Sad
to say you may take Leslie Taichman, Ruda Itzka Minya bas Liba off of your
Rafuah Schlema list.
Technology in our times is amazing. Last week, I was on the DC
Metro and Rabbi Mimran Shlita gave me a Skype call and we discussed Kollel
matters as I rode into DC to see the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum for the first
time in 32 years. Before re-embarking on my trip back from the States I visited
my cousin in a French Hospital getting the Mitzvah of Bikur Cholim from
thousands of miles away while I sat in a basement apartment in Maryland.
Of course being photographed next to my granddaughter on her Bas
Mitzvah Party did involve a plane flight and holding my other son’s daughter as
we start walking around the house with help you cannot do from far away. But
reading her a book and talking and making faces on Skype I can do. The youth
today do not fully distinguish between virtual reality and reality. My son told
me of my niece a few years ago texting a boy sitting next to her instead of
talking and he texting back.
A Rabbi’s vacation involves Torah of course and I heard a few
stories some of which I am using here. I got to read more than 2/3rds of Rabbi
B. Wein Shlita’s biography. I enjoyed it a bit more than most because I know
some of the Rabbis that he mentioned and some of the areas where he lived
although I have never been to Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and other places that
he mentioned. I picked up the latest book on Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the
translation of Rabbi Lau’s biography into English. It is more inspiring I guess
to read the biography of people you know and saw face to face than shall we say
that of the Vilna Gaon or Chofetz Chaim as inspiring as they are.
Parsha Chukas
I have not had time to read the Medrash Rabbah in quite a while but
when I was chatting with Rabbi Yona Gewirtz Shlita in his Schul he brought down
a Medrash to me and a young man with a question.
A Goy came up to Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and accused the Jews of
being a cult with the strange practice of the Para Aduma (Red Heifer). Rabbi
Yochanan said did you ever hear of a nerve disease call such and such and
people are treated for it by smelling various burning grasses and it works
(recently I heard that Parkinson was being treated with Hashish). You do not
call this idol worship or poke fun at the doctors. It is the same with the
spiritual disease of a person who came in contact with the dead we burn the cow
and the ashes cure the disease.
The Goy went away satisfied and the students (All the great Rabbis
of the next generation) said that is good for a Non-Jew but do you have an
explanation for us. (Rabbi Yona interjected and said if somebody was to teach
Torah this way today he would be excommunicated by Meah Shaarim, Bnei Barak,
etc.) It is not the dead that disqualifies a person nor the cow or the water
that cure but it is a Statute from the L-RD and we don’t need a reason for it
but to follow it. AND THIS IS THE STATUTE OF TORAH!
19:1 And
the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 2 This is the statute of the law which the LORD hath commanded,
saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer,
faultless, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke.
It will not have 2 black hairs on its entire body.
3 And ye
shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and she shall be brought forth without
the camp, and she shall be slain before his face. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger,
and sprinkle of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
Toward the front of the Tent of
Meeting: [In later generations, when this rite will be performed outside the
Temple in Jerusalem,] he is to stand to the east of Jerusalem and to direct his
gaze toward the entrance to the Temple while sprinkling the blood. — [Sifrei
Chukath 14]
5 And
the heifer shall be burnt in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood,
with her dung, shall be burnt.
Everything in the cow shall be burned unlike other Korbanos.
6 And
the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the
midst of the burning of the heifer.
Wood and Hyssop are standard for sacrifices but the scarlet is
something else.
7 Then
the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and
afterward he may come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the
even.
One of the many paradoxes of the Para Aduma is that the ritually
pure become impure and the ritually impure become pure. But this impurity is
not for 7 days but until dusk arrives about 18 minutes after sunset.
8 And he
that burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water,
and shall be unclean until the even.
This is because the clothes have become ritually impure.
9 And a
man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up
without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of
the children of Israel for a water of sprinkling; it is a purification from
sin.
The sin would be from offering up a Korban or eating holy food
like Maaser Sheni in Tuma which is eaten when one goes up to the Beis HaMikdash
in Yerushalayim.
.
10 And he
that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean
until the even; and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the
stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever. 11 He that touches the dead, even any
man's dead body, shall be unclean seven days;
He can only be purified with “living water” from a natural flowing
stream or underground stream and in said place which runs into a side Mikvah
like that of the Ari is Tzefat.
12 the
same shall purify himself therewith on the third day and on the seventh day,
and he shall be clean; but if he purify not himself the third day and the
seventh day, he shall not be clean.
The sprinkling can only occur on the 3rd and 7th
days and then as night enters on the eight, the man is pure.
13
Whosoever touches the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and doesn’t
purify himself--he hath defiled the tabernacle of the LORD--that soul shall be
cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against
him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
Outside of the Beis HaMikdash one can go on life as an undertaker
aka Chevra Kedisha with no need to purify himself but one cannot enter the
Temple area without the purification or face Kares.
14 This
is the law: when a man dies in a tent, every one that cometh into the tent, and
everything that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. 15 And every open vessel, which hath
no covering close-bound upon it, is unclean. 16 And whosoever in the open field touches one that is slain with
a sword, or one that dies of himself, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be
unclean seven days.
This includes a bone from ancient times dug up or a bone washed
out of the grave in a flood, etc. It is a Mitzvah to bury a man found dead or
to find the man’s relatives.
17 And
for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the purification
from sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel. 18 And a clean person shall take
hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all
the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched
the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. 19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the
third day, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him;
and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean
at even. 20 But the man that
shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from
the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD;
the water of sprinkling hath not been dashed against him: he is unclean. 21 And it shall be a perpetual statute
unto them; and he that sprinkles the water of sprinkling shall wash his
clothes; and he that touches the water of sprinkling shall be unclean until
even.
This is some spiritual purity placement of Tamay on the Tahor and
vice versa until the evening.
22 And
whatsoever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul that
touches him shall be unclean until even.
Parsha to be continued next week. Commentary cut short by the
article that follows immediately:
THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL REPORT IS MISSING THE
TABLES AND PHOTOGRAPHS ONE CAN GO TO THE WEB SITE FOR THEM. 18 pages!
Special Report for those who do not get Jewish Action from the OU
After PEW what will it take to save American Jewry? http://www.ou.org/jewish_action/06/2014/jonahs-sukkah/
Taking Our Cue from Pew By Steven Weil
Not all of the news coming out of the Pew
Research Center’s “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” released this past October
is depressing. The Orthodox population is growing exponentially. We have a high
birthrate and a very low intermarriage rate.
Moreover, one of the most impressive findings
of the Pew report is that 70 percent of the Orthodox population was raised
Orthodox. That means that 30 percent, or three out of every ten Orthodox Jews,
did not grow up Orthodox but became Orthodox somewhere along the way. Not only
is Orthodoxy attracting those from other streams, but our retention rate is
remarkably high. It used to be that only 22 percent of American Jews stayed
Orthodox. Today, 83 percent of Orthodox Jews stay Orthodox. Although we would
prefer to retain 100 percent, no other group in the Jewish community or any
other faith community has improved its retention rate like Orthodox Jewry.
No doubt, we have a right to feel proud of our
accomplishments, specifically the burgeoning day school movement, the vast
array of Orthodox summer camps and programs, phenomenally successful youth
groups such as NCSY, the limitless chesed organizations in each and
every Orthodox community as well as all of the other communal endeavors that
have helped make Orthodoxy strong and vibrant as we enter the twenty-first
century. But the truth is that as much as we have accomplished, we haven’t
accomplished nearly enough.
Among our non-Orthodox brethren, the
intermarriage rate has skyrocketed. If we leave out the Orthodox—who very rarely
intermarry—71.5 percent of American Jews marry outside of the faith. (This
number refers to no form of conversion, that is, when the spouse identifies him
or herself as a non-Jew. If we included nonhalachic conversions, the number is
significantly higher.) That statistic should make us all feel deeply
distressed. Are we not our brothers’ keepers?
There are significant parallels between the
Pew study and the National Jewish Population Study conducted in 2000. Both
studies arrive at the same devastating conclusion: the non-Orthodox Jewish
population is heading on a path toward becoming a small fraction of itself. As
the Pew report made clear, the largest block of American Jews ages forty and
under are unaffiliated. Moreover, most non-Orthodox Jews will intermarry; among
children of the intermarried, the statistics are abysmal. Only 17 percent of
the children of intermarried couples marry other Jews. With a birthrate of only
1.9 children and an astoundingly high intermarriage rate, American Jewry is on a
train speeding headlong into self-destruction. This should devastate each and
every one of us.
Tragically, this will not be the first time in
our history that a segment of our people cut themselves off from the Jewish
nation. Following the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in
the eighth century BCE, the Ten Tribes were exiled to various lands, and they
gradually assimilated and disappeared.
Tragically, this will not be the first time in
our history that a segment of our people cut themselves off from the Jewish
nation.
The Chumash (Parashat Beshalach 13:18) records
that when the Jews left Egypt, “vachamushim alu Bnei Yisrael m’Eretz
Mitzrayim, and the Jewish people were armed when they came up from the Land
of Egypt.” But Rashi notes that the word “chamushim” does not only mean
armed; it also means one-fifth. Rashi asserts that the Torah’s use of this
particular word comes to teach us that only one-fifth of the Jewish people in
Egypt actually left during the Exodus.
Imagine, during the greatest moments in Jewish
history—the Exodus and the ensuing Revelation at Mount Sinai—a full 80 percent
of the Jewish nation stayed behind. They shared no part in the historic Yetziat
Mitzrayim, no part in the Revelation at Mount Sinai, no part in the destiny of
the Jewish nation.
I cannot help but notice disturbing parallels
to our situation today. Hashem gave us the miraculous gift of being able to
return to our homeland and create a society after two millennia of persecution
and dispersion among the nations of the world. At this extraordinary period in
history, American Jewry is choosing to not identify with the Jewish people; it
is choosing spiritual oblivion.
Throughout America, and indeed, throughout the
entire Western World—be it Johannesburg, London, Melbourne or Los Angles—in
practically every major city where Jews live, a spiritual holocaust is taking
place. We are traumatized by the six million lives lost in the Holocaust, but
we are losing more Jews today through indifference and inertia.
Aside from wringing our hands in despair, what
can we do?
We must model ethical and moral living.
We can have a profound and lasting influence on our nonreligious brothers and sisters simply by living lives of integrity, decency and honesty—by living genuine Torah lives. We represent the Torah to nonreligious Jews and to the world. As such, the Torah must inform all of the seemingly trivial interactions we have throughout the day. It must guide us in how we conduct our business affairs, how we deal with clients and business associates, how we treat employees and how we pay our creditors.
We can have a profound and lasting influence on our nonreligious brothers and sisters simply by living lives of integrity, decency and honesty—by living genuine Torah lives. We represent the Torah to nonreligious Jews and to the world. As such, the Torah must inform all of the seemingly trivial interactions we have throughout the day. It must guide us in how we conduct our business affairs, how we deal with clients and business associates, how we treat employees and how we pay our creditors.
You may recall Aaron Feuerstein, the CEO of
Malden Mills, a textile company in Massachusetts. (His brother Moses was
president of the Orthodox Union from 1954 to 1966.) A devastating fire
destroyed his factory in 1995, and instead of moving production overseas or
taking the insurance money and retiring, Feuerstein insisted on paying his
employees while his factory was being rebuilt. The story made national news,
and he, an Orthodox Jew, became a symbol of moral leadership. Who knows how
many unaffiliated Jews were inspired by his ethical example to rethink their
Jewish roots and discover their Torah heritage?
The rate of intermarriage among American Jews is 58%. Excluding the Orthodox,
the number is even higher, with up to 71% of Jews marrying out of the
faith. In other words, seven out of every ten non-Orthodox Jews intermarry.
*Based on current, intact marriages.
Unless indicated otherwise, all charts and tables courtesy of the Pew Research Center, “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” October 2013, www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture-survey/.
*Based on current, intact marriages.
Unless indicated otherwise, all charts and tables courtesy of the Pew Research Center, “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” October 2013, www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture-survey/.
Become an ambassador for Orthodoxy.
We cannot afford to relegate kiruv to the professionals. Each and every one of us must get involved. Of course, we must be cognizant of the fact that we will not reach our spiritually estranged brothers and sisters by being condescending or preachy. Our job is to engage and stimulate. We need to open up new vistas; expose nonreligious Jews to the power and depth of Torah. The Torah, it is often noted, sells itself.
We cannot afford to relegate kiruv to the professionals. Each and every one of us must get involved. Of course, we must be cognizant of the fact that we will not reach our spiritually estranged brothers and sisters by being condescending or preachy. Our job is to engage and stimulate. We need to open up new vistas; expose nonreligious Jews to the power and depth of Torah. The Torah, it is often noted, sells itself.
Invite your unaffiliated neighbor to share a
meal in your sukkah. Bring your nonreligious coworker to your home for Chanukah
candle lighting. Give mishloach manot to people who wouldn’t receive
them otherwise. (You would be surprised at how great an impression a small
bottle of grape juice and a few hamantaschen can make!)
There is no impact on an unaffiliated Jew like
experiencing a Friday night dinner with an observant family, where he can be a
part of the singing, stimulating discussions, four-course meal and warm
camaraderie.
We should all take an example from Hart
Levine. Some years ago, Hart was an undergraduate student at the University of
Pennsylvania majoring in bioengineering. An Orthodox student, Hart was grateful
for the relatively strong Orthodox campus life. But then he noticed something:
there were hundreds of Jewish students on campus who were totally uninvolved in
Jewish life, who barely knew there was a Hillel on campus. Hart began inviting
his fellow Jewish students to join him for Shabbat dinner. He was amazed by the
enthusiastic response—some students stayed for hours, refusing to leave. The
experience was so different from anything they had ever experienced. They
wanted more.
Soon Hart began hosting Sedarim and Shabbatonim.
He contacted friends on other campuses and they too began inviting friends to
Shabbat dinners, to Chanukah candle lighting ceremonies, to Megillah readings.
A grassroots movement was launched—known as Heart2Heart—whose success was based
on the most simple ideas: warm peer relationships and intimate Jewish
experiences. Heart2Heart, which is today sponsored by the OU, is found on
fifty-four campuses throughout the world. We must all become Hart Levines.
One of most impressive findings of the Pew report is that 70 percent of the
Orthodox population were raised Orthodox. That means that 30
percent, or three out of every ten Orthodox Jews, did not grow up Orthodox
but became Orthodox somewhere along the way. Illustration: Shai Carmel
Share the spiritual wealth.
Direct your unaffiliated coworker to a dynamic Jewish web site or a thoughtful article on a Jewish topic. Instead of sending flowers or chocolate for a birthday or other occasion, send a book that would pique his interest about Judaism, such as Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sack’s A Letter in the Scroll or Dennis Prager’s Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism.
Direct your unaffiliated coworker to a dynamic Jewish web site or a thoughtful article on a Jewish topic. Instead of sending flowers or chocolate for a birthday or other occasion, send a book that would pique his interest about Judaism, such as Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sack’s A Letter in the Scroll or Dennis Prager’s Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism.
Our shuls should become “big tent” shuls.
I’ve mentioned this idea previously in these pages, but it bears repeating: The synagogue is not simply a place to pray; it is a place to reach out to the broader community. If we are to make inroads in the war against assimilation, shuls can and must become true kehillot, warm and welcoming to all Jews. Each of our shuls should strive to become more inviting, more relevant and more inclusive.
I’ve mentioned this idea previously in these pages, but it bears repeating: The synagogue is not simply a place to pray; it is a place to reach out to the broader community. If we are to make inroads in the war against assimilation, shuls can and must become true kehillot, warm and welcoming to all Jews. Each of our shuls should strive to become more inviting, more relevant and more inclusive.
Shuls must also begin to think “outside of the
shul walls.” For many unaffiliated Jews, a synagogue is way too intimidating.
Hebrew is as familiar to them as Cantonese. So while they would not enter an
Orthodox shul, they might attend events held in a neutral, nonthreatening venue
such as a Torah class at a Starbucks or law office or a “Lunch and Learn” at a
restaurant. We must provide portals of entry, and engage Jews both inside and
outside of the synagogue. Our rabbis need to see themselves as rabbis of the
community—not just rabbis of those who pay dues—and congregants need to
understand the role a rabbi plays to all Jews and not just to members of the
“club.”
Encourage young people to attend Jewish camps,
to go on Birthright.
It is well known that attending a Jewish camp can help solidify one’s Jewish identity in a powerful way. Encourage your nonreligious friends and coworkers to send their children to a Jewish camp or summer program. Such an intense Jewish experience can literally be life changing. NCSY, for example, runs a plethora of camping and summer experiences that are designed for unaffiliated kids and instills in them a deep and abiding appreciation for Judaism.
It is well known that attending a Jewish camp can help solidify one’s Jewish identity in a powerful way. Encourage your nonreligious friends and coworkers to send their children to a Jewish camp or summer program. Such an intense Jewish experience can literally be life changing. NCSY, for example, runs a plethora of camping and summer experiences that are designed for unaffiliated kids and instills in them a deep and abiding appreciation for Judaism.
Similarly, a trip to Israel can have an
incredible impact on a young person. At the OU, we run Israel Free Spirit, the
fourth-largest Birthright trip organizer in North America. We have seen
firsthand how Birthright can help strengthen Jewish identity and bring Jewish
young adults closer to their Jewish roots. This year, we will be bringing some
1,200 young people to Israel on Israel Free Spirit. For many of these
participants, this trip will be the first time they will experience a Shabbat,
the first time they will enter a synagogue.
Become a partner with the OU. Each year we
spend millions of dollars in an attempt to bring Jewish teens and young adults
closer to Torah. Through our vast network of Jewish culture clubs found in more
than 200 public schools, our array of meaningful camp and summer experiences,
our NCSY regions reaching 20,000 Jewish kids each year, our Birthright trips
and so much more, we are investing in the Jewish future.
After the Pew report came out, I had the
opportunity to bring our senior staff to meet with Professor Steve Cohen, the
preeminent American Jewish sociologist, who served as a senior consultant to
the Pew report. (Dr. Cohen partnered with the OU and RCA in giving a webinar to
our rabbis.) His message to us: American Jewry needs the totality—not just
rabbis and kiruv professionals—of the Orthodox community to reach out
and engage the unaffiliated in a very serious way.
Unfortunately, we will most likely not be able
to stop all 71 percent of non-Orthodox American Jews from intermarrying and
ultimately from leaving the Jewish people. But maybe we can stop 5 or even 10
percent, possibly more. If we begin to fully appreciate the enormity of the
task ahead and the immense responsibility that we, as Orthodox Jews, have
toward our Jewish brothers and sisters, we can try to
Rabbi Steven Weil is senior managing director
of the OU.
Jonah’s Sukkah By Erica brown
In one of our most theatrical Biblical texts,
a prophet gets swallowed by a large fish and then spit out when he recommits
himself to his Divine mission.
But the Book of Jonah does not stop there.
Jonah goes only one day into a city the expanse of a three-days’ journey, touts
a five-word prophecy in Hebrew and an entire wanton city reforms—from the
sack-cloth-wearing animals to the king of Nineveh. It must have been a
spectacular sight and surely goes down as a “world record” achievement for the
most successful prophecy in history.
Think of Jonah and imagine—for a moment—that
he held in his hand the recent Pew report on the American Jewish community. The
report has its own predictive and prophetic quality, distilling from the past
and projecting a picture of a mostly grim future through offering us the likely
trajectory if Jewish life continues to move in a particular direction. Findings
on the Orthodox community were called into question because of the very small
sample that was polled. On the one hand, we can celebrate the 83 percent
Orthodox retention rate in the eighteen- to twenty-nine-year-old category that
Pew attributed to us, until we look at the darker side of that statistic—nearly
20 percent of Orthodox young adults are dropping out. Jonah would be upset.
When we travel back in time—to the last
chapter of the book—Jonah was not happy with Nineveh’s transformation and
complained to God, citing Moses’s language in Exodus describing God’s
attributes. God was indeed compassionate and merciful, but Jonah left out the
word “truth” from his formula of Divine descriptors. The truth, Jonah believed,
was that Nineveh’s repentance was only superficial, the veneer of change
without authentic commitment. Jonah would rather die than live in a world where
God’s truth was absent. God called him on it: “What right do you have to be
angry?” You cannot feel indignant when someone else changes, particularly when
you benefited from the grace of second chances.
Few Orthodox people even bothered to read the
Pew report.
When the future looks bleak because of the way
we imagine it, it is easy to drown ourselves in pessimism and retreat. We try
to save ourselves when saving everyone else looks like too big a task. This is
exactly what Jonah did. “Jonah went out east of the city and sat down. He made
a shelter for himself and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to
Nineveh. Then the Lord God made a plant grow over Jonah to give him some shade,
so that he would be more comfortable. Jonah was extremely pleased with the
plant . . . .” Jonah left Nineveh without having traversed the entire city. In
his despondence he built a sukkah—a personal booth to seal himself off from his
assignment and enjoy his own material comfort. Perhaps Jonah could still see
Nineveh from his perch, or maybe the walls of his sukkah were too opaque.
In his sukkah east of Nineveh, Jonah reviewed
the Pew report. Intermarriage is trending. Jewish education is having less
impact and on fewer Jews. Organizational nonprofit life is less appealing.
Synagogue membership is decreasing. Responses to the findings are coming out
regularly with a “woe is to us” hand-wringing and a “what should we do?”
knee-jerk rush to fix our problems. Jonah finished the report, furrowed his
brows in consternation and, with an “I told you so” smirk, strengthened the walls
of his temporary hut.
The Orthodox response to the Pew findings
should not be directed to the relatively small slice of the report that deals
with the Orthodox community, especially because the sample size was perhaps too
insignificant to constitute accurate and compelling findings. Instead, we in
the Orthodox community need to read the entire report and come out of our
sukkah.
We need to learn more about the American
Jewish community at large and ask what we can do to strengthen in-marriage,
community building and Jewish education for those who do not share our
denominational commitment—precisely because we are the best equipped to do so.
We have richer and better Jewish education than the overwhelming majority of
American Jews. We have tight-knit synagogues that take prayer, Israel and
Jewish identity seriously. We shine at building communities based on chesed
and responsibility. We invest in Jewish education on every level. Virtually
every aspect of neglect and loss that, not surprisingly, surfaced in the Pew
report has not impacted the Orthodox community.
The only thing stopping us is the thickness
and opacity of the walls put up between ourselves and the larger American
Jewish community. We tend to see ourselves as the inheritors of European Jewish
life rather than descendants of a textured American Jewish history. The subject
is rarely taught in our day schools. Few Orthodox people even bothered to read
the Pew report. Many who did concluded that it was someone else’s problem as
opposed to our shared and collective responsibility. We have become so
fragmented that the identity hemorrhaging that is currently taking place is
regarded as an “I told you so” phenomenon rather than a remarkable opportunity
for change and a religious challenge.
Returning to the statistic about Orthodox
drop-out rates, perhaps if the Modern Orthodox community engaged in more kiruv
to the larger Jewish world that desperately needs what we have in
abundance, our own kids would stay within the fold. In the words of one
Chassidic rebbe, outreach is like throwing a ball. Sometimes someone
else catches your ideas; sometimes they hit a wall. But when they hit a wall,
they also bounce back, and you catch them yourself.
At the age of eighteen, Mormon kids devote
themselves to two-year missions to engage others. This may or may not work as
an outreach tool, but it has a more profound consequence—it strengthens the
spiritual life of its ambassadors at a critical time of personal and religious
development and decision-making.
Jonah is the only Biblical book to end with a
question. It is a question that perhaps God is still asking us. How long will
we sit in a sukkah, closed off from others who need us, thinking about our own
institutions and their viability and affordability and close our eyes to the
larger Jewish world that can benefit from what we have? We can only truly
reverse the gloom and doom if we are willing to share our immense blessings and
if we regard outreach as an urgent and sacred responsibility.
Dr. Erica Brown is the scholar-in-residence at
the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Her most recent book is Happier
Endings: A Meditation on Life and Death (New York, 2013).
The Pew Report: A Wake-up Call By Efrem
Goldberg
This past October, two messages vitally
important to the Jewish community were delivered in the same week. At the
United Nations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an impassioned
speech and addressed what he described as nothing short of an existential
threat to the State of Israel—Iran. Elsewhere, the Pew Research Center reported
the results of a survey of American Jews, revealing nothing short of an
existential threat facing American Jewry—assimilation. While the solution to
the threat posed by a nuclear Iran is neither simple nor easy, it is
attainable—preferably through diplomacy or, if not, through military action.
However, one can neither negotiate with, nor
drop a bomb on, the devastating statistics and distressing portrait painted by
the Pew report. More creative, coordinated and systemic solutions will be
needed if we are going to reverse the clear trends that are emerging regarding
the state of American Jewry and our future.
Alarmingly, the survey found that among the
non-Orthodox, the intermarriage rate is currently at 71 percent. More than one
in five American Jews describe themselves as having no religion, 22 percent of
American Jews say they never attend religious services and 62 percent report
that being Jewish is primarily a matter of ancestry and culture. More than a
third of American Jews responded that believing in Jesus as Messiah is
compatible with Judaism. Forty-two percent said that they believe having a good
sense of humor is part of what it means to be Jewish; 19 percent said observing
Jewish law is an essential part of being Jewish.
Much of the analysis and many of the articles
about the survey have addressed the revelations regarding the different Jewish
denominations. The survey found that “One third (35%) of all U.S. Jews identify
with the Reform movement, while 18% identify with Conservative Judaism, 10%
with Orthodox Judaism and 6% with a variety of smaller groups, such as the
Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal movements. About three in ten American
Jews. . . say they do not identify with any particular Jewish denomination.”
The survey points to the struggles of the
liberal movements that are hemorrhaging members—and perhaps relevance—rapidly.
It is easy for the Orthodox community to read the survey and react with a sense
of triumphalism, but that would be a horrible mistake, for several reasons.
First, it is abundantly clear that the
struggle of the other streams of Judaism is not a result of a migration to
Orthodoxy. The reality is quite the opposite—those who have left those
denominations are leaving Judaism altogether.
I cannot articulate it better than Rav Aharon
Lichtenstein, rosh yeshivah of Yeshivat Har Etzion, who wrote in the 1982
spring edition of Tradition:
Nor do I share the glee some feel over the
prospective demise of the competition. Surely, we have many sharp differences
with Conservative and Reform movements, and these should not be sloughed or
blurred. However, we also share many values with them—and this, too, should not
be obscured. Their disappearance might strengthen us in some respects, but
would unquestionably weaken us in others. And of course, if we transcend our
own interests and think of the people currently served by these movements—many
of them, both presently and potentially, well beyond our reach or ken—how would
they, or Klal Yisrael as a whole, be affected by such a change? Can anyone
responsibly state that it is better for a marginal Jew in Dallas or in Dubuque
to lose his religious identity altogether, rather than drive to his temple?
Secondly, if the undeniable trend of American
Jewry is a shift toward secularism and assimilation, the burden on the
traditional community to preserve, sustain and promote authentic Judaism is
perhaps greater than ever. We cannot afford to feel triumphant or content when
we have a sacred mission and a holy mandate to fulfill.
Rates of intermarriage vary considerably among the major US Jewish
denominations. Virtually all Orthodox respondents who are married have a Jewish
spouse (98%) and most married Conservative Jews have Jewish spouses (73%). Half
of Reform Jews who are married have a Jewish spouse. Among married Jews who are
not affiliated with any denomination, 31% have a Jewish spouse. *Figures may
not sum to 1oo% due to rounding.
Lastly, and most importantly, if you read the
survey, you will see that it provides much for the Orthodox community to
reflect upon. It found that many who were raised Orthodox no longer affiliate
with Orthodoxy. Frankly, we didn’t need the survey to notice that Orthodox
communities are struggling mightily to raise inspired Jewish teens and young people.
Many Orthodox youth, including those currently enrolled in Orthodox schools,
unabashedly admit to eating out nonkosher, texting on Shabbos, not putting on
tefillin and to a general disaffection with the observant lifestyle and its
rigorous demands. Their attitude is, “if doing these things doesn’t ‘do
anything’ for me—and they don’t—why should I observe them?” We must articulate
a compelling answer to that question and many of their other questions if we
are going to inspire our young people to proudly carry the torch of Orthodox
Judaism forward.
If nothing else, this survey indicates that
the Jewish American landscape is changing rapidly—and not for the better.
America has been a better host country to the Jewish people than any other
country in our history. The freedom it provides and the rights it grants us
make this the most blessed land in which a Jew can live, outside of Israel. But
clearly freedom, liberty and autonomy come with great costs, such as the
seductive urge and invitation to assimilate into the greater culture and
lifestyle around us.
Avraham Avinu, the founder of ethical
monotheism and the father of our people, when purchasing a grave for his wife,
described himself as “ger v’toshav anochi imachem, I am a stranger and a
resident together with you.”
Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l,
explains that in this introduction Avraham captured the tension that every Jew
is destined to live with forever. On the one hand, we are toshavim,
residents and inhabitants of the great countries in which we live. We function
as active citizens, participating in the fullness of the society around us. And
yet, at the same time, we must remain geirim, strangers: different,
apart, distinct and dissimilar. Ger v’toshav—we are to simultaneously be
part of, and apart from, the general world around us. Striking the proper
balance and equilibrium between our dual identities and roles is the mission of
the Jew at every time and in every place that he or she has ever lived.
There have been periods in our history in which
we didn’t need to work hard to remember that we are different. Through
anti-Semitism, persecution and oppression, our hosts have often reminded us
that we are geirim, we are not the same. As much as we tried to blend in
and assimilate, we were denied the opportunity to be toshavim, equal
residents and citizens. Indeed, the imbalance which tilted toward being geirim,
toward being different, was our default status for the bulk of our history,
particularly in exile.
And yet, at this moment in history, while we
are blessed to live in this great country, a truly exceptional place that has
afforded us extraordinary opportunity, once again our balance is off, our
equilibrium between ger v’toshav, stranger and resident, is out of
alignment—this time in the opposite direction.
We cannot focus all of our efforts on
outreach, inviting Jews in through the front door, while our own children are
sneaking out the back.
The Pew report is a sobering wake-up call, a
harsh and stark reminder that if we succumb to the allure of finally being toshavim,
finally being fully accepted and integrated residents, we stand to lose our
identity as geirim, as Jews, and we will find ourselves fully
assimilated, believing that having a good sense of humor is a meaningful part
of being Jewish.
The truth is that the trend toward secularism
and universalism is not uniquely Jewish. While elsewhere in the world sectarian
groups are at war to protect what makes them different and distinct, the
movement in America seems to blur and erase boundaries and differences
altogether. The implicit message communicated in popular culture and often
articulately taught on college campuses across the country is that we are all
the same. The force of universalism is pervasive in this country, and the
results of the Pew report make it clear that it has penetrated into all
segments of the Jewish community, including the Orthodox.
Exploring the topics of Jewish exceptionalism,
what it means to be a Jew and why being a ger, being different, matters, is
clearly a necessary component of the solution to this existential threat.
Should we, like Noach, retreat to insular arks and protect ourselves and our
families? Should we create isolationist communities shielded from the foreign
influences of the secular world? Or perhaps we should spread our wings further
and deeper into the general American culture and try to bring our ancient and
timely wisdom to the world around us?
The Pew report yields two clear conclusions
and mandates for our Orthodox community. First, we must focus our energies and
resources on outreach, recognizing that it is up to us to plug the dam that has
turned from a slow leak into a full-fledged flood of intermarriage and
assimilation. Kiruv must not be the domain of rabbis and outreach
professionals alone. If we are to move the needle on these statistics, we will
need to make outreach a communal imperative and mandate incumbent on every
Orthodox individual and family.
The great economist Milton Friedman taught
that if you want to know the values and ideals of a company or organization,
don’t listen to what they preach but examine their budget and see how they
allocate their funds. Will the call for “someone” to do kiruv remain lip
service alone, or are our shuls prepared to put a line item for outreach in
their budgets, with specific and adequate allocations for staff, programs and
follow up? Will outreach be relegated to ancillary organizations and
individuals, or are we willing to change the culture in mainstream Orthodox
shuls to be more welcoming, warm and open to the uninitiated? Would a stranger
who wanders into our shuls be greeted warmly, find a yarmulke easily and have
the page numbers announced or displayed regularly? Or will he feel lost,
unwelcome and too intimidated to stay or return in the future?
Roughly seven-in-ten US Jews (73%) say that remembering the Holocaust is an
essential part of what being Jewish means to them. Nearly as many say leading
an ethical life is essential to what it means to be Jewish (69%).
Eight-in-ten Orthodox Jews (79%) say observing Jewish law is essential to what being Jewish means to them. This view is shared by just 24% of Conservative Jews, 11% of Reform Jews and 8% of Jews with no denominational affiliation.
Eight-in-ten Orthodox Jews (79%) say observing Jewish law is essential to what being Jewish means to them. This view is shared by just 24% of Conservative Jews, 11% of Reform Jews and 8% of Jews with no denominational affiliation.
At the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS) in Florida,
we are incredibly proud to have a dedicated outreach rabbi as part of our
rabbinic leadership team. Rabbi Joshua Broide brings limitless energy and
passion to working with the unaffiliated, but he relies on our members to make
introductions and referrals. Through sermons, classes, our literature, our web
site and our budget, our members understand that reaching out to the 120,000
Jews in the Boca Raton area is a core value and responsibility for our BRS
community. They are constantly reminded that to make a dent in the 92 percent
assimilation rate in our area, they will need to get involved in reaching out
to a coworker, neighbor or friend and invite them to a beginner’s program or
class or, most meaningfully, to their homes.
Twice a year BRS runs S.O.S.—Share One
Shabbos—asking all of our members to invite someone who has never experienced
an authentic Shabbos meal into their homes, the most authentic and effective
venue for inspiring an inexperienced Jew. If they can’t think of someone to
invite, we are happy to provide them with guests. Hundreds of families have
participated and the results have been outstanding. Through personal follow up,
some have become observant and moved into our neighborhood. Many have taken
further classes or started attending Rabbi Broide’s Friday Night Live program.
Most, at least, had a positive experience with encountering Orthodoxy up close
and tasting what Shabbos is all about.
Many mistakenly assume that rabbis, rebbetzins
and educators are best positioned to succeed at outreach. While we may have
more technical knowledge and be more comfortable in the role of teacher, we
cannot compare with the power of a genuine and sincere relationship between an
“ordinary” Orthodox Jew and someone Jewishly inexperienced. Don’t be hesitant
or afraid. The Orthodox community could easily touch the lives of tens of
thousands of secular Jews every year if we simply make it a priority and
recruit all of our members to get involved.
The second mandate that emerges from the Pew
report is the need to focus our efforts on retention by revisiting how we
interact with, educate and inspire our youth. We cannot focus all of our
efforts on outreach, inviting Jews in through the front door, while our own
children are sneaking out the back. The observance of and compliance with an
Orthodox lifestyle that we took for granted with our children in the past are
no longer a given, and we need to think creatively of ways to model and inspire
passion within those who represent our future.
Let us pray that with our renewed efforts
coupled with siyata d’Shmaya, Divine assistance, a Pew survey a decade
from now will report a thriving, flourishing Jewish people steeped in Jewish
values and Torah.
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is the senior rabbi of
the Boca Raton Synagogue, an OU shul in Boca Raton, Florida.
The Pew Report: It Really Matters By Jacob
J. Schacter
Many words have been spoken and much ink has
been spilled about the Pew report. This report—both in general and with regard
to many of its specific points—has been dissected, discussed, debated,
examined, analyzed and questioned. And, from my perspective, two points are
clear.
One, it matters. It is not about yenem,
someone else. It is about us, our people. The Orthodox community needs to pay
close attention to the findings. The Orthodox community in the United States
needs to pay more attention—serious attention—to what this report presents
about American Jewry, our Jewry.
Second, I see this report as an indictment of
Orthodoxy. Yes, our intermarriage rates are very low (2 percent); the median
age of those who identify as Orthodox is the lowest (40, compared to the median
age in the net Jewish population, 50); our fertility rates are the highest
(4.1, more than double the overall Jewish average of 1.9); our retention rate
in the 18- to 64-year-old categories is the highest, and there are other signs
of our significant success. However, it graphically highlights just how much we
have failed to meaningfully engage and impact the broad spectrum of acheinu
Bnei Yisrael in this country.
But first, as always, a Torah thought.
All aspects of the mishkan are described
in great detail in the second half of Sefer Shemot—not only once, but twice.
The text focuses on the structure of the mishkan, its vessels and the
garments worn by the priests who ministered within it. The Torah describes, in
great detail, the curtains, the beams and the pillars, the ark, the altars, the
menorah and more. But there is one very small segment of the mishkan’s
structure, often ignored and overlooked, that is highlighted by an interesting
Midrashic passage on a verse at the beginning of Parashat Pekudei.
The midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Pekudei
#415) relates that after the work of the mishkan was completed, Moshe
invited the Jewish people to make an accounting. “Thousands of shekels were
collected and thousands of shekels were spent,” he said. “Let us make sure that
all the money was allocated appropriately and that both sides of the ledger
match with one another.” All the Jews gathered around, continues the midrash,
Moshe commenced the audit and, lo and behold, when he was finished, he was
1,775 shekels short. The money was raised but he could not account for how it
had been spent. He began to panic and was afraid that his honesty would be
suspect and that his integrity would be impugned. He even expressed the fear
that the Jews would accuse him of embezzling the funds! Once again Moshe
feverishly scanned the entire structure of the mishkan, searching for
something he might have missed. Finally, God “enlightened” him and drew his
attention to the tiny little hooks that held the mishkan’s pillars together,
the “vavin la’amudim.” Here he found the objects for which he had spent
that money (Shemot 38:28). At that moment, concludes the midrash, the
Jewish people were appeased and the potential problem was averted.
Why is the midrash drawing our
attention to these tiny hooks or links or hinges? It would appear that it is
trying to highlight the hooks or the links or the hinges, sometimes tiny and
sometimes easily overlooked, that connect either pillars to one another or, I
would suggest, Jews to one another. In Hebrew, the letter “vav” means
“and,” linking two objects or people together. The Midrash, I believe, teaches
us the power of the vav, the connections. It is never about us as
individuals; it is always about “us and,” in ever-larger concentric circles—us
and our families, us and our communities, us and the Jewish people, us and the
larger world in which we live and us and the Ribbono shel Olam.
The average number of children born to Orthodox Jews (4.1) is about twice
the overall Jewish average (1.9).
The Rema in Yoreh Deah (273:6) notes
that there is a hiddur for every column (amud) of a sefer
Torah to begin with the letter vav, and he refers to this by a name
with which we are now familiar, vavin la’amudim. Every new column of our
lives, every pillar of our existence, needs to be animated by the lesson of the
letter vav.
Furthermore, the Torah tells us that after
Cain killed Abel, “And God appointed a sign (ot) for Cain” (Bereishit 4:15),
colloquially referred to as “the mark of Cain.” What, exactly, was the mark of
Cain? The Midrash informs us that it was not simply a random mark but it was,
literally, an ot, a letter, and it refers to the Hebrew letter “vav.”
Why this letter, of all possibilities? The late Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the
Lubliner Rav, one of the greatest scholars and communal leaders of the
twentieth century, explained that Cain, the person who was only concerned about
himself and who could have the temerity to say to God, “Am I my brother’s
keeper?” (Bereishit 4:9) had to be taught for the rest of his life the lesson
of the letter “vav.” Emblazoned on his forehead for all eternity is a
reminder that it is him and. His concerns had to transcend only himself; he
needed to see himself as linked to others. Indeed, he was his brother’s keeper.
And, finally, on what day was Adam created? He
was created on “yom vav,” not to be understood only as “the sixth day”
but, perhaps more profoundly, as “and day.” Already at the dawn of creation,
the first human being ever created was taught that as the universe will unfold
with him at its center, it will never be about him alone; it will always be
about him and. Indeed, in a real sense, all of us Jews must consider ourselves
as bound by the lesson of the letter “vav,” each one of us standing not
alone but committed to “me and,” not only to ourselves but also to those who
exist beyond and separate from us.
The growing insularity of American Orthodoxy
is a tragedy because we carry on as if we are all who matter.
Those wonderful hooks or connectors that held
together the structure of the mishkan represent the connectors that need
to hold together all Jews. What happens to Jews across America matters to us
because we are connected to them. We are one people. The growing insularity of
American Orthodoxy is a tragedy because we carry on as if we are all who
matter. I was deeply upset and saddened to hear that one of the prominent
members of our community stated publicly on various occasions that the Pew
report is not all that alarming because committed Jews were, historically,
always a minority and that this report simply describes the most current
iteration of that phenomenon. While this may be historically true, it dare not
absolve us of the responsibility to do what we can to raise the level of
engagement of other Jews with Judaism, one by one by one. This effort needs to
be included in the list of the current priorities of the contemporary Orthodox
community.
The picture painted in this report is not a
pretty one. One-in-five American Jews describe themselves as having “no
religion”; among Jews who were married since 2000, nearly 60 percent are
intermarried; only 31 percent of American Jews are members of a synagogue—any
synagogue!; only 26 percent of American Jews say that religion is very
important in their lives (compared with 50 percent of Americans in general) and
there is more. And all this happened as Orthodoxy was, thank God, growing in numbers
and intensity. The good news is that many of our synagogues are filled with shomrei
Shabbat Jews, and the bad news is that many of our synagogues are filled
with shomrei Shabbat Jews. Where are the non-shomrei Shabbat Jews
going on Shabbat morning? What are we doing to make them feel comfortable in
our shuls? Yes, our batei midrash boast shelves full of the latest Machon
Yerushalayim Minchat Chinuch, Mosad HaRav Kook’s Torat Chaim
Chumash, Mishnah Berurah Menukad, Tur veShulchan Aruch HaBahir, the Metivta
U’Velechtecha BaDerech Talmud Bavli HaMevo’ar (Mahadurat Zichron Moshe)
and the Talman Shas. And this, indeed, is wonderful (if they are being
used). But where is the “yarmulke box” or the “doily box” in our lobbies? We
simply have failed to demonstrate the beauty, meaning and warmth of Judaism not
only to one in six of our children in the 18 to 29 age category who are not
religious (one of the findings of this survey), but to millions and millions of
Jews across the country. The reason is not because our “product” is faulty; it
is because we have not made this a priority. Shame on us that this disaster is
taking place under our own noses. We, partially, need to bear some of the
responsibility.
Orthodox Jews (median age of 40) are substantially younger than
Conservative Jews (55) and Reform Jews (54).
I have a number of practical suggestions we
should be considering, each one worthy of significant attention. We should be
placing more JLIC couples on campuses (the Orthodox Union, in partnership with
Hillel, administers the Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on
Campus [JLIC], a program that helps Orthodox students navigate the college
environment), and we should be establishing (once again) afternoon Hebrew
schools in our shuls for those children in our broader communities who are not
attending a day school. And here’s a simple suggestion that wouldn’t cost much:
The OU should spearhead an effort to arrange for all of its constituent
synagogues (100 percent participation) to urge all their members (100 percent
participation) to devote one Friday night in the next six months to invite
nonaffiliated family members, neighbors, business associates or others to their
homes for a Friday night Shabbat seudah. Educators should be
commissioned to prepare a simple “how-to guide” to Friday night in the home
with talking points on how to present Kiddush and lechem mishneh, how to
explain the meaning of various zemirot, why bentching consists of
multiple paragraphs and themes and more. And, I venture to add, no one will be
surprised when it will soon become clear that our families themselves will
benefit so much from this more mindful Shabbat experience.
With the lesson of the vav, and with
the letter vav at the top of the amud of our communal priorities,
we will have a chance to change the face—even if only slightly— of the American
Jewish community—our community. The need is urgent. The time is now.
Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter is university
professor of Jewish history and Jewish thought and senior scholar at the Center
for the Jewish Future, Yeshiva University. He is a contributing editor to Jewish
Action.
Safeguarding Our Vertical Mesorah in an
Increasingly Horizontal World By Daphna Raskas
The unbroken historical chain from Sinai to
the present day is described in the beginning of Pirkei Avot: “Moshe
received the Torah and handed it down to Joshua; Joshua to the Elders; the
Elders to the Prophets; and the Prophets handed it down to the Men of the Great
Assembly.” Similarly, Maimonides, in his introduction to the Mishneh Torah,
provides a generation by generation account of the names of all those in the
direct line who transmitted this tradition beginning with Moshe Rabbeinu up
until Ravina and Rav Ashi, the rabbis who compiled the Babylonian Talmud.
Clearly, the mesorah, the transmission of the religious tradition, has
been passed down vertically from generation to generation within the Jewish
people. The mesorah assumes this method of vertical transference of the
Torah from parent to child, within families and across generations since the
time of Moshe.
And yet, as Orthodox Jews in the Information
Age, we live in an increasingly horizontally connected world that threatens to
disrupt the vertical transference of Torah and the centrality of Torah in our
lives. How do we ensure the vertical transference of the mesorah in a
world in which our kids are so connected to the outside world 24/6? Witness
what occurs the moment Shabbat is over in most Orthodox households. How many
members, from the very youngest to the oldest, are checking e-mail or otherwise
engaged online?
The Zionist philosopher Ahad Ha’am once
famously observed that “More than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat
has kept the Jews.”
Not so long ago, parents could contain the
external influences in their children’s lives by deciding which schools and
camps they attended, which television shows and movies (if any) they were
exposed to and by giving them a curfew. The only way kids could engage with the
outside world when at home was by means of a telephone that was attached to a
wall. Today our children have unlimited and constant interactive exposure to
the outside world in the palms of their hands, with their iPhones and iPods.
They do not need to leave home to engage with the outside world. True, we can
put parental controls and limit the use of the Internet, but there is no
mistaking the fact that they and their friends are exposed to the outside world
in a multitude of ways that is virtually beyond our control once we allow
computers into our homes. The centrality of the home is competing for attention
with the outside world in ways that we have never encountered before. All of
this has implications for the vertical transmission of the mesorah. In a
world where everyone is so busily connected horizontally with the external
world, how can we ensure that the vertical transmission of the mesorah
continues uninterrupted and with the same steadfastness as it has for thousands
of years? Vertical transmission depends on the idea that one is willing to be a
follower of something or someone. For thousands of years, the Jews have kept
the mesorah, observing halachah by accepting and following the chain of
command which began with Moshe and the God-given Torah.
Today, increasingly, people have moved away
from vertical chains of command in business, sociology, as well as in their
avoidance of religion. Management experts now speak of horizontal leadership
based on trust, a move away from top-down vertical leadership based on command
and control. Sociologists speak of an increase in horizontal identity formation
with peer groups based on common interests and how these connections compete
with vertically formed identities. Americans as a whole are increasingly
avoiding religious affiliations. Part of this appears to stem from a move away
from accepting the vertical transference that characterizes religion. Americans
no longer simply accept the beliefs or causes of their parents and ancestors.
Instead, they appear to be increasingly invested in peer groups with whom they
share other interests.
The Pew report indicates that one in five
individuals who identify as Jews describe themselves as having no religion.
This is about 1.2 million Americans and it represents 0.5 percent of US adults.
Moreover, 62 percent of American Jews say being Jewish is mainly a matter of
ancestry and culture and not religion. Clearly, for the majority of American Jews,
the mesorah, the vertical transference of Jewish religious tradition,
holds little value. Only 19 percent of Jewish adults surveyed said that
observing Jewish law is essential to what being Jewish means to them.
While the “good news” for the Orthodox community
is that the falloff from Orthodoxy appears to be declining and is now only 17
percent among 18 to 29-year-olds, this means that we are still losing almost 1
in 6 individuals in this age group who came from homes where the transference
of the mesorah was presumably a high priority.
So how do we ensure the continued vertical
transference of the mesorah while living in our modern horizontally
oriented world? The way we always have—by placing a strong emphasis on Shabbat
observance and continuing our strong tradition of Torah learning. The Zionist
philosopher Ahad Ha’am once famously observed that “More than the Jews have
kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” Never has the expression
seemed more accurate than in the Information Age. Shabbat forces us to
disconnect from the Internet and the outside world and provides us a
twenty-five-hour respite in which to reconnect weekly, uninterrupted, with one
another, with our community, with our mesorah and with our Maker.
Traditional Torah learning—either shiurim or
chavruta learning—strengthens our communal connections as well. Our
religious learning can and should be enhanced by the worldwide web during the
week and yet still remain in its original form, steeped in text. Nicholas Carr,
in his book The Shallows, asserts that printed books focus our attention and
promote deep and creative thought while the Internet encourages rapid,
distracted sampling of many small bits of information. We have become more
adept at scanning and skimming, but, according to Carr, we are losing our
capacity for concentration and reflection. Traditional Torah learning on
Shabbat and during the week not only helps us preserve cognitive skills, it
helps us preserve the vertical transmission of the mesorah in the manner
of our fathers.
If we continue to emphasize the importance of
observing Shabbat and studying Jewish texts, we will hopefully maintain the
transference of the mesorah even in these times. If we wish to go one
step further and strengthen the transference of the mesorah so that the
next Pew survey yields more encouraging results regarding the future of
American Jewry, we need to prioritize extending ourselves outside of the
American Orthodox community to warmly encourage other Jews to join us in these
fundamental mitzvot.
Dr. Daphna Raskas is a consultant to nonprofit
organizations in the Greater Washington area.
Reclaiming the Disappearing Center By
Daniel Friedman
Conservative Judaism has long prided itself on
being the happy medium between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. The recent Pew
report has shown, however, that save for a few committed souls, much of its
traditional base has drifted away. In a world of increasing secularization,
many former adherents are no longer comfortable with the Conservative
appellation and have opted instead to identify with the Reform camp— synagogue
affiliation notwithstanding.
Over the years, the response of Conservative
Judaism to its declining appeal has been to push the halachic envelope further
and further. While there was a time in America when a Conservative synagogue
and service were quite indistinguishable from many an Orthodox synagogue and
service, the introduction of unprecedented innovations such as egalitarianism
and same-sex marriage has undoubtedly widened the chasm between Orthodox and
Conservative Judaism.
And yet, not all within the Conservative camp
have welcomed these innovations with open arms. When Conservative Judaism began
ordaining women, a number of members broke with the movement and began the
Union for Traditional Judaism (UTJ). And when the question of same-sex marriage
arose, a number of synagogues seceded from the United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism.
It is time for us to open our arms to our
traditional coreligionists. Many are yearning for a place back within the
classical fold and it is our duty to figure out how to open our doors to these
sincere souls and congregations who yearn to be part of the mesorah that
has kept our nation strong for three millennia.
Many of those on the right of Conservative
Judaism hold less radical views than those on the left of Orthodoxy.
Long before the days of polarized Judaism,
there was a time when it was par for the course to work with Conservative
congregations with the hope that they would become normalized to Orthodox
practice. There are many such stories, where Orthodox rabbis entered
Conservative congregations with the blessings of their teachers and
institutions. Certainly not every such story culminated in success, but for
some reason Orthodoxy has long since shied away from the challenge.
And in addition to the congregations, there
are certainly many rabbis ordained by the Conservative movement who would
welcome the opportunity to be acknowledged by their Orthodox counterparts.
These individuals feel lost in a movement which they sense has forsaken them as
it slowly but surely cedes traditional practice to the will of the people. And
while their voices are falling on deaf ears in the Conservative movement, they
would be a welcome addition to the honest halachic debate that prevails in
Orthodoxy. In fact, many of those on the right of Conservative Judaism hold
less radical views than those on the left of Orthodoxy. The Metivta of UTJ does
not ordain women, nor does the Canadian Yeshiva & Rabbinical School. While
it goes without saying that this regularization process would entail
confirmation of their halachic and hashkafic knowledge and commitment,
are we having the conversation?
The Orthodox community dare not be smug about
the latest report on the state of American Jewry. The Pew report is only as
useful as our response to it. Our responsibility extends to all our brothers
and sisters. In a world of alarming assimilation rates, let us join forces with
those who believe in what we believe and strive for what we strive for.
Rabbi Daniel Friedman is rabbi of Beth Israel
Synagogue in Edmonton, Canada, an OU shul.
Lessons from Pew By Jerry Silverman
In the months since the Pew report was
released, our community has debated its significance and how we should respond.
The survey continues to produce a wide range of provocative proposals and
views, making me deeply optimistic that we not only have the will, but the
means, to address the survey’s challenges.
One key finding is that younger non-Orthodox
Jews are less connected to Jewish life and less interested in engaging. The
numbers alone add up to an existential crisis facing the nonreligious
community. The Orthodox community faces a slightly different but no less
daunting challenge—the fact is that some of its members are leaving. I am
deeply concerned that the spiraling costs of living a Jewish life and educating
our children Jewishly will only increase this migration further.
These challenges compel us to unite as a
community and consider creative new strategies. We also need to face the fact
that such approaches may require new funding. I believe that when we come
together as a community, our potential remains unlimited.
Recently, Michael Siegal, chair of the Board
of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America, and I proposed four
areas where we should intensify our focus in order to help connect younger Jews
to the community.
First, free Jewish early childhood education
for every family. Based on the success of programs like PJ Library, a Jewish
Head Start could bring many more Jewish families along the path to involvement.
Second, we cannot ignore Jewish camp as a
particularly effective engagement channel. Research shows three things: Jewish
camp, day school and Israel experience programs engage young Jews. We should
triple the number of non-Orthodox kids in Jewish camps to 30 percent of the
population.
Next, Birthright Israel stands out as a highly
effective Jewish engagement program, bringing more than 350,000 young Jews to
Eretz Yisrael and imbuing them with a new sense of Yiddishkeit. However,
we have not consistently and effectively re-engaged with Birthright alumni.
Birthright has compiled an incredible database of past participants, but other
institutions need access to the information to better connect with these newly
inspired young Jews.
The Orthodox community claims an 83 percent
retention rate–but that still means a large number of Orthodox Jews are opting
out. It’s time we look seriously at the high cost of Jewish life as a
significant factor.
Finally, we must focus our thinking on areas
in our country where our population is concentrated yet, ironically, suffers
more tenuous ties to Jewish life. We need to consider these areas as “Jewish
Development Zones” and redouble existing successful programs like those we
outlined above to better engage the unaffiliated.
In addition to these four proposals, the
Government of Israel recently launched its World Jewry Initiative, which takes
a bold new approach. The initiative seeks to build Jewish identity in the
Diaspora, because ultimately, a stronger Diaspora means a stronger Jewish
State.
These plans contend with the larger challenge
of the non-Orthodox community in the US and elsewhere, but we also face a
serious challenge in the religious community. Yes, according to the Pew survey,
the Orthodox community claims an 83 percent retention rate—but that still means
a large number of Orthodox Jews are opting out. It’s time we look seriously at
the high cost of Jewish life as a significant factor. When Orthodox day schools
cost $20,000 to $35,000 a year, not to mention the price of annual synagogue
membership and camp fees, you have to consider how this is affecting young
couples and families.
Formal Jewish education is a beautiful
privilege. My wife and I sent our five children to Jewish day schools. However,
we also need to conceive of more experiential Jewish learning, to ensure that
young Jews who may not have the opportunity to attend formal Jewish schools
still enjoy the beauty of Jewish life. Informal and innovative programs, camps
and other initiatives could significantly increase the variety of experiences
available to young Jews.
Across our community we have built great
institutions and developed highly effective programs that address many needs.
Now it’s time that we come together as a more united community, to take a holistic
look at the bigger picture which Pew has presented. The survey, in a way, is a
gift—a major opportunity to take a new look at some of the most effective tools
we’ve developed and to use them in daring new ways. We must unite around a
shared sense of mutual responsibility, of kol Yisrael arevim zeh lah zeh.
We may not agree on every question, or on any one answer, but there is no doubt
that by coming together, by uniting as one people and working toward a common
goal, we can build a more secure and vibrant tomorrow, for our entire
community.
Jerry Silverman is president and chief
executive officer of the Jewish Federations of North America.
Threshing the 5th Melacha by
Rabbi Jack Abramowitz: http://www.ou.org/holidays/shabbat/melacha-5-threshing/
Dosh (threshing) is the fifth of
the 11 agricultural melachos. It involves removing something edible from its
natural casing. Prototypical dosh involves the removal of grain kernels from
their stalks. In pre-industrial days, this might have been accomplished by
having oxen tread on the grain, but it can also be accomplished by hand.
Extracting any fruit from certain types of inedible peels is a derivative labor
(toldah) of dosh.
Dosh applies to things that
ultimately draw their nourishment from the earth but not exclusively plants.
For example, milking an animal – or even a nursing mother expressing milk – is
prohibited as derivatives of dosh. (If a nursing mother must express milk in
order to alleviate pain, she may not collect the milk for later use.)
Dosh does not apply to all types
of peels, only to more external shells that are typically removed well in
advance of eating. A banana or an orange has a snug peel that typically remains
on the fruit until it is eaten. Even peeling vegetables on Shabbos is permitted
(although a vegetable peeler is muktza). But removing peas from inedible pods
is dosh because the pod is not snug and is typically removed well in advance of
eating. (Snow peas are another story, since the pods are edible.) Shucking an
ear of corn is likewise the melacha of dosh.
One particularly applicable
derivative of dosh is called s’chitah. S’chitah involves squeezing or wringing
something out in order to extract a liquid. A lemon may not be squeezed into a
cup of tea on Shabbos because of s’chitah. It may, however, be squeezed onto
another solid food item that will readily absorb the juice. Therefore, one may
squeeze lemon onto fish or onto sugar; the sugar may then be stirred into one’s
tea.
This is just an introduction to
the concepts of the Melacha of dosh; it is not a substitute for a full study of
the Halachos.
At my granddaughter’s Bas Mitzvah she stated that Miracles of Korach being swallowed by the earth was at a certain time and place with a certain event happening that makes it into a miracle. Well here is a letter I received this week from Dr. Harry: Well, here I was having a nice lunch in Bogota the day before yesterday. There was a large party at the next table, when suddenly one of the old women started to choke on a piece of meat, and could not breath. After she started turning bluish red, I decided it was time to act, and performed a Heimlich procedure on her and the meat popped out. What were the odds that the moment she was choking to death that a doctor from Miami would be having lunch at the next table and save her life. One could say it was "destiny" that I was there, or that the "Hand of G-d" was there acting again. Of course, I believe the latter!
There
is a Yiddish Saying “The longer the beard the bigger the thief!”
I was reading Rabbi B.
Wein Shlita’s book at my son’s house and finished 2/3rds of it. It was for me
fantastic reading as I knew personally a number of the Rabbis involved in the
book. I thought both Rabbi Wein and the other Rabbis were years younger but
time flies and I only have to look in the mirror and I see instead of dark
brown hair and beard and even a little red in my moustache a man going from
mostly white with traces of my past life and heading for white.
One of the stories
Rabbi Wein brought down was that he took over a Congregation on Miami Beach run
by Rabbi Aryeh Rothman Shlita and became treasurer of the funds for Yeshiva
Mercas HaTorah. I have been a loyal donor there for over 30 years.
One annual meeting the
Rabbi hinted about misappropriating Yeshiva Funds that was taken care of. It
seems as customary in the Charedi Communities that Yeshivos go to money
changers for their checks and get a better exchange rate as from the big banks.
(Today all this is regulated due to money laundering but in those days there
still was hanky-panky and the money changers black or grey marketing even if
they were with long beards and frock coats.) Rabbi Wein would send a check from
the US Bank to Rabbi Rothman and he in turn would cash the check via the money
changer and a gray bank. One day the bank calls up Rabbi Wein to ask if he
issued 3 checks of $100,000 dollars each! There was no such thing. After
checking into the matter, Rabbi Rothman went to the police, the crooked banker
was put in jail, and the insurance returned the money. In the meantime the long
frock coated forger with a long beard fled to Borough Park. He because known as
a Rabbi who gives out blessings and accepts donations. Thirty five years later,
Rabbi Wein came across this “Tzaddik” who blesses. He said because time has
elapsed, I cannot prosecute you but after 120 years you will have problems.
Rabbi Wein worked for
the OU and the same people who were besmuging the name of the Organization
relied upon it for their super-duper Heckshir and good money from their
products. Kashrus Heckshirim are big money at times and two Rabbis wanted to
steal Rabbi Glixman’s Heckshir in some large hotels in Miami. The Rabbi was
dirt poor and this put him further into the poor house. He was forgiving but
his wife not. She davened with tears in her eyes each day. A certain Rabbi died
within a year and his son who is a nice honest man got a terrible disease but
after a number of years is B”H still alive and working in his Congregation. The
other Rabbi got a calling to go to the NY area and then on to Australia and out
of the Miami area. When Rabbi Glixman passed on his widow had only a few
dollars from his remaining Heckshirim. While she sat Shiva after his burial on
Eretz HaChaim in Beit Shemesh, some characters wanted to take away from her the
little income that she had. Rabbi Lehrfeld Shlita, Av HaBeit Din, of N. Miami
Beach put a stop to this. “What type of religious people are you to steal a
measly pension from a widow?” He said.
And I will repeat what
I have always there are Rabbis and then there are “Rabbis”. I might not be the
most learned of Rabbis and people can question my knowledge or my ignorance.
However, I like to sleep well at night and when it comes time to sleep with my
fathers, I truly hope that I will be on the side of the righteous despite my
various blunders and sins vs. those of some of the profitable “prophets” out
there! I prefer to be abused and embarrassed in this world than in the world of
truth after 120 years.
Rabbi Yona Gewirtz
Shlita was a very good student at the Yeshiva of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein of
blessed memory. One time when he was a Rabbi in Connecticut, he was criticized
by a number of people in the Conservative Jewish Community after he told them
that what they were doing was forbidden in the Torah. He was then challenged to
debate the Rabbi of the Conservative Schul to see who was more learned. He then
went to the debate. He stated that he only represents himself with his own
faults and not Orthodox Judaism in General. He had two questions for the Rabbi
before the debate opens. Does the Rabbi’s wife go to the Mikvah each month? While
I have Congregants that drive on Shabbos to my Schul and pray with me, I forbid
them to use the Synagogue’s Parking Lot; how come you allow them to drive and
park on the Synagogue lot on Shabbos? With that the debate was over!
I received a private
letter from an honest man who wants to convert. He does not know which “Temple”
to go to either the Liberal one or the Conservative one? Here is what I
answered and it is based on what Rabbi Gewirtz told me about the learning for
ordination in the Conservative Synagogues even though I want to emphasize that
they are real Rabbis unlike the Reform. However, they learn the minimum in
their studies and many do not pursue after ordination further studies and
reviews.
Liberal Judaism allows for the
violation of Shabbos, also what the Torah considers an abomination (G-D's words
not mine) Lev. 18:22 and 20:13, and the Liberals don't observe fasting on Yom
Kippur - Kashrus, sanctity of a Jewish marriage etc. The Conservative the
Rabbis take a quick course in Judaism and get certified. But woe to me if my
brain surgeon took a quick course in Medicine. I prefer a professor to the
workings and connections in the brain that is why I am Orthodox but you are
free to choose.
Christian
Anti-Semitism in WWII: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182010#.U6ZCUMZWHIU
Today
in America: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182005#.U6Y9D8ZWHIU
Guess
who started the KKK vs. who started the Republican Parties in the South: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRM00LPWVLE#t=71
Inyanay Diyoma
Martin Sherman: For your perusal in the weekend edition of the Jerusalem Post
ISRAEL’S LOONY, LETHAL LEFTwww.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Into-the-fray-Israels-loony-lethal-Left-359984
Since signing the Oslo agreement in 1993, Israel has made a series of astounding concessions, which did nothing but produce further Palestinian demands for even more far-reaching concessions… If the Left cannot even admit to the theoretical possibility that its position might be refuted, that position is no longer a rational political perspective but an article of “religious faith”
(Kindly consider "liking", sharing, tweeting) As usual your talkbacks/comments/critiques welcome
Best wishes
MS
Far
Left is so anti-Israeli
The
Jewish Anti-Religious do a 180 Degree turn: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181989#.U6QpwsZWHIU
Again
riots on Temple Mount: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181987#.U6SO9MZWHIU
Chevron
gets reinforcements in the search: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/181995#.U6SR1sZWHIU
ONE: Will
Israel enter Gaza to clean it up from Hamas and Jihad? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532884,00.html
TWO: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4532883,00.html
IDF is
now going meter by meter in the Chevron Hills: http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Brothers-Keeper/Thousands-of-IDF-soldiers-in-west-Hebron-area-searching-for-abducted-teens-360123
Syrians
murder teen and bases attacked by the IAF: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182050#.U6eMA8ZWHIU
Yarden
in trouble from Al Qaeda and the US is asleep at the watch post. http://debka.com/article/24028/Jordanian-air-force-bombs-Al-Qaeda-Iraq-incursion-ISIS-also-stands-at-Saudi-border-Kerry’s-snags-in-Iraq
5
missiles fired 5 return raids and HASHEM is with us http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182127#.U6nQncZWHIU
Old
terror tactic returns. Burn down the Keren Kayemet Forests. When I returned
home road 443 experienced delay as 10 crews fought the fire. The next day 5
homes were destroyed in Yerushalayim as 50 crews fought fires: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4534704,00.html
Government
cheapness on busses now is costing Israel billions: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182183#.U6vx1W5WHIU
I HAVE WARNED THAT HASHEM IS WITH US AND THIS AGREEMENT WILL GO
AGAINST THE U.S. AND EUROPE AND WITH THE HELP OF THE L-RD ISRAEL WILL BE
SPARED. NO I DID NOT GET PROPHECY ON THIS BUT THERE IS A TALMUDIC PRINCIPLE
CALLED MIDA K’NEGGED MIDA OR MEASURE FOR MEASURE AND THIS IS HOW THIS WORLD
OPERATES. THE PRINCIPLE HOLDS AS WELL AS ‘THE SHORTEST DISTANCE BETWEEN TWO
PLACES IS A STRAIGHT LINE OR ON THE EARTH A GREAT CIRCLE’. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182188#.U6vzRW5WHIU
Israel
will recognize Kurdistan if created: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182202#.U6xGZJtWHIU
They
were not alert when they should have been: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/IDF-ejects-2-soldiers-places-others-on-trial-for-Gaza-terrorist-infiltration-360730
Isn’t
it time to blot out Amalek from under heaven? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/182227#.U60XR5tWHIU
Update
on ISIS near Yarden and the Saudis: http://debka.com/article/24034/King-Abdullah-calls-up-Saudi-armed-forces-on-high-preparedness-Egyptian-troops-ready-to-fly-to-kingdom
Kidnappers identified by the Shin Bet: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4535155,00.html
Brian Schrauger
is a religious Christian who leads his fellow believers on trips to the
Holyland: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/For-such-a-time-as-this-360722
Iranian
threat: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Iranian-threats-360741
Have a wonderful healthy and peaceful Shabbos,
Rachamim Pauli
