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Friday December 22, 2006

Asking the tough questions about our religion’s future

by william l. schwartz

As an elderly Jewish person thinking about our generations to come, I worry about the world Jewish population continuing to decline since the Shoah.

Every country in the world, except Israel, is experiencing this alarming statistic. For comparison purposes, the Jewish population of the world is about 13 million people. The Christian population is about 2.5 billion and the Muslim population is about 1.3 billion — a ratio of about one Jew for about 2,000 Christians and 1,000 Muslims.

One study suggests that if a Jewish family passes two generations without synagogue affiliation, that family leaves Judaism. The relationship between Jewish people and the synagogue would seem to be the most important place to look in terms of making, maintaining and sustaining this critical bonding between the Jewish family and the synagogue. What are some of these factors which may relate to our ongoing problem of a declining Jewish population?

More than 50 percent of our young people choose a non-Jewish partner in marriage. These unions could represent a population windfall for our people, if we could bring those new families into the Jewish community, but unfortunately most choose to go elsewhere and, indeed, only one out of three of the children of those families are raised as Jews. Jewish family size is also less than the general population.

The majority of Jews in the community don’t have synagogue affiliation. Some describe themselves as secular Jews, or Jews who maintain only a cultural connection, or those who choose to make no religious identification or convert to another faith.

Jews may, and often do, criticize every aspect of synagogue life — some like it this way and some like it that way, and that reflects our analytical and curious nature and is usually constructive. What is worrisome is sparse attendance — people who don’t come to regular services, or come only once a year, or fail to make any connection to the synagogue at all. This represents a core problem contributing to our checkered identity as a community.

If the synagogue is the center of Jewish family bonding to the Jewish community, I am going to ask some questions abut issues that could be helpful in analyzing some of the problems which may relate to our declining population.

Rabbis have criteria set down by their central organizations and also have some personal choices in deciding for whom they will and those for whom they will not perform marriage ceremonies. Consider, what would happen if a rabbi married any couple where one partner was Jewish and the other was not and they agreed to have a Jewish wedding? To follow up, what would happen if the Jewish community made a maximum effort to open every door and window in our hearts and institutions to bring in those newlyweds into our community?

What would happen if a non-Jewish person desiring to convert to Judaism could do so in three months? What if the brit milah could be in the usual form of circumcision, or through an abbreviated procedure or a symbolic service to complete the same requirement of the covenant?

What changes in the synagogue could draw more members and others into the synagogue? What if a major goal of the synagogue was directed at addressing problems people encounter in their everyday lives through the teachings and values of Torah and other writings? What if we were encouraged and instructed in how to engage the issues of our lives through the principles of the Ten Commandments and other writings as a means of directing our daily lives and solving some of our personal problems?

And what if the comforting, beautiful, repetitive prayers read each week were read mostly in English in order for most Jews and non-Jews to understand every word and nuance of the prayers and to better be able to incorporate these directions in their daily lives?

What if scholarly Jews, often from the nonaffiliated part of the community, who possess a particular area of knowledge, were invited to give sermons on topics of their expertise relating to the Torah portion which involves their area of excellence? Why do Jews generally know less about Judaism than non-Jews know about their religions?

What if we made arrangements for every Jewish child to attend a Jewish camp and also to take a trip to Israel as a means of education and bonding to the Jewish people? What if we could prepare our young people for college and its extreme challenges with a knowledge of Judaism and Jewish history at a level equal to their ability in mathematics and literature?

And what if we could create in the Jewish community — through its various organizations including Jewish community Centers, Web sites, education programs, Jewish camps, travel experiences and service organizations — a common motivation to encourage the participants of these institutions to return to synagogue membership and participation, as a means of strengthening the foundation for continued Jewish life and to enrich their personal life through active participation in Judaism as a functioning personal faith?

What if we talked with non-Jewish friends, who have expressed interest in Judaism, about our religion, including God, Torah, community, family and the evolving nature of Judaism, presenting it as a modern, rational religion which they may wish to know more about and to have the opportunity to eventually convert?

What actions could we take if we met a person who has discovered that they have Jewish roots and wishes to explore that history and possibly initiate an action which would allow them to return to Judaism? What if we could present daily programs on television and other media educating all people about Judaism?

In Genesis, God commands the Jewish people to be as numerous as the stars in the sky. We have much work to do.

William L. Schwartz lives in Hillsborough.

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