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Religions have always experienced renewal, change and transformation. Over the centuries, religious movements have also encountered periods of downsizing, loss and displacement. One should not underestimate the power, place, and purpose of religion in shaping individual belief, communal practice and global values.

As we move within two weeks of this election, we are likely to see the last efforts by both parties to reframe their messages and target segments of the voting public, while seeking to maximize their political positions.

South Africa doesn’t spring to mind as a high-priority Jewish destination — especially at this moment, as its government pursues its case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, but also because of South Africa’s largest political party’s long-standing criticism of Israel and targeting of the South African Jewish community’s deep ties to the Jewish State.

As rabbis prepare their high holy day sermons and as Jewish agency executives craft their New Year messages, various themes frame the agenda for 5785. In some measure these are all one message, and then again, we realize the broad and deep complexities that define our lives and this moment, and how each element is both separate and connected.

The Harris-Trump election is proving to be a particularly fascinating election in connection with new data involving some shifting Jewish voter trends. Are more Jews moving into the Republican column?

A number of sociological findings point to a major political, demographic, and organizational challenge facing the American Jewish community. How prepared are our communal leaders and religious institutions to address these issues?

The global Jewish community is moving to a fundamentally different socio-political state. In some measure this moment represents the most significant transition since our encountering modernity. The changes now underway will have profound impact on Jewish identity, practice, and communal organizing.

According to a Gallup Study of the 2020 election, one’s religious beliefs correlates with their vote; the data referenced identified specific religious constituencies, noting that the degree of religiosity aligned with their political behavior and voting preferences.

Institutions live not only with the realities that inform their decisions but also with the consequences. Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s recent announcement that it will now admit students seeking rabbinic ordination who are in a relationship with non-Jewish partners most assuredly points to the complexities facing seminaries in this age.

Since the 7th of October, so much has undergone change within and around the Jewish community.

Based on my meetings and experiences with different Jewish audiences, here then are some specific threads or themes that seem to reflect a Jewish community in a fundamentally different place than we were nine months earlier: