Idea #23: Jewish identity projects are not the answer http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/idea-23-jewish-identity-projects-are-not-the-answer/ Writing for Jewcy, Daniel Spetimus, the CEO and editor in chief of myjewishlearning.com, suggests that the Jewish community abandon the rhetoric of building Jewish identity and stop programming and funding with the goal of strengthening Jewish identity. Not that the Jewish world should abandon all the programs that mention Jewish identity building as their aim, but rather the Jewish world should focus on more solid building blocks—education, practice and helping the human condition.  en-us jberkman@jta.org Copyright 2010 2010-02-23T;21:30:00-05:00 Comment by Mordecai Walfish mordecai.walfish@gmail.com The full text of Steven M. Cohen’s article can be found at http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=4462 An extensive collection of other items on Jewish Identity is located here: http://bit.ly/bqBSSS The full text of Steven M. Cohen’s article can be found at http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/details.cfm?PublicationID=4462

An extensive collection of other items on Jewish Identity is located here: http://bit.ly/bqBSSS

]]> 2011-02-25T;01:28:00-05:00 Comment by Reb Daniel stringrabbi@yahoo.com Daniel, Thank you for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion of Jewish identity and how it is often so narrowly defined.  In reading your last line, it was hard for me to not reflect for a moment on the mission statement of Birthright Israel NEXT—which mirrors, I believe, a great deal of your thinking:  Inspiring all Taglit-Birthright Israel trip participants and their peers to expand their connections to the land and people of Israel, to deepen their personal commitments to Jewish life, and to find or form a community where Jewish responsibility, learning, and celebration thrive. In all of our work, we emphasize that last line—the “finding or forming community” as paramount. We often contrast this language to identity-focused words because as much as we want to help individuals to deepen their commitments to Jewish life and include those individuals who have been isolated from the Jewish community, we can not imagine how that could be accomplished without such folks having friends who can join them in Jewish community of some sort. How they connect Jewishly, of course, falls into one of the three pillars set up by Shimon the Righteous. That said, I am most interested in the critique of ethnic pride that underscores your commentary. I have mixed feelings on this point. I used to run away from my Eastern European Polish and Lithuanian roots, much like the early Zionists who wanted to completely re-create their Jewish identities. Now I see pride in the Jewish folkways of Eastern Europe and I look towards the literature and music of that era as a source of pride. I sense that even when folks who have a “thin” identity connect, seriously, to the past in this way - whether it is though a klezmer concert or reading a Yiddish poem, there is something real at play. Working with younger adults, I see that there is still shame (of many kinds) associated with being Jewish—so a little pride is not a bad thing.  But hank you, Daniel, for your excellent reflection here. Daniel Rabbi Daniel S Brenner Birthright Israel NEXT Daniel,

Thank you for your thoughtful contribution to the discussion of Jewish identity and how it is often so narrowly defined.  In reading your last line, it was hard for me to not reflect for a moment on the mission statement of Birthright Israel NEXT—which mirrors, I believe, a great deal of your thinking: 

Inspiring all Taglit-Birthright Israel trip participants and their peers to expand their connections to the land and people of Israel, to deepen their personal commitments to Jewish life, and to find or form a community where Jewish responsibility, learning, and celebration thrive.

In all of our work, we emphasize that last line—the “finding or forming community” as paramount. We often contrast this language to identity-focused words because as much as we want to help individuals to deepen their commitments to Jewish life and include those individuals who have been isolated from the Jewish community, we can not imagine how that could be accomplished without such folks having friends who can join them in Jewish community of some sort. How they connect Jewishly, of course, falls into one of the three pillars set up by Shimon the Righteous.

That said, I am most interested in the critique of ethnic pride that underscores your commentary. I have mixed feelings on this point. I used to run away from my Eastern European Polish and Lithuanian roots, much like the early Zionists who wanted to completely re-create their Jewish identities. Now I see pride in the Jewish folkways of Eastern Europe and I look towards the literature and music of that era as a source of pride. I sense that even when folks who have a “thin” identity connect, seriously, to the past in this way - whether it is though a klezmer concert or reading a Yiddish poem, there is something real at play. Working with younger adults, I see that there is still shame (of many kinds) associated with being Jewish—so a little pride is not a bad thing. 

But hank you, Daniel, for your excellent reflection here.

Daniel

Rabbi Daniel S Brenner
Birthright Israel NEXT

]]> 2011-02-25T;01:28:00-05:00 Comment by stephen stephen@jfri.org It is time for the organized Jewish community to abandon the concept that what we are all about is fighting intermarriage, countering assimilation and preserving Jewish identity.  Terms like continuity, exisential and survival should similarly be discarded so long as they are the primary (or substantial) motivators of Jewish life. What we should be about is creating a network of Jewish programs and services that are meaningful, relevant, accessible, affordable and high quality.  The goal?  I don’t know that it’s raising “a generation of Jews who feel Jewish” or creating a generation of Jews “committed to study, ritual and helping others.” Maybe it’s both.  Maybe it’s neither.  Maybe there are many other goals.  But I’m not sure it’s for us to decide (who is “us” anyway?).  Maybe the goals are individually driven and it’s up to us, acting together as a community, to join forces to meet the demands of the marketplace.  And equally important, it is up to each and every individual to take responsibility for their own Jewish journey and not wholly rely on others to create it, implement it and fund it (this is not to say all financial assistance is bad.  But that’s another discussion). Maybe our goal is to create, or facilitate and sustain the creation of a Jewish community that acts in pursuit of however it defines expresses its Jewish identity. We live in an age of unparalleled if not virtually limitless personal choice, including the choice to be Jewish and how that piece of identity finds its expression on an individual and communal basis.  Individual choice can mean loss of institutional control.  And while that is unsettling to institutions, it’s also irreversible.  Similarly, when institutions controlled, they also had the power of the communal purse, and this has led to a period of entitlement, as Jewish life seems increasingly subsidized (mostly as an incentive to participate and not because of financial need).  But along with individual choice comes individual responsibility.  You don’t just get the free trip.  You can’t get the free trip as a birth right unless you also accept that with that right comes a responsibility.  Not a responsibility defined by Jewish institutions, but one that is self-initiated from the neshama, defined by each person:  How much of my identity is grounded in being Jewish?  Do I want a Jewish journey and what does that mean to me?  Am I part of the Jewish people and a Jewish community, and how does that translate into my action, participation, philanthropy? It is time for the organized Jewish community to abandon the concept that what we are all about is fighting intermarriage, countering assimilation and preserving Jewish identity.  Terms like continuity, exisential and survival should similarly be discarded so long as they are the primary (or substantial) motivators of Jewish life.

What we should be about is creating a network of Jewish programs and services that are meaningful, relevant, accessible, affordable and high quality. 

The goal?  I don’t know that it’s raising “a generation of Jews who feel Jewish” or creating a generation of Jews “committed to study, ritual and helping others.”

Maybe it’s both.  Maybe it’s neither.  Maybe there are many other goals.  But I’m not sure it’s for us to decide (who is “us” anyway?). 

Maybe the goals are individually driven and it’s up to us, acting together as a community, to join forces to meet the demands of the marketplace.  And equally important, it is up to each and every individual to take responsibility for their own Jewish journey and not wholly rely on others to create it, implement it and fund it (this is not to say all financial assistance is bad.  But that’s another discussion).

Maybe our goal is to create, or facilitate and sustain the creation of a Jewish community that acts in pursuit of however it defines expresses its Jewish identity.

We live in an age of unparalleled if not virtually limitless personal choice, including the choice to be Jewish and how that piece of identity finds its expression on an individual and communal basis.  Individual choice can mean loss of institutional control.  And while that is unsettling to institutions, it’s also irreversible. 

Similarly, when institutions controlled, they also had the power of the communal purse, and this has led to a period of entitlement, as Jewish life seems increasingly subsidized (mostly as an incentive to participate and not because of financial need).  But along with individual choice comes individual responsibility.  You don’t just get the free trip.  You can’t get the free trip as a birth right unless you also accept that with that right comes a responsibility.  Not a responsibility defined by Jewish institutions, but one that is self-initiated from the neshama, defined by each person:  How much of my identity is grounded in being Jewish?  Do I want a Jewish journey and what does that mean to me?  Am I part of the Jewish people and a Jewish community, and how does that translate into my action, participation, philanthropy?

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