Articles

This is the second essay in a two-part series.

This is the first essay in a two-part series.

This is the first essay in a two-part series.

During my 50-year career framed around Jewish communal practice and teaching, I have developed lifelong friendships and met and engaged with an assortment of impressively dedicated leaders, while mastering new skills and accruing a lifetime of memories. I have also learned a lot about the nature of leadership.

Community is a central tenet in the shaping of Jewish history! So, what might happen if such a core element is no longer central to the Jewish story? We explore the many factors that are contributing to the undoing of this sacred principle. Moving beyond our work on these pages in August, in this essay we want to understand the implications of such downsizing and transformational change.

This past Tuesday, November 8th, was seen by many to likely be a transformative moment in American politics. Regardless of the specific results, the election process itself is providing us with some important learning outcomes and is introducing us to certain new realities about our nation and our society. As we knew, while we remain a divided polity, a degree of political balance appears to be one of the core outcomes of this contest.

If the earlier article, published on these pages several days ago, focused on methods of treatment of antisemitism employed by the Jewish community in the early decades of the last century and what we might take away from this encounter,[1] here attention is being given to dealing with the realities of experiencing hate, managing and defining such behaviors and expressions, both on a personal and communal basis.

The “treatment” of anti-Semitism was one of the original terms employed by the “defense agencies” when dealing with hatred and prejudice in the 1930’s. Ideas such as “containment” entered the vocabulary of that era, as such negative behaviors as anti-Semitism were handled as if they were diseases, to be “eradicated”.

Will Los Angeles demographic trends define the American Jewish future? While this supposition may be difficult to confirm, the recently released L.A. Jewish Population Study should nonetheless be seen as a major research undertaking likely to impact policy and practice in this community and beyond.[1] If indeed the West today is setting the cultural and social motifs of this society, then the data here may have some long-term defining influence in shaping 21st-century American Jewish life!

The Jewish New Year symbolizes a time of reflection, as we personally and collectively assess our individual relationships and examine the state of our community. Each fall, these Days of Awe afford us that special period of reflection on the Jewish condition. Few cultures or civilizations are provided with this space for such a personal assessment. The genius of Judaism is found in its calendar, setting aside time for this form of self-encounter.