Irene Lehrer Sandalow
“I see the American Jewish community of five million as being like an enterprise with two, roughly equal divisions: one healthy and engaged in all aspects of Jewish life—religious, cultural, political; the other division is near bankruptcy and challenges the health of the overall American Jewish venture.” Rabbi Sid Schwarz in Jewish Megatrends When I […]
Rabbi Jan Salzman
Wisdom/Chochma: We are a new community that has built a presence in the context of Vermont over the 1.5 years we’ve been operating. Most of our families are intermarried and the great outdoors takes precedence over a family’s time (along with music lessons and so much else). I struggle with a foundational question: How am […]
Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
They were older than me, by at least five years, and I was afraid. Though my Satmar Hasidic neighbors were my friends, their cousins usually approached me with disdain whenever I’d go over for a playdate. On one occasion, they bullied me and lifted my shirt up. He asked “where are your tzizis?” Feeling uncomfortable, […]
Jon Adam Ross
Wisdom is a word that makes me uncomfortable. I think it’s because it sounds proprietary. Wisdom is something that can be acquired and dispensed. It’s an asset. I feel more comfortable with the words ‘context’ and ‘perspective’ instead. If the aim of the first proposition in Rabbi Sid’s essay is to give people access to […]
Ahava Rosenthal
Among the propositions Rabbi Sid outlines in the opening chapter of his book, Jewish Megatrends, two of them speak most directly to the objectives and outcomes of the Parenting Through a Jewish Lens program at Hebrew College: chochma, and kehillah. As parents are given the opportunity to view their world through the lens of chochma, […]
Kasey Passen
My work at OneTable advances Jewish life by providing a sense of community for Jewish millennials. At a time where most young Jews are turning away from traditional temple memberships, we know that they wish to connect and build Jewish identity and a sense of community. The weekly moment of unplugging and connecting with intention, […]
Kohenet Stacey-Sephirah Oshkello
Each of the four propositions from Rabbi Sid’s essay are reflected in the seven pillars that are the foundation of Living Tree Alliance. Our three-fold initiative includes a residential co-housing development, a working lands cooperative, and an enrichment program. In each facet we are bridging Jewish wisdom with a communal homesteading lifestyle. Our programs are […]
Rabbi Dev Noily
Sid Schwarz writes about tzedek, or pursuing justice, as one key to building lively, meaningful and healthy Jewish communities. My understanding of how we pursue justice in Jewish community in the U.S. is shifting, especially around the relationship that white Jews have with historic and current structures of white supremacy. Maybe because my father and […]
Elad Nehorai
It was a fascinating experience to read Sid Schwarz’s essay. It was, in many ways, like being able to see so much of what I’ve experienced on an intuitive level, written out and explained. And, in that sense, it very much helped me understand the role I believe Hevria has in the Jewish world’s future. […]
Kohenet Annie Matan
I am a freelance Spiritual Leader and Founder of Matanot Lev (Gifts of the Heart), a radically inclusive Jewish community in Toronto. I specialize in creating and facilitating sacred experiences through a Jewish lens for people of all backgrounds. I widen the gateways of access to Jewish community, helping seekers find welcome and wisdom in […]
Elan Margulies
In the last twenty years, more than 100,000 Jewish children, teachers and young adults have participated in the transformative experience of Teva: immersing themselves in the rhythms of the natural world, learning about the Jewish values of stewardship, and developing a deep commitment to tikkun olam. Kedusha-Lives of Sacred Purpose The program integrates the study […]
Leora Mallach
At its heart, Beantown Jewish Gardens is a community-building organization. The proposition of kehillah/community, therefore resonates most with the work we do. We are making connections among the greater Boston Jewish community- between congregations, across affiliations, denominations, and age cohorts. Beantown Jewish Gardens (Ganei Beantown) is building community through experiential food and agriculture education rooted […]
Naomi Malka
The thesis in Rabbi Sid Schwarz’s introduction to Jewish Megatrends implies that generations of Jews who came of age in the 1980s and beyond lack a central, defining reason to affiliate with the Jewish community or even to carry a primary identity as a Jew. Previous generations were profoundly affected by seminal events in world […]
Jeff Levy-Lyons
The Schwarz essay feels right on target for addressing the challenges of modern Jewish institutions. It also aligns well with the work I’m doing on the climate crisis and the ways in which I see that work being healthy for the Jewish people. I sit on the steering committee the Jewish Climate Action Network (JCAN) […]
Rabbi Aaron Levy
In founding Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism in 2009 and in my ongoing work to nurture the growth and evolution of this grassroots Toronto community, I have aimed to instantiate – albeit to varying extents – all four of Rabbi Sid’s four propositions for a “renaissance of Jewish life”: wisdom/chochma, social justice/tzedek, community/kehillah, and sacred purpose/kedusha. […]
William Levin
At Alliance Community Reboot (ACRe) we adhere to all four propositions in Rabbi Schwarz’s essay—Wisdom/Chochma, Social Justice/Tzedek, Community/Kehillah and Sacred Purpose/Kedusha. As an agricultural initiative with roots in Jewish history, there is a natural inclination to promote social justice through sustainable farming practices. Our first biggest challenge is transitioning 50 acres of land from conventional […]
Stephanie Levin
At the Peninsula Jewish Community Center (PJCC), our work aligns with all of the value propositions outlined by Rabbi Sid Schwarz. The entirety of our work can be encapsulated in the four proposition though it is most closely aligned with the values of tzedek (social justice) and kehillah (community). Our Gan Tzedek (Justice Garden) program […]
Greg Lawrence
There are elements of each of Rabbi Sid’s four propositions by which The Tribe is founded, driven, and continually serves its Millennial community in Greater Miami. The Tribe embodies Wisdom/Chochmah both through rabbinically led text interpretation and by DIY Judaism, the latter of which serves to empower our volunteers with the notion that they too […]
David Krantz
In my observation, many see social justice and environmentalism as two separate things — but that is not the case at Aytzim. For us, caring about the Earth means caring about all of its inhabitants, and that includes us humans. For us, being an environmental organization requires us to be a social-justice organization. And while […]
Steffi Aronson Karp
LimmudBoston, the annual conference celebration of Jewish lifelong learning, aligns strongly with the four basic propositions of Jewish Megatrends. Additionally, over the past decade of our existence, we have discovered the potential for an area outside of the four propositions of Jewish Megatrends. I propose here a concept which could not only help to revive […]
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