say that the most important thing is just to have kavanah and talk to God and don't worry about whether you are faking your way through the Hebrew or bowing at the right time. I appreciate what he was trying to say, but I think he kind of missed the point, which is that PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO AND THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT TO DO. They want to feel both confident and competent in shul, and they want to know how to bring that into their daily lives as well.
My experience has been that people are generally nice and welcoming, but they don't want to impose too much on you. Because I have an entire family of evangelical Christian in-laws to compare it to, I do think that Christians are lot more comfortable with outreach and a lo
Okay, so I knew that was way too long, but I didn't realize I would actually break the comment form!
The end bit is ...
They are lot more likely to take a newcomer under their wing, so to speak and show him or her the ropes. I think there is some sort of balance there, between giving people space to come to things on their own but also realizing people may want help but be shy about asking for it.
Bruce,
nice post.
I think the laws of kashrut. They were a very important part of Judaism identity likely going back maybe 3000 years and therefore for this reason should be considered as part of your list. (of course not in the elaborate form found in rabbinic Judaism and certainly not with the absurd stringencies practiced by many today).
Maybe only stripped to its essentials i.e which animal life is permissible. Possibly also add: properly slaughtered meat and not to eat food that has been cooked with milk and meat together.
5 easy mitzvot
The first mitzvah of the 613, be fruitful and multiple...The role of family, and the importance of the future. (For a view that challenges the centrality of heteronormativity see the interesting book No Future, Queer Theory and the Death Drive)
Circumcision...Inscribing the covenant on the body. In these days of tattoos, piercings and slashings the mitzva has a certain radical chic. The deepest example showing mitzvot are not mental exercises.
Mezuzah..The lazy man’s tefilin, saying witness to being a Jew.
Burial and Shiva customs...The customs are of great benefit in those terrible times. These halachot show how we can create structure during chaotic times in the simplest of ways.
The eradication of amalek as a symbol of radical evil...Holocaust study for those who don’t know, visiting Israel and the precarious nature of being a Jew, why we must survive, our responsibility for the future of the Jewish people. It can also be given a less particularistic reading for old time Reform Congregations. I prefer mechiyas amalek to tikun olam, but that’s what Orthodoxy does to a person.(:
What about tashlikh? I think there is something very appealing and comforting about symbolically casting away one's transgressions.
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