In recent years, I chastised Commentary Magazine contributors for thinking too broadly when it came to predicting “the condition of the Jewish Community 50 years from now.” Rather than consider the prospects for Jewry at the macro level, I suggested that we focus on the micro: Jewish families and the communities in which they live. My preference for both a theoretical discussion and practical application is that we address Judaism as it is lived out by real people in real places and in real time.
Such small thinking will require a re-orientation of our 20th century socialization, which favors the professional clergy and educated class over the parent, prioritizes synagogue, JCC and Federation-centric programming over the family, and promotes institutional-sized budgets over the personal checking account. Of course we need, at a minimum, a professional class of clergy – rabbis – who will provide reliable and compassionate leadership in matters of history, ritual and contemporary Jewish life. However, seeking excellence in this resource should not overshadow the need for Jewishly literate mothers and fathers.
Of course we need sacred space for prayer, community celebrations, and observances – but not at the risk of failing to promote, or even actively squashing Jewish space created in the family home. As well, do we need multiple Jewish institutions in each of our communities? While each professionally-staffed brick-and-mortar organization is intended to instill, promote, and maintain Jewish family and community life, they also place significant claims on family time and finances – perhaps at the expense of more effective, efficient, and sustainable options.
Reflect with me for a moment on your local Jewish community. Think about your Jewish family members (feel free to include those who are not Jewish but enjoy your company!), your Jewish friends and acquaintances you see at your congregation, the JCC, Hadassah, or elsewhere. Also include in this basket of Jewish faces those at your workplace, school, or other locus of community involvement. Hold that thought while you project your virtual self, 50 years into the future. Presume that you remain alive and engaged with your Jewish family and community – but how much of your world would still be Jewish? Ninety percent? Sixty Percent? Thirty percent? Less?
I would like to propose that at least part of the reason we instinctively know that our personal Jewish world will diminish over time has nothing to do with the process of personal aging. Rather, it has to do with our reliance on what is big – big clergy, big buildings, big organizations, and big budgets – rather than relying on what is small. The future of your Jewish world lies not in the hands of your rabbi, or in the family-accessible programming of the JCC, or the fun-factor of the synagogue religious school and B’nei Mitzvah program. The future of your Jewish world lies squarely in your hands. How can you begin to instill a Jewish vision and grow an intentional Jewish identity in the lives of your Jewish family, friends and community?