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The Generation of Change

The Generation of Change. How leaders in their 20s and 30s are reshaping American Jewish Life (Based on Avi Chai Report by Sociologist Jack Wertheimer). REVOLUTION HAS BECOME INSTITUTION. REFORM JUDAISM CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM Denomination = Identity? The big loser = The big winner =.

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The Generation of Change

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  1. The Generation of Change How leaders in their 20s and 30s are reshaping American Jewish Life (Based on Avi Chai Report by Sociologist Jack Wertheimer)

  2. REVOLUTION HAS BECOME INSTITUTION • REFORM JUDAISM • CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM Denomination = Identity? The big loser = The big winner =

  3. American Jewish Establishment since WWII = PROTECTION and JEWISH DEFENSE Goals of Last 50 years of Jewish American Life: • Protect the Jews against Anti-Semetism • Defend Israel • Fight for Freedeom of Soviet Jews • Offer help to Jewish poor here and abroad • Educating to make Jewish identity stronger

  4. MAINSTREAM JEWISH “PROTECTORS” • Federation • AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) • American Jewish Committee • American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee • Anti-Defamation League (ADL) • Friends of the IDF

  5. GOODBYE PROTECTIONHELLO… • PROGRESSIVE • Are willing to criticize Israel- the non-Zionist Jew. • EXPRESSIVE • Celebrate Diaspora as rich and inclusive –Israel is no longer central.

  6. WHY THE CHANGE? • Jews today do not feel a threat of Anti-Semetism • Jews today like non-Jews • Jews today are searching for meaning, cultural exploration and a way to express themselves personally. • Rise of the Jewish Foundations – (Federation no longer sets the priorities of Jewish Life)

  7. Who ARE THE NEW START-UPS • Question the status quo • Are focused on younger Jews • Experiment often • Innovative

  8. AREAS of INNOVATION • RELIGIOUS LIFE • YeshivatHadar • Drisha • IKAR • KAVANNAH • SOCIAL JUSTICE (helping non-Jews more than Jews) • Jcorps • Avodah • Hazon • ISRAEL – ORIENTED ACTIVITES • Encounter • Club 1948 • NEW FORMS OF COMMUNITY • Moishe House • Ravenna Kibbutz in Seattle • CULTURAL PROGRAMS • Jdub records • E-3 • Kfar

  9. NEW DEFINITION OF JEWISH IDENTITY [You] don’t keep kosher, that’s fine; don’t keep Shabbat, that’s fine; marry a non-Jew – whatever. But understand that it will take away your Jewish identity if you don’t fight for justice. (Rabbi DaraFrimmer)

  10. ABOUT THE NEW PARTICIPANTS IN JEWISH LIFE = NO LOYALTY “ Participants go where they please, with little regard to who is sponsoring an activity. They don’t care whether a Federation or a national organization is sponsoring an event, any more than they care if a start-up is. What matters is the QUALITY OF THE EXPERIENCE, the PRESENCE OF PEOPLE with whom they wish to associate and the MEANING (pleasure) they can derive from an event.”

  11. The IRONY = The Outsiders are really the insiders • The young leaders today have been educated by the big mainstream institutions that they now reject. (Many leadership training programs) • The young innovators have almost all (95%) been to Israel and 1/3 have Day School backgrounds • The funding for the new Jewish start-ups is all coming from older Jews and established, mainstream organizations. THE ESTABLISHMENT HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO THE ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT

  12. QUESTIONS/CONCERNS ABOUT THE NEW TRENDS – The Jury is Still Out • Are there too many Jewish opportunities? Are American Jews pulled in too many different directions? Is Community lost with so many different options? Are we a community lacking a center? • What will happen with those Walmart sized Jewish organizations in the past? Will they wither and die or will (can) they reinvent themselves and exist side-by-side the new innovative start-up organizations. • Will young Jews stay a part of these innovative start-ups as they grow older or will they seek out more tradition institutions to be part of when they marry and have kids? • How will the internet continue to aid the spread of these new start-ups

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