Toward a Sustainable Egal.Judaism(R.Ethan Tucker)
I hope this video works. [Thursday, June 23, 2011: I've copied a better link--it should now work.] This presentation certainly sounded good when my husband and I heard it in person last night at Mechon Hadar.
Honestly, Rabbi Tucker's goal sounds wonderful in theory, but, if my own experience is any indication, observant egalitarian communities are hard to find.
Honestly, Rabbi Tucker's goal sounds wonderful in theory, but, if my own experience is any indication, observant egalitarian communities are hard to find.
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:23 PM
3 Comments:
I think that this is an example of why egalitarian Judaism is withering on the vine.
His goals:
2 generations from now, half the texts on the shelf are written by women
2 generations from now, half the ritual slaughterers and scribes are women
2 generations from now, the vast majority of observant Jews looking for a community want an egalitarian one
etc., etc.
Everything he is doing is focusing on the clergy side of the movement.
That's NOT the problem in Conservative circles.
The problem is that 96% of non-Orthodox Jews are heterosexual. Of those 96%, 2/3s of those interested in Judaism are married to another Jew. That 64% of potentially engaged American Jews are not nearly as interesting as focusing on the outliers.
More energy has been spent on Lesbian Rabbis that helping Egalitarian Synagogues create affordable and dynamic preschool options. Indeed, with buildings empty most of the week, Synagogues that have space for after school Hebrew school could consider offering an affordable "Day School" option for K-3, when resource needs aren't as high.
There is no focus on engaging families. Why not create more interesting Shabbat experiences, a Shabbaton for families like Churches do their retreats as a way of building observance.
The problem facing egalitarian Judaism is that their laity are predominately older, suburban, with strong Jewish identities, center-left politics, but family focused lives. The egalitarian intelligensia are increasingly younger, urban, left-wing politics, with weak Jewish identities and more "citizen of the world" identities, and non family oriented lives.
What excites 30 year old single NYC Liberals? Gay Rights.
What terrifies 30 year old single NYC Liberals? Life in surburbian with 3-4 kids in a minivan.
Which of those two things is more important to the future of Egalitarian Judaism?
"There is no focus on engaging families. . . .
What excites 30 year old single NYC Liberals? Gay Rights.
What terrifies 30 year old single NYC Liberals? Life in surburbian with 3-4 kids in a minivan.
Which of those two things is more important to the future of Egalitarian Judaism?"
Sigh. We always end up here sooner or later.
Yes, sustainable egalitarian Judaism requires egalitarian Jews.
Egalitarian Jews can come from:
1. Egalitarian Non Jews (Jews by Choice)
2. Non-Egalitarian Jews (OTD)
3. Egalitarian Jews born to Jewish parents
Only #3 is "sustainable."
But in the ivory tower of their Yeshiva, the problem isn't low birth rates and growing intermarriage, it's not enough people like them. If only everyone was like them, interested in Torah Study AND Egalitarian, everything would be fine.
Sadly for them, not everyone will be like them, so this fails.
I know a truck driving, baal teshuvah, general contractor from Shul. He'd be a sore thumb in a Reform congregation of doctors and lawyers. Even most Conservative congregations are more up market than that, as are most MO congregations.
He works hard 6 days a week to support his family, finds time for learning on Shabbat. He has a way to fit in to a segment of the Orthodox world.
This Yeshiva has no room for men like him.
That's there problem.
Their "ideal" is only good for highly educated Jews who have enough income to have luxury time, so upper middle class Jews with 1-2 children (or none) that start families later and have time for all of this "stuff."
That's not sustainable.
I'm not claiming that Orthodoxy is right. I'm claiming that they are the only group of American Jews with demographics that even HINT at sustainability.
You need to learn what they are doing right (marrying other Jews and producing other Jews) and focus on that.
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