Noah and Abraham: Two Pew Thoughts (Part 1 of 2)

Sermons

Oct 5th 2013

Shabbat No’ah, Rosh Hodesh Heshvan 5774

(5 October 2013/1 Heshvan 5774)

No’ah

After the news of this past week, I feel like Noah, preparing for the flood. Although we live in Canada, we are deeply affected by trends from the United States. Mordecai Kaplan used to quip that Canadian Jewry is “only one degeneration behind America”. Looking at American trends give us a lens by which we can prepare ourselves for what is ahead.

This past week, a Brandeis University Study indicated that the estimated Jewish population in the States is higher than previously thought. There are 6.8 million Jewish adults and children in the United States. 4.2 million adults self-identify as Jewish when asked about religion. Nearly 1 million adults consider themselves Jewish by background and other criteria. They are not practicing or engaged Jews. Their Jewish identity is simply personal background, but they are willing to acknowledge a connection. There are an estimated 1.6 million Jewish children.

However, because the overall American population has increased at a greater rate, Jewish adults now comprise only 2.2% of the U.S. population, a sharp drop from 3.4% a few decades ago. And the Jewish population is concentrated. Over 40% of American Jews live in just six states and most of them are in a few metropolitan areas. The largest percentage resides in New York City, then Southern Florida, New York suburban areas, and Los Angeles County

The Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project has published the findings of a comprehensive survey that examines changing Jewish Identity in the U.S. The report examines the different ways in which people identify as Jewish.

A decline of religious identity and commitment

One-in-five Jews (22%) describe themselves as having no religion. This shift reflects the general public, whose share of religious “nones” is about one-fifth of the population.
An old Yiddish saying has it, Jews are like other people, only more so. We see that while only 7% of Jews of mature age say they have no religion, over 30% of Jews in the youngest generation (the Millennials) identify as Jewish exclusively on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture.

What makes someone a Jew?

Six out of ten Jews say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture. Only 15% identify Judaism primarily as a religion.
Even among Jews by religion, most say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture.

What is important for Jews beyond ethnicity?

Remembering the Holocaust (73%), leading an ethical life (69%) and working for justice and equality (56%) are ranked the highest. Having a Jewish sense of humor is identified by 40% of respondents.
Only about 20% see observing Jewish law as essential to what it means to be Jewish and most of them are Orthodox.

What are some of the key differences between secular or cultural Jews and Jews by religion?

They are much less connected to Jewish organizations and much less likely to be raising their children Jewish.
More than 90% of Jews by religion with children at home say they are raising those children as Jews.
In contrast, two-thirds of Jews of no religion say they are not raising their children as Jews or even as partially Jewish.
Intermarriage is much more common among Jews of no religion than among Jews by religion.
Almost 80% of married Jews of no religion have a spouse who is not Jewish, compared with 36% of Jews by religion.
Intermarried Jews, like Jews of no religion, are much less likely to be raising their children in the Jewish faith.

How do religious Jews affiliate?

Just over one-third of all Jews identify as Reform; 18% identify with Conservative Judaism; 10% with Orthodox Judaism; and 6% with other approaches, such as the Reconstructionist or Jewish Renewal movements.
About three-in-ten say they are “just Jewish”. This is a group that may be open to more thoughtful and exciting outreach.
Religious movement is generally in the direction of less-traditional Judaism. This means that the revival of Jewish observance and the outreach to baalei teshuvah of the last decades of the 20th century has come to a close.
Although half of the older Jews who were raised as Orthodox say they are no longer Orthodox, over 80% of young fervently Orthodox Jews –not modern Orthodox – are likely to retain their commitment.

As with Christianity and Islam, many of those who are committed are turning to more traditional modes of faith and worship. Whether this will remain the case is yet to be seen.

There is a deep connection to Israel

About seven-in-ten Jews surveyed say they feel attached to Israel and over 40% have been to Israel, many of them more than once.
At the same time, many express reservations about the approach of the Israeli government to the peace process. This may indicate a disjunction between the leadership of Jewish organizations and a sizeable segment of American Jews.

Theology, Practice and Pride

Most Jews say a person can be Jewish even if that person is not Jewishly observant or does not believe in God. While 60% say a person cannot be Jewish if he or she believes Jesus was the messiah, over 30% do not see this as a border issue.
While relatively few Jews attach high importance to religion and Jews tend to be less religious than the American public, 80% say being Jewish is important to them. That is a very positive indication of Jewish pride. Can we turn this into covenant and commitment?

A few thoughts about the Pew study.

Most of this is not new. The Pew study simply gives us the metrics for what we already knew. Young Jews are rewriting the norms of behavior that have long characterized Jewish life: marrying later, deferring Jewish families, having fewer children, connecting less to Jewish institutions and Israel and choosing an individualized Jewish “sovereign self” filled with pride and prospect, but only partially engaged in community.

Just as this picture of Jewish life has been developing for some time, Noah built the Ark over many years. He did not alter the environment. He didn’t save others and they were not interested in being saved. Avraham was different. He had a different vision and sought to alter the practices and beliefs around him. He was profoundly counter-cultural. We have to be more like Avraham than Noah. What might we do?

Strengthen the core.

While the fervently Orthodox community may survive in its Ark, the modern Orthodox and Conservative community is like Avraham with our tents open to the world and engaged with the general society. We have to strengthen this segment of Jewish life. As The Forward noted, a weakened Conservative movement harms other denominations. All Jews benefit from having multiple opportunities for Jewish expression, and from the scholarship and leadership that has emerged from Conservative institutions. Many contemporary agents of creative change were educated in Conservative seminaries. Without a strong centre, Judaism will become more polarized and simply less viable.

We are working very hard at Beth Tzedec using many models for Jewish engagement. Meditation services, outreach to interfaith families, mishpahah programs for young children and parents, youth activities and the active involvement of shinshinim, teen trips for service learning, sports and cultural initiatives for young professionals and much more. We are constantly trying new approaches for outreach and engagement. Our renewed ASK program for adult Jewish education offers opportunities for to become bat or bar mitzvah or to upgrade their early Jewish education. We are limited not by our imagination, but by our budget. We need more staff and resources to do more.

Strengthen the core.

Since 2000, over 70% of non-Orthodox Jews have chosen to marry non-Jews. Individually, a mixed marriage may be to a wonderful person, but communally and over time, this trend is devastating. Jews married to non-Jews are far less likely to belong to a synagogue, follow traditions, contribute to Jewish tzedakah, raise children as Jews, engage in the Jewish world and support Israel. There are examples to the contrary, but the plural of anecdote is data. The metrics can’t be ignored.

Recognizing that this will not have a simple solution, we must speak more about the difficulties of intermarriage, actively encourage conversion, and develop programs for young single Jews to meet each other.

Strengthen the core.

Reform and Conservative Jews who go to Jewish day schools and summer camps – such as Ramah- have very high rates of engagement and retention. Can we maintain the quality of the core and grow it? Jewish life requires commitment - time, money, and motivation. For too many, it requires too much.

Judaism is action-oriented. Hebrew is alien to most American Jews.Judaism requires training to understand the fundamentals of faith. Most people are not culturally literate. “That which is continually diluted will eventually disappear” (Wolpe).

To revive ourselves, to flourish, we have to go beyond the idea of continuity to embrace a belief that Jewish life is worth embracing. Jews in the Pew said that leading an ethical and moral life is the essential part of being Jewish. These are central to Judaism, but are not unique to Jews.

In the century before 1492, Spanish teachers and scholars emphasized the singular fundamentals of Judaism to enable our people to withstand the pressures of the Inquisition. Shabbat, tefillin, Hebrew, Torah study, and kashrut keep the flame of our tradition burning. It is worth a sustained and serious struggle.

We need more than a magic pill. There is no Jewish Viagra to transform flaccid Jews of good conscience into passionate Jews of engagement and involvement. The patient requires a new way of living. Intensive and exciting Jewish education, creative communities of commitment and relationship have the potential to renew and rejuvenate Judaism.

This week, Rabbi David Wolpe wrote that Conservative and Reform Jews “have sustained powerful, wonderful institutions, built schools and camps and federations and boards and a giant infrastructure of social and communal aid. What they — what we — have not yet done is prove to ourselves and our children that all this mandates a lifelong investment of time, energy, money and devotion. I believe that we can and we must. At the risk of sounding quaint, God wants us to.”

Long ago, Abraham and Sarah heard that message and we are challenged to continue on their path.