How is this Judaism different...

So here I am, day one of "re-entry" into my normal life after my first whirlwind, wondrous "Smicha Week" with the ALEPH Ordination Program. And I'm trying to figure out how to integrate all that I learned and present you, my dear readers, with some sort of "take-home message" from my forty eight days on Sinai. 

Well, I learned a lot of things that I'm still sifting through, like "davening (praying) shacharit before breakfast every morning is a really awesome way to start your day" and "you can actually do your prayer services differently every single time and have them all feel 'right'" and "if I can get out of my I'm-a-smart-guy-who-everybody-should-listen-to ego and start listening to all of these other smart people I'm surrounded by I can really learn some stuff." But I'm still processing all of that (and more!) and maybe I'll come out with a lessons-learned blog later this week.

In the meantime, I have something that might be even better to share with you all: some profound questions we all need to be asking ourselves if we are going to renew Judaism for the current and future generations. 

Start by asking yourself "why is this Judaism we are building different from all other Judaisms?" and then proceed to ponder -- I mean, deeply think about -- some of the following questions that came up on the last day of my history class (only four of these questions are mine -- try to guess 'em -- the others were suggested by my really fantastic classmates). Feel free to post your tentative answers (or your own questions!) in the comments...

  • on the level of triage: how do we take care of people's immediate needs and safety?
  • on the level of vision: what is our long view? what do we want the future of Judaism to look like?
  • how do we balance pressing, time-sensitive needs with a reverent approach to planning?

  • how do we handle collective trauma in a healthy way?
  • can we replace all of this focus on remembering past wrongs (such as Holocaust) with an annual remembrance of this past year?

  • how do we fully accept every person who wants to participate in our congregational life?

  • we can be a "separate" people or a "holy" one -- how do we move from the first to the second?
  • has our Judaism become too "ethnos" centric?
  • how do we create the recognition of a wider "in group"?
  • how do we connect more people, more kinds of people, to the wonderful things Judaism has to offer?
  • how do we move past an old us-vs-our-oppressors, fear-based/victim-based, us-vs-them mentality and truly open our doors and our hearts to the world?

  • how do we welcome more diverse expressions of Judaism in our congregations?
  • can we allow more diverse modalities of praying, communicating, and being?
  • who gets the authority to define "legitimate" Judaism?
  • how do we allow our Judaism to be more expressive, more beautiful, more "out" in the world?

  • Is American Judaism becoming Orthodox vs. Everybody Else? Can we have a Judaism that includes both groups?
  • How do we embrace both within- and between-group diversity?

  • Can everyone feel ownership of their own Jewish practice without the idea of a "bad Jew"?
  • How do we make space for voices of passionate desire for a better Judaism that come into conflict?
  • How do we listen with avavat hinam, humility, and strength?

  • Can we lower the threshold of access to Judaism while raising the bar of engagement with it?
  • Can we recognize that Judaism has always been evolving, let go of our own orthodoxies, and start trying new things?

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