Articles

Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the most successful religious outreach movements of the modern era. Its effectiveness comes from a combination of organizational structure, theology, branding, hospitality, decentralized entrepreneurship, and an unusually strong missionary ethos.

The great downsize, which has been documented since the 1990’s, reflects the undoing of civic and religious engagement but raises a broader challenge to American democracy itself. Earlier on these pages, we noted the financial challenges facing institutions; here we are examining the declining membership numbers.

As leaders are set to gather in a few days to launch the third iteration of “Recharging Reform Judaism,” what are some of the core trends and models impacting modern liberal religion in America?

The current federal case against the Southern Poverty Law Center is being viewed as historically significant for a few reasons, and this case has significant implications for other advocacy institutions, including key Jewish organizations.

By every measure the United States is experiencing a significant, deliberate return to its 19th-century cultural and political framework, characterized by a shift toward nationalism, protectionism, and a “Second Gilded Age” of economic inequality.

The Jewish communal sector is on the cusp of a transformational change. It’s not just about “failure to deliver” on the part of certain legacy structures rather this shift is about a mismatch between older institutional models and a faster, more fragmented, more demanding organizational environment.

Across the national Jewish landscape, one hears conversations about “renewing” old legacy institutions, “remaking” existing organizations, and “tearing down” traditional communal structures and systems. There are roadmaps for engaging in institutional transformation. Posted below are some of the core organizing principles

Just as the American story is comprised of an extraordinary set of positive images and practices, there are also seeds of historic racism and antisemitism, embedded in this nation’s development. In examining America’s 250 saga, it is important to acknowledge, catalogue and analyze this stain of hate.

The field of Jewish public policy and community relations is navigating simultaneous disruptions. Legitimacy fracture involves the questioning or marginalizing of Jews around Israel and Zionism. This is happening across political, generational, and interfaith lines and deals in part with competing narratives about Israel, antisemitism, and the minority status of Jews.

In my most recent essay on these pages, I defined the existing threats being generated in this nation against Jews, leading to the possible end of the “golden age of American Judaism”. In confronting this new reality, we would remind ourselves that this is not a Jewish problem alone, as what we are experiencing involves the disassembling of American democracy, and Jews appear to be caught up in the unfolding political diatribes and tensions of this moment.