Family Matters: Old-New Holiday
Hadassah Magazine, Sunday, June 1, 2008
It is a celebration of our heritage, a commemoration of the receiving of the Torah— yet Shavuot is basically unknown to many Jews. But times are changing.
Traditionally, Shavuot is one of the three major pilgrimage holidays, marking the day Jews were given the Torah at Mount Sinai. In practice, for many American Jews, it is a forgotten holiday, a P.S. on the ritual calendar.
That’s changing. Shavuot may be the next big thing in Jewish observance, with singles and families alike rediscovering the holiday much the same way Sukkot has enjoyed a surge in observance over the last decade. A growing trend, still small but spreading, is the Shavuot retreat.
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Young Jews don’t take their identity for granted
Creating an egalitarian yeshiva
The Jewish Voice & Herald, Friday, May 30, 2008
By Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
I HAVE some bad news and some good news. Actually, it is bad news that is really good news. The bad news: young Jews do not take Jewish identity for granted anymore.
This is not a news flash for anyone trying to work with Jews in their 20s and 30s. They simply do not engage with the traditional Jewish institutions – the synagogue, federation, JCC – in ways that were once assumed to be automatic.
Worse: to the extent that young Jews always took a break from Jewish organizations, today’s young Jews remain off the Jewish institutional grid for much longer than in the past. This is because of one main reason: they are getting married later and having children later.
Steven M. Cohen, the leading Jewish sociologist, is fond of saying that Jews affiliate when they give birth to a 7-year old child. In other words, when parents are looking for schooling for their children, they finally start to look at traditional Jewish institutions – schools and synagogues. But while people used to do that in their mid- to late-20s, now they are doing that in their mid-30s or early 40s. The result: Jews shun Jewish institutions for 20-25 years before re-engaging (if they re-engage at all).
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Kehillah serves new niche
Jewish News of Greater Phoenix Online, Friday, May 23, 2008
by Leisah Woldoff
The mutual desire to create a spiritual community of caring Jews has spurred a group of individuals to form Kehillah of Arizona.
The founders, "tired of the same old things that have been reinvented time after time in the Valley," wanted to develop a group focused on Torah study and social action, said President Bob Liebman. Earlier this year, Liebman and seven others "came up with 18 core values that reflect our goals and hopes and dreams for the group."
The core values include tikkun olam (repairing the world), pursuing social justice, lifelong learning, supporting Israel, living Jewishly and cultivating spiritual development.
"It's a spiritual community with a very clear mission," said Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, the group's spiritual leader. "Everyone works, everyone contributes in their own way. There's a real feeling of community."
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36 Under 36: GIVING THE SYNAGOGUE A FACELIFT
The Jewish Week, Thursday, May 22, 2008
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, 34
Independent minyan leader pushing for new worship style
After graduating from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer searched New York City for somewhere to pray. "We were looking for a place that would basically express our ideal davening community," says Kaunfer of the impetus for starting Mechon Hadar: An Institute for Prayer, Personal Growth and Jewish Study (mechonhadar.org). The organization, includes an independent minyan that has spawned a network of independent minyanim across the country, as well as the first egalitarian yeshiva for lay people in America, is going on its second summer this year.
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Foundation pledges $3 million to let Jewish innovators do their thing
JTA, Monday, May 19, 2008
by Jacob Berkman
NEW YORK (JTA) -- The philanthropic trend toward investing in people rather than projects is getting a boost from one of America's largest Jewish foundations.The Avi Chai Foundation, which has nearly $700 million in assets, according to its last available tax filing, awarded $1.15 million last week
to six Jewish social entrepreneurs whom the foundation sees as emerging Jewish leaders.
Foundations typically fund specific programs and tend to keep a fairly close eye on how their money is used. But Avi Chai gave four individuals and one team of two $75,000 per year over the next three years simply to create.
Though each recipient proposed a project to pursue, the foundation's leaders say Avi Chai will have very little oversight as to how each spends the money.
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