JewsByChoice.Org

Hi there! Let me begin wishing everyone a happy New Year as the last day of 2008 quickly comes to a close. Second, my apologies in advance for doing such a piss poor post. I’ve been hit with what I believe is, the flew, and I just don’t have the cognitive bandwidth at the moment to go in to as much detail as I would have, liked to regarding these two articles. They are both very interesting (in different ways)and hit home with me big time.

The first is by Sue Fishkoff of the JTA is on a new (men’s only) initiative being looked at within the Reform Movement. The other is an editorial piece by Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein in which he pontificates, on how USCJ shuls should not be afraid to promote Jewish Living.

Here are  two snippets from the above mentioned articles. You know, just to wet you’re appetites a little.

Reform trying to lure men back

Sue Fishkoff

The Reform movement is trying to figure out how to lure men back to the synagogue without diluting the gains made by women.

SAN DIEGO (JTA) — The men’s prayer service was the smallest of several morning worship offerings at last week’s biennial convention of the Union for Reform Judaism.

About 40 men showed up, some wearing prayer shawls and kipot, others with bare shoulders and heads. A handful of younger participants wore tefillin.
There were no drums, not like the men’s service at the last Reform biennial. Instead, worshipers pounded rhythmically on the backs of their chairs as they sang, their deep voices blending in and out of the higher-pitched, more lilting melodies coming from the much larger women’s service down the hall.
Lest anyone confuse this robustly male minyan with an Orthodox shul, these men invoked the matriarchs along with the patriarchs, concluding their introduction to the Amidah by describing the Almighty not just as Abraham’s shield but, in accordance with their movement’s egalitarian emphasis, also as Sarah’s helper.
The relatively small turnout, as well as the inclusion of the matriarchs, illustrated the sensitive nature of what Reform leaders are trying to do: Bring men back to Reform Judaism without diluting the gains made by women. Sometimes, they say, that means giving men a space of their own, however “un-PC” that idea might sound.

Meeting the needs of boys and men was a major focus of a two-day, pre-biennial Reform symposium on gender differences in Jewish education. Among the speakers was Doug Barden, executive director of the Men of Reform Judaism, formerly known as the North American Federation of Temple Brotherhoods.

“Within the Reform movement we’ve confused gender stratification with gender differentiation,” said Barden, a major proponent of the separate-but-equal approach. “We need to reverse the disaffiliation of men without setting the egalitarian clock back 30 years.”

You can read the rest here!

Conservative shuls should not be afraid to promote Jewish living

Rabbi Jerome M. Epstein

 

Conservative Judaism was born out of the desire to conserve authentic traditional living Judaism. That’s where its name comes from.

It was not born as a reaction to Orthodoxy but as a response to the widespread disregard for Jewish living and the lack of Jewish practice prevalent in the late 19th century, when the term first was used. The initial premise of Conservative Judaism was that its ideology and approach to Jewish living would conserve authentic Judaism. That remains our mission today.

Disaffected Conservative Jews often claim they don’t live as Conservative Jews because we are not clear about what we stand for.

What we stand for — Jewish living, observing Shabbat and holidays, maintaining kashrut, at the least — is abundantly clear. What we need is a commitment to it by Conservative Jews. We have been too timid in declaring our vision. Because we have been reluctant to educate congregants about the real message of Conservative Judaism, we should not be surprised by their lack of commitment.

Resources on how to live a Jewish life are readily available. United Synagogue has produced a wealth of materials and programs. Too few congregations, however, actively promote serious Jewish living; they fear being perceived as irrelevant or intrusive by those for whom regular Jewish behaviors and values are not yet important.

Until people join our congregations, our ability to influence them is limited. Even after they have joined, unless we consciously seize the opportunity we will have squandered the gift that their affiliation has given us. No longer can we be satisfied with simply affiliating members. We must measure our congregations by the lives they change.

You can read the rest here!

Like I mentioned above, I’m just too foggy to accurately share my thoughts on these two articles right now. However, I hope to follow up later in the week, if not on both certainly on the Epstein piece. In the mean time, maybe AviShalom and Yair can get the conversation started by sharing their respective take’s on the above.

OK now I’m off to crawl into bed and watch a DVD or something.