An Israeli’s superiority complex http://blogs.jta.org/ENTRY_PERMALINK_HERE/an-israelis-superiority-complex/ When American-born Israeli journalist Judy Siegel-Itzkovich returns to the U.S. for the first time in 26 years, she finds much to disparage – from the materialism to the assimilation to the supposed hypocrisy of American Zionism. She notes that the American Jewish population is shrinking, while Israel’s is growing; she writes of her former neighborhood emptying of moderate Orthodox Zionists and becoming haredi; she finds much to scoff at in the Westchester suburbs of New York, with their gas-guzzling SUVs, Jewish parents who don’t send their kids to Jewish day schools and assimilation. She writes in The Jerusalem Post: US Jews have enjoyed a magnificent century of surging wealth, political and cultural influence and primacy in scientific research, medicine, the media and many other professional fields. But I fear they have passed their peak and entered an irreversible decline. If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations? Siegel-Itzkovich’s visit may have reinforced her Israeli superiority complex, but her analysis is selective. Post a comment and tell us why. en-us uheilman@jta.org Copyright 2008 2008-08-15T;19:03:55-05:00 Comment by yklug@msn.com All I can say is, don’t bite off the hand that feeds you, lady. Those very same affluent American Jews are the ones Israel depends on to pay for her hospitals, food banks, ambulances, orphanages, and schools...not to mention, of course, El-Al tickets to Israel, Israeli hotel rooms, and Israeli tours. Let’s hope that the author is terribly wrong when she says there’s no future for American Jewry--because Israel will suffer most if such a prediction is true. All I can say is, don’t bite off the hand that feeds you, lady. Those very same affluent American Jews are the ones Israel depends on to pay for her hospitals, food banks, ambulances, orphanages, and schools...not to mention, of course, El-Al tickets to Israel, Israeli hotel rooms, and Israeli tours.

Let’s hope that the author is terribly wrong when she says there’s no future for American Jewry--because Israel will suffer most if such a prediction is true.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by not@telling.com “Only the strong survive and the that will be the Orthdox.” You raise an army of unemployed freeloaders and you call it survival?  15 kids and no day job, no secular education, no chance to support yourself?  Chuckle.  Where oh where will you go when there are no more rich chilonim to bankroll your kollels?  Also, one word for you chief:  Haskalah. It’s what happens when you keep your kids in the shtetl and browbeat them with anti-intellectualism for too long. For every new child you bring into the world, another becomes frei. “Only the strong survive and the that will be the Orthdox.”

You raise an army of unemployed freeloaders and you call it survival?  15 kids and no day job, no secular education, no chance to support yourself?  Chuckle.  Where oh where will you go when there are no more rich chilonim to bankroll your kollels? 

Also, one word for you chief:  Haskalah.

It’s what happens when you keep your kids in the shtetl and browbeat them with anti-intellectualism for too long.

For every new child you bring into the world, another becomes frei.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by noliesd@yahoo.com Not surprisingly all the commentators are radical Reform or Progressive Jews.  Most of them are intermarried and their grandchildren will not be Jewish. The reason they attack Judy is because they know deep down they are part of the problems that exist in the American Jewish community.  Judy holds up a mirror to these people and they don’t like what they see so they blame the messenger. The ignorant comments here show that the decline in the Jewish community, especially in the secular world, is worse than this article describes.  Only the strong survive and the that will be the Orthdox.  That’s the good news. Not surprisingly all the commentators are radical Reform or Progressive Jews.  Most of them are intermarried and their grandchildren will not be Jewish.
The reason they attack Judy is because they know deep down they are part of the problems that exist in the American Jewish community.  Judy holds up a mirror to these people and they don’t like what they see so they blame the messenger.
The ignorant comments here show that the decline in the Jewish community, especially in the secular world, is worse than this article describes.  Only the strong survive and the that will be the Orthdox.  That’s the good news.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by altneuland@gmail.com With one or two exceptions, I learned far more from these responses than I did from Judy’s rather facetious and superficial piece! Is this the shape of the journalism and analysis of the future?  A collaborative (perhaps moderated) article-cum-discussion? With one or two exceptions, I learned far more from these responses than I did from Judy’s rather facetious and superficial piece!

Is this the shape of the journalism and analysis of the future?  A collaborative (perhaps moderated) article-cum-discussion?

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by cfeinson@dcpca.org Let’s see—I come from an American family that pretty much ignored its Jewish roots.  But I am currently an active leader in a Jewish renewal community, where I regularly leyn on Shabbat and most holidays (something I learned as an adult from others in the group), and help to lead and organize services.  I light Shabbat candles every Friday night, build a Sukkah every year, hold a Seder, eat vegetarian (although not formally kosher) and the cycle of Jewish holidays has become my life.  There is the problem of that non-Jewish life partner, but he actively and willingly participates and is a strong supporter of all my Jewish practices (unlike my Jewish ex-husband who did his best to sabotage every Jewish thing I tried to do.) I would never even consider joining Hadassah, but it is a fine organization for those who are into that sort of thing.  So, am I lost or found?  Am I shrinkage or growth? Am I part of the problem or part of the solution?  It is so easy to oversimplify the story, but I think the issues are much more complicated than Siegel-Itzkovich seems willing to tackle. Let’s see—I come from an American family that pretty much ignored its Jewish roots.  But I am currently an active leader in a Jewish renewal community, where I regularly leyn on Shabbat and most holidays (something I learned as an adult from others in the group), and help to lead and organize services.  I light Shabbat candles every Friday night, build a Sukkah every year, hold a Seder, eat vegetarian (although not formally kosher) and the cycle of Jewish holidays has become my life.  There is the problem of that non-Jewish life partner, but he actively and willingly participates and is a strong supporter of all my Jewish practices (unlike my Jewish ex-husband who did his best to sabotage every Jewish thing I tried to do.) I would never even consider joining Hadassah, but it is a fine organization for those who are into that sort of thing.  So, am I lost or found?  Am I shrinkage or growth? Am I part of the problem or part of the solution?  It is so easy to oversimplify the story, but I think the issues are much more complicated than Siegel-Itzkovich seems willing to tackle.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by asc@njjewishnews.com “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?” This is a little like saying “if the giant British Empire fell apart, what about the future of all its poor colonies”? I’d suggest she read a copy of “Slingshot,” the Bronfman foundation’s “Resource Guide to American Jewish Innovation” for a list of small and resourceful organizations that have blossomed in the past decade or so. “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?”

This is a little like saying “if the giant British Empire fell apart, what about the future of all its poor colonies”?

I’d suggest she read a copy of “Slingshot,” the Bronfman foundation’s “Resource Guide to American Jewish Innovation” for a list of small and resourceful organizations that have blossomed in the past decade or so.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by dabronx1@gmail.com Siegel-Itzkovich doesn’t see it, therefore it doesn’t exist: Young women are not joining Hadassah, therefore they are not joining anything. And so on. Ridiculous. All Jews should live in israel? Let her tell the Jews who are leaving it. And let her find enough water to support all of us if/when we move there. Siegel-Itzkovich doesn’t see it, therefore it doesn’t exist: Young women are not joining Hadassah, therefore they are not joining anything. And so on. Ridiculous.

All Jews should live in israel? Let her tell the Jews who are leaving it. And let her find enough water to support all of us if/when we move there.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by bretaa@yahoo.com Well, her piece was certainly condescending and mean spirited.  While not altogether wrong about the US or its Jewish Community, the filter through which this is viewed is quite warped.  There’s no doubt that, as a whole, the American Jewish community is in a decline of sorts.  While its lamentable in pure numerical terms, it’s probably invitable but not altogether undesirable.  As I once read elsewhere, this trend will probably result in a “smaller, but better, Jewish community.” When a Jewish community of a stable 6 million people is scattering itself over a nation the size of the US, a country that has the same number of people as in the Jewish community immigrating here here every few years, a change in community composition and influence is inevitable. WHAT THE AUTHOR GETS RIGHT: ------------------------------------------- - Materialism: No doubt a problem in all communities, and not just in the Jewish world.  Our current economic difficulties have me cautiously optimistic that this might have reached its height (Americans are maxed out on credit), but we’ll see… I’m also sensing a small materialism backlash beginning… - Suburbanization: While few Americans realize it, the US’s wholesale conversion to a suburban nation over the last 60-70 years is probably one of its biggest long term strategic, economic, and social mistakes, maybe a critical one that may cost the US superpower status and take the better part of the next 60-100 years to reverse.  I don’t blame those who decided to suburbanize America.  It must have made overwhelming sense after WWII and the baby boom.  The land was there, it was cheap, and it was assumed that gas would be never ended and almost free.  America’s urban culture was new (only about 40-60 years old) vs that of Europe, which was hundreds-thousands of years old, and thus easily discardable.  Racial tensions that later broke out in cities lead to further “White Flight.” Suburbanization itself was the “American Dream” (the apple pie, white picket, fence, etc) and one of the things that separated us from the “Godless Communists.” One could even argue that suburbanization is what powered America to its superpower status economically in the post-WWII era.  All true, but in an age of dwindling gas supplies and decreased civic ties and a lack of Americans’ interpersonal contact with one another, it’s time to rebuild our urbanity and reverse the way we live. - Cost of Jewish Living: Absolutely correct.  Much has been written on this and its true.  To live a fully observant lifestyle with kashrut, camps, congregations, and day school, it’s crushing.  The people I know who pull it off best are upper-middle class at least.  I don’t know how one can be merely middle-class and do it for more than two kids.  - Education: Also correct.  There are Jewish communities much smaller than the US’s around the world who have maintained their identities and numbers over the generations.  Those communities are generally ones where 90+% of kids are in Jewish schools.  Now, granted, some of these communities are ones in which the dominant culture do not have universal public schools (a US innovation which powered our rise that the author disparages) or “mainstream” school options themselves Christian or Muslim parochial or are ones in which each community maintains its own schools.  The lack of cheap, plentiful, affordable Jewish schooling in our community, though, is a disgrace.  - Jewish decline: Again, as a whole, yes.  However, the Jewish community is going in three directions.  Two communities are actually growing and flourishing… One is the orthodox community and “traditional” Judaism, the other is an engaged and increasingly observant Reform community.  The “middle” communities, be they Conservative or ethnic Jews, are rapidly vanishing.  This middle used to be the biggest part of the American community, and they are declining.  Conservative Judaism because of both the successes of Reform Judaism and Orthodox Judaism, both of which are attracting away its members (a newly conservative Reform Judaism taking away the less-observant, Orthodox taking away the more serious).  Ethnic Judaism because there is no “substance” to perpetuate it from generation to generation (and no substance to prevent intermarriage), and because America’s melting pot culture steamrolls almost every immigrant culture (except, perhaps, Hispanic due to the absolutely huge numbers involved).  This split, however, leads to… WHAT THE AUTHOR GETS WRONG: ------------------------------------------- Essentially, everything else… - Vitality: Both on the Reform/Reconstructionist end of the spectrum and on the Orthodox end, American Jewish culture and faith may be more vital, creative, and engaging than at any other time in recent world history.  Every representative from those communities will tell you that.  The orthodox community, both due to birthrates and increased adherents from the non-orthodox world, is exploding and it’s common to see articles about how housing can’t be built fast enough for orthodox communities in NY. In part because of this, orthodox communities are growing up in lots of other cities that are flourishing as well (Bridgeport, CT and Providence, RI come to mind).  The Reform movement was smart to have tons of new synagogues in America’s fasting growing cities and its increasingly observant (the big Reform message of the year is increased Shabbat observe!) yet inclusive culture is growing them like crazy.  Only Conservative Judaism seems unsure of where to go and is in a rut… - Hadassah: The less said about her “As Hadassah goes so does American Judaism” the better.  I know a fleet of observant, Jewishly engaged women, and not a one likely even ever thought about Hadassah.  That group has been groping and searching for revelence for generations, and their search obviously continues… - Intermarriage: Yup, its high, no doubt, and has been so since the boomers (and now their children).  But the sense I get (I’m in my mid-30’s) from my peers and others is that it’s probably leveled out and is as bad as it will get.  Via J-Date (in my peer group over 50% of Jewish marriages started here) and other internet options, if you want to date Jewish and marry Jewish, you can.  I can’t even imagine how non-kippot and hamesh wearing young Jewish professionals found each other before J-date… Today, every Jew is a “Jew by Choice.” If you want to marry Jewish and date Jewish, you can.  If you don’t want to, you don’t have to… This is why education is so critical… - Education: While expensive as noted above, I thought I had read that the number of children enrolled in Jewish schools is at an all time high.  Not as high as it should be, to be sure, but still at record levels.  While some Conservative Schechter schools are closing, this is more due to the weakness of that movement (and of some communtiies, like Worcester, MA) than anything else… Ok, that’s all I have time to type.... While I expect the community to shrink within my lifetime (to, perhaps, 3.5-4 million Jews), I predict the American Jewish community of the mid 21st century to be more observant, more engaged, more educated, and more Jewish than any other Jewish community in American history. - Iari PS: I don’t like this Israel vs the US community attitude the author has.  If she lived the Judaism she claims to, she’d have a bit more of a Kol Yisrael attitude… Well, her piece was certainly condescending and mean spirited.  While not altogether wrong about the US or its Jewish Community, the filter through which this is viewed is quite warped. 

There’s no doubt that, as a whole, the American Jewish community is in a decline of sorts.  While its lamentable in pure numerical terms, it’s probably invitable but not altogether undesirable.  As I once read elsewhere, this trend will probably result in a “smaller, but better, Jewish community.” When a Jewish community of a stable 6 million people is scattering itself over a nation the size of the US, a country that has the same number of people as in the Jewish community immigrating here here every few years, a change in community composition and influence is inevitable.

WHAT THE AUTHOR GETS RIGHT:
-------------------------------------------
- Materialism: No doubt a problem in all communities, and not just in the Jewish world.  Our current economic difficulties have me cautiously optimistic that this might have reached its height (Americans are maxed out on credit), but we’ll see… I’m also sensing a small materialism backlash beginning…

- Suburbanization: While few Americans realize it, the US’s wholesale conversion to a suburban nation over the last 60-70 years is probably one of its biggest long term strategic, economic, and social mistakes, maybe a critical one that may cost the US superpower status and take the better part of the next 60-100 years to reverse.  I don’t blame those who decided to suburbanize America.  It must have made overwhelming sense after WWII and the baby boom.  The land was there, it was cheap, and it was assumed that gas would be never ended and almost free.  America’s urban culture was new (only about 40-60 years old) vs that of Europe, which was hundreds-thousands of years old, and thus easily discardable.  Racial tensions that later broke out in cities lead to further “White Flight.” Suburbanization itself was the “American Dream” (the apple pie, white picket, fence, etc) and one of the things that separated us from the “Godless Communists.” One could even argue that suburbanization is what powered America to its superpower status economically in the post-WWII era.  All true, but in an age of dwindling gas supplies and decreased civic ties and a lack of Americans’ interpersonal contact with one another, it’s time to rebuild our urbanity and reverse the way we live.

- Cost of Jewish Living: Absolutely correct.  Much has been written on this and its true.  To live a fully observant lifestyle with kashrut, camps, congregations, and day school, it’s crushing.  The people I know who pull it off best are upper-middle class at least.  I don’t know how one can be merely middle-class and do it for more than two kids. 

- Education: Also correct.  There are Jewish communities much smaller than the US’s around the world who have maintained their identities and numbers over the generations.  Those communities are generally ones where 90+% of kids are in Jewish schools.  Now, granted, some of these communities are ones in which the dominant culture do not have universal public schools (a US innovation which powered our rise that the author disparages) or “mainstream” school options themselves Christian or Muslim parochial or are ones in which each community maintains its own schools.  The lack of cheap, plentiful, affordable Jewish schooling in our community, though, is a disgrace. 

- Jewish decline: Again, as a whole, yes.  However, the Jewish community is going in three directions.  Two communities are actually growing and flourishing… One is the orthodox community and “traditional” Judaism, the other is an engaged and increasingly observant Reform community.  The “middle” communities, be they Conservative or ethnic Jews, are rapidly vanishing.  This middle used to be the biggest part of the American community, and they are declining.  Conservative Judaism because of both the successes of Reform Judaism and Orthodox Judaism, both of which are attracting away its members (a newly conservative Reform Judaism taking away the less-observant, Orthodox taking away the more serious).  Ethnic Judaism because there is no “substance” to perpetuate it from generation to generation (and no substance to prevent intermarriage), and because America’s melting pot culture steamrolls almost every immigrant culture (except, perhaps, Hispanic due to the absolutely huge numbers involved).  This split, however, leads to…

WHAT THE AUTHOR GETS WRONG:
-------------------------------------------
Essentially, everything else…

- Vitality: Both on the Reform/Reconstructionist end of the spectrum and on the Orthodox end, American Jewish culture and faith may be more vital, creative, and engaging than at any other time in recent world history.  Every representative from those communities will tell you that.  The orthodox community, both due to birthrates and increased adherents from the non-orthodox world, is exploding and it’s common to see articles about how housing can’t be built fast enough for orthodox communities in NY. In part because of this, orthodox communities are growing up in lots of other cities that are flourishing as well (Bridgeport, CT and Providence, RI come to mind).  The Reform movement was smart to have tons of new synagogues in America’s fasting growing cities and its increasingly observant (the big Reform message of the year is increased Shabbat observe!) yet inclusive culture is growing them like crazy.  Only Conservative Judaism seems unsure of where to go and is in a rut…

- Hadassah: The less said about her “As Hadassah goes so does American Judaism” the better.  I know a fleet of observant, Jewishly engaged women, and not a one likely even ever thought about Hadassah.  That group has been groping and searching for revelence for generations, and their search obviously continues…

- Intermarriage: Yup, its high, no doubt, and has been so since the boomers (and now their children).  But the sense I get (I’m in my mid-30’s) from my peers and others is that it’s probably leveled out and is as bad as it will get.  Via J-Date (in my peer group over 50% of Jewish marriages started here) and other internet options, if you want to date Jewish and marry Jewish, you can.  I can’t even imagine how non-kippot and hamesh wearing young Jewish professionals found each other before J-date… Today, every Jew is a “Jew by Choice.” If you want to marry Jewish and date Jewish, you can.  If you don’t want to, you don’t have to… This is why education is so critical…

- Education: While expensive as noted above, I thought I had read that the number of children enrolled in Jewish schools is at an all time high.  Not as high as it should be, to be sure, but still at record levels.  While some Conservative Schechter schools are closing, this is more due to the weakness of that movement (and of some communtiies, like Worcester, MA) than anything else…

Ok, that’s all I have time to type....

While I expect the community to shrink within my lifetime (to, perhaps, 3.5-4 million Jews), I predict the American Jewish community of the mid 21st century to be more observant, more engaged, more educated, and more Jewish than any other Jewish community in American history.

- Iari

PS: I don’t like this Israel vs the US community attitude the author has.  If she lived the Judaism she claims to, she’d have a bit more of a Kol Yisrael attitude…

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by not@telling.com Also, did it ever occur to anyone that the reason major Jewish organizations keep releasing statistics warning of the disappearance of American Jewry is because they’re trying to scare you into donating money to their causes? Nevermind that, as the stewards of American Jewish life, they’ve been steering the ship for the last century and running it into the ground.  If anyone should be blamed for the purported disappearance of American Jews, it should be those organizations that send all their money to the Sachnut, or those individuals who donate to Aish HaTorah and the Likud Party, instead of investing in American Jewish education.  If day school education in this country were affordable and every Jewish parent could send their children to a good Jewish day school (and perhaps if the Zionists hadn’t murdered Yiddish and it continued to thrive as a language in America) we’d have as vibrant, rich and diverse a Jewish community as we had in pre-war Europe.  Thankfully we’re getting there on our own, no thanks to the naysayers and the Jewish militants. Also, did it ever occur to anyone that the reason major Jewish organizations keep releasing statistics warning of the disappearance of American Jewry is because they’re trying to scare you into donating money to their causes?

Nevermind that, as the stewards of American Jewish life, they’ve been steering the ship for the last century and running it into the ground. 

If anyone should be blamed for the purported disappearance of American Jews, it should be those organizations that send all their money to the Sachnut, or those individuals who donate to Aish HaTorah and the Likud Party, instead of investing in American Jewish education.  If day school education in this country were affordable and every Jewish parent could send their children to a good Jewish day school (and perhaps if the Zionists hadn’t murdered Yiddish and it continued to thrive as a language in America) we’d have as vibrant, rich and diverse a Jewish community as we had in pre-war Europe.  Thankfully we’re getting there on our own, no thanks to the naysayers and the Jewish militants.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by Linpeace1@aol.com I am a college educated 65 year old Jewish woman of low income living in the Bronx, New York near a rejuvenating Bronx park. Does this woman have any sense of reality or what?Her snobbery and ignorance are palpable!!! How dare she insult a whole nation of people who are of the same religion. I am a Jew.  The security of Israel is utmost in my thoughts.  I am not materialistic and don’t subscribe to the “American Dream” fantasy.  There are many caring decent Jews here with meaningful values. This author needs to shine a light on herself. I am a college educated 65 year old Jewish woman of low income living in the Bronx, New York near a rejuvenating Bronx park. Does this woman have any sense of reality or what?Her snobbery and ignorance are palpable!!! How dare she insult a whole nation of people who are of the same religion. I am a Jew.  The security of Israel is utmost in my thoughts.  I am not materialistic and don’t subscribe to the “American Dream” fantasy.  There are many caring decent Jews here with meaningful values. This author needs to shine a light on herself.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by not@telling.com @Doug from PA What a load of right-wing ethnonationalist bullcrap. Try reading any of the studies Steven M. Cohen and Ari Kelman have produced in the last decade, particularly on what they call “the myth of the unaffiliated Jew.” Most young Jews in America are actively engaged Jewishly, however they affiliate in non-traditional and non-institutional ways because they feel alienated from traditional forms of Jewish engagement and are bored to tears with slow-moving and unchanging bureaucratic institutions. The primary reasons young Jews are alienated are that they’re sick of being condescended to by know-it-alls and holier-than-thou types, they don’t buy into Israel-right-or-wrong (because it’s not consistent with the Jewish values and ethics that do resonate with them), and they’re sick of being told that if they don’t marry and have Jewish babies that we’re going to go extinct.  They’re also disgusted by Jewish institutional politics and want nothing to do with them. Even so, there are more young people enrolling in Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Modern Orthodox and Haredi yeshivot and rabbinical schools than ever in American history.  The Reform movement is exploding with new congregants.  The baal teshuvah movement has grown so big it’s encountering a backlash.  There’s been a huge renaissance in Jewish culture, including a slew of new organizations and initiatives from social justice projects to magazines and record labels.  And there are new independent minyanim and havurot cropping up all over the country every week. To say that American Judaism is dying is to deny reality.  We’re witnessing a boom like we’ve never seen before. Unfortunately, Zionist idiots like the author of this op-ed are too busy trash talking liberals and trying to scare people into joining the Jewish National Project to acknowledge it. @Doug from PA

What a load of right-wing ethnonationalist bullcrap.

Try reading any of the studies Steven M. Cohen and Ari Kelman have produced in the last decade, particularly on what they call “the myth of the unaffiliated Jew.” Most young Jews in America are actively engaged Jewishly, however they affiliate in non-traditional and non-institutional ways because they feel alienated from traditional forms of Jewish engagement and are bored to tears with slow-moving and unchanging bureaucratic institutions.

The primary reasons young Jews are alienated are that they’re sick of being condescended to by know-it-alls and holier-than-thou types, they don’t buy into Israel-right-or-wrong (because it’s not consistent with the Jewish values and ethics that do resonate with them), and they’re sick of being told that if they don’t marry and have Jewish babies that we’re going to go extinct.  They’re also disgusted by Jewish institutional politics and want nothing to do with them.

Even so, there are more young people enrolling in Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Modern Orthodox and Haredi yeshivot and rabbinical schools than ever in American history.  The Reform movement is exploding with new congregants.  The baal teshuvah movement has grown so big it’s encountering a backlash.  There’s been a huge renaissance in Jewish culture, including a slew of new organizations and initiatives from social justice projects to magazines and record labels.  And there are new independent minyanim and havurot cropping up all over the country every week.

To say that American Judaism is dying is to deny reality.  We’re witnessing a boom like we’ve never seen before.

Unfortunately, Zionist idiots like the author of this op-ed are too busy trash talking liberals and trying to scare people into joining the Jewish National Project to acknowledge it.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by speceducator@hotmail.com I agree with Judy on Jews here in the US. However, to see that materialistic non caring atttitude she does not have to go to the country of her birth, but to her adopted home, Israel. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s Israel was looked upon as people who toiled the land and its sabra population was much to be admired. Today Israel is a carbon copy of the US as it lost its values and the struggle to make it egilitarian as it did in the beginning, albeit even the secular Jews are more religious than many American Jews. I agree with Judy on Jews here in the US. However, to see that materialistic non caring atttitude she does not have to go to the country of her birth, but to her adopted home, Israel. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s Israel was looked upon as people who toiled the land and its sabra population was much to be admired. Today Israel is a carbon copy of the US as it lost its values and the struggle to make it egilitarian as it did in the beginning, albeit even the secular Jews are more religious than many American Jews.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by ecinaj@geocities.com Despite the author’s claim that American Jewry is in much more dire straits than it was 30 years ago, the conspicuous excess of Beverly Hills Jews and the desire of Hadassah delegates to eat non-kosher food than kosher was as true 30 years ago when she left the US as it is now. As for her question “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?” she answers it herself elsewhere in the article when she notes that as “most younger Jewish women hold full-time jobs, it’s more difficult for Hadassah to attract them as active members than the enthusiastic, ardent housewives of the older generation.” Regarding her “statistics,” she cites a survey of delegates that “only 15% said US Jews in their 20s and 30s are as attached to Israel and Judaism as those in their 50s and 60s.” However, she also noted that most delegates are middle-aged or older—I would have been more impressed if she’d cited a study of US Jews with respondents who were actually in their 20s and 30s. Despite the author’s claim that American Jewry is in much more dire straits than it was 30 years ago, the conspicuous excess of Beverly Hills Jews and the desire of Hadassah delegates to eat non-kosher food than kosher was as true 30 years ago when she left the US as it is now. As for her question “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?” she answers it herself elsewhere in the article when she notes that as “most younger Jewish women hold full-time jobs, it’s more difficult for Hadassah to attract them as active members than the enthusiastic, ardent housewives of the older generation.”

Regarding her “statistics,” she cites a survey of delegates that “only 15% said US Jews in their 20s and 30s are as attached to Israel and Judaism as those in their 50s and 60s.” However, she also noted that most delegates are middle-aged or older—I would have been more impressed if she’d cited a study of US Jews with respondents who were actually in their 20s and 30s.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by egolinsky@nyc.rr.com Brilliant line: “As a Zionist and modern Orthodox Jew who believes every Jew should live in Israel, I nevertheless went to the US with an objective, open mind.” HA!  Good one.  (She says “Afro-Americans”!  Doesn’t JPost have editors?!) The line you quote from her sums up the piece’s stupidity: “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?” If this was 60 years ago, she’d be worrying about the demise of the bund.  Oh no, if the Jewish labor movement is faltering, can American Judaism as a whole be far behind?!  There are plenty of Jewish movements that are thriving in America today that didn’t even exist 25 years ago, including Jewish Renewal and Secular Humanism.  Why is AJWS booming if “intermarriage and assimilation” are destroying American Jewry? Hadassah spent their conference lamenting changes in society so that they can claim their decline is not their own fault.  But guess what? Maybe their membership is declining because their mission doesn’t speak to young women anymore.  We’re getting a whole cottage industry about the “feminization” of Jewish institutional life; if Hadassah fails to benefit from that trend, is it really a sign of the apocolypse for American Jewry? And any Israeli who honestly believes all Jews should live in Israel isn’t thinking very strategically on behalf of their own country or people.  Does it really hurt to have disproportionate Jewish representation in the government and top industries, universities and professions in the world’s richest superpower?  Do we really want the entire Jewish population within the blast radius of a single nuclear bomb? (Sorry to be so grim, but if a disaster of biblical proportions is going to happen to any people, guess who...) Here’s my Diaspora-superiority rant: As bad as U.S. politicians are, the Israeli government operates like a corrupt third-world country.  Israel is a world leader in human trafficking.  The occupation has undercut the morality of Israel’s founding principles. The ultra-Orthodox hold the entire country hostage but secular Israelis are so removed from their religion—despite living on “The Land”—that they don’t get off their butts to do anything about it. And the necessary militarization of the entire population has made the society so rude and pushy that Israeli men make Italian men look downright gentlemanly. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Sabra blah-bra, prickly on the outside—are they really so sweet on the inside?) All the innovation in Jewish religious life is happening in the U.S.  Almost all the global cultural contributions made by Jews is still eminating from America. Israel is a wonderful country, despite all my complaints, but I can be a damn fine Jew right here in Jew York City, thank you very much. Brilliant line: “As a Zionist and modern Orthodox Jew who believes every Jew should live in Israel, I nevertheless went to the US with an objective, open mind.”

HA!  Good one.  (She says “Afro-Americans”!  Doesn’t JPost have editors?!)

The line you quote from her sums up the piece’s stupidity: “If Hadassah is struggling, what about the future of smaller and much less influential Jewish organizations?” If this was 60 years ago, she’d be worrying about the demise of the bund.  Oh no, if the Jewish labor movement is faltering, can American Judaism as a whole be far behind?!  There are plenty of Jewish movements that are thriving in America today that didn’t even exist 25 years ago, including Jewish Renewal and Secular Humanism.  Why is AJWS booming if “intermarriage and assimilation” are destroying American Jewry?

Hadassah spent their conference lamenting changes in society so that they can claim their decline is not their own fault.  But guess what? Maybe their membership is declining because their mission doesn’t speak to young women anymore.  We’re getting a whole cottage industry about the “feminization” of Jewish institutional life; if Hadassah fails to benefit from that trend, is it really a sign of the apocolypse for American Jewry?

And any Israeli who honestly believes all Jews should live in Israel isn’t thinking very strategically on behalf of their own country or people.  Does it really hurt to have disproportionate Jewish representation in the government and top industries, universities and professions in the world’s richest superpower?  Do we really want the entire Jewish population within the blast radius of a single nuclear bomb? (Sorry to be so grim, but if a disaster of biblical proportions is going to happen to any people, guess who...)

Here’s my Diaspora-superiority rant: As bad as U.S. politicians are, the Israeli government operates like a corrupt third-world country.  Israel is a world leader in human trafficking.  The occupation has undercut the morality of Israel’s founding principles. The ultra-Orthodox hold the entire country hostage but secular Israelis are so removed from their religion—despite living on “The Land”—that they don’t get off their butts to do anything about it. And the necessary militarization of the entire population has made the society so rude and pushy that Israeli men make Italian men look downright gentlemanly. (Yeah, yeah, I know, Sabra blah-bra, prickly on the outside—are they really so sweet on the inside?)

All the innovation in Jewish religious life is happening in the U.S.  Almost all the global cultural contributions made by Jews is still eminating from America. Israel is a wonderful country, despite all my complaints, but I can be a damn fine Jew right here in Jew York City, thank you very much.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by silberfarb@visi.com What does Ms. Seigel-Itzkovich really know about American Jewry?  Seven days holed up with relatives and at a Hadassah conference provides a hint as to how much weight to attach to her arrogant and hastily drawn conclusions.  I am thrilled she is happy in Israel and identifies as strongly as she does.  And I have news for her: most American Jews—indeed most Jews outside of Israel—will not make aliyah.  I am not saying that’s good or bad.  it just is.  Moreover, perhaps she is not in touch with trends among Israelis—who appear to be seeking more meaning (as are many American Jews) to their identity other than relying solely their choice of residence. It’s good to have frank and candid dialogue and exchanges.  We have a lot to learn from each other.  I’m pretty sure it’s not too good—and inconsistent with Torah teaching—to put on airs, to judge, and to embody an attitude of superiority.  That’s hardly the stuff of leadership and inspiration. Often we have a choice between being self-righteously right and humbly influential.  Ms. Seigel-Itzkovich is not only neither right nor influential, she is wrong in the least helpful way. What does Ms. Seigel-Itzkovich really know about American Jewry?  Seven days holed up with relatives and at a Hadassah conference provides a hint as to how much weight to attach to her arrogant and hastily drawn conclusions.  I am thrilled she is happy in Israel and identifies as strongly as she does.  And I have news for her: most American Jews—indeed most Jews outside of Israel—will not make aliyah.  I am not saying that’s good or bad.  it just is.  Moreover, perhaps she is not in touch with trends among Israelis—who appear to be seeking more meaning (as are many American Jews) to their identity other than relying solely their choice of residence.

It’s good to have frank and candid dialogue and exchanges.  We have a lot to learn from each other.  I’m pretty sure it’s not too good—and inconsistent with Torah teaching—to put on airs, to judge, and to embody an attitude of superiority.  That’s hardly the stuff of leadership and inspiration.

Often we have a choice between being self-righteously right and humbly influential.  Ms. Seigel-Itzkovich is not only neither right nor influential, she is wrong in the least helpful way.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by dcfriedm@yahoo.com I agree with her that there’s a decline, but it’s not irreversible. The reason for the decline is that most U.S. Jews identify themselves as liberals first and Jews at most second and since they value equality above all, they don’t want to stand out by having different customs. They express their “Jewishness” by supporting liberal, even anti-Semitic causes, not by going to synagogues or otherwise being involved with Jews. Meanwhile, the Orthodox are focused on rituals and obligations and do not try to motivate young Jews to care, and Jews in general are too focused on the past of Jewish suffering and death; this turns off younger people. How to reverse the decline at the macro level, I don’t know. I agree with her that there’s a decline, but it’s not irreversible. The reason for the decline is that most U.S. Jews identify themselves as liberals first and Jews at most second and since they value equality above all, they don’t want to stand out by having different customs. They express their “Jewishness” by supporting liberal, even anti-Semitic causes, not by going to synagogues or otherwise being involved with Jews. Meanwhile, the Orthodox are focused on rituals and obligations and do not try to motivate young Jews to care, and Jews in general are too focused on the past of Jewish suffering and death; this turns off younger people.

How to reverse the decline at the macro level, I don’t know.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by tzvee@zahavy.com it’s not an analysis, it’s an impression, so you can’t criticize or disagree. that’s how she feels. yeah it’s selective, so is every factual account. what i don’t like about her opinions are two things—her implicit dislike for the haredi advances here and her neglect to mention the hundreds of thousands of israelis who have left israel for the goldene medina of the usa. you really cannot blame her for her self-serving superiority assertions. and she is quite clear that she felt no reason to come to the US for 26 years - so she didn’t miss it—she didn’t like it enough to visit. so all told for a biased musing on the US it is not that awful. it’s not an analysis, it’s an impression, so you can’t criticize or disagree. that’s how she feels. yeah it’s selective, so is every factual account. what i don’t like about her opinions are two things—her implicit dislike for the haredi advances here and her neglect to mention the hundreds of thousands of israelis who have left israel for the goldene medina of the usa. you really cannot blame her for her self-serving superiority assertions. and she is quite clear that she felt no reason to come to the US for 26 years - so she didn’t miss it—she didn’t like it enough to visit. so all told for a biased musing on the US it is not that awful.

]]> 2012-02-09T;19:12:00-05:00 Comment by not@telling.com This sounds like a job for Israel Man and Diaspora Boy! This sounds like a job for Israel Man and Diaspora Boy!

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