MOVEMENTS OF FAITH page 25
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sources, but this rabbi will re-
main nameless. While he proba-
bly wouldn't mind being
identified, I know that he can live
without a nasty note from his
movement.
But ask other area rabbis if
they echo his thoughts. They do.
Yes, there's a sense of loyalty to
the organizations that trained
them. But they often ignore
them. That's because they oper-
ate in the real world of American
Jewish life. And in it, the chal-
lenge is not to make Conserva-
tive, Orthodox, Reform or any
other type of Jews. Rather, it's to
figure out why, on a good Shab-
bat, only one-third of the measly
27 percent of Jews in the area
who even belong to a congrega-
tion show up.
The rabbis also know that few
of their congregants — or anyone
else's — believe, let alone live,
within their movement's para-
meters. Rather, people belong
where they feel comfortable. That
has more to do with the rabbi, the
service and the congregation
than its label.
Hence the question: Are the
movements relevant?
If you read their press releas-
es (only eggheads like me do), the
Jewish religious movements are
dynamic and thriving. Before the
blood boils in the handful of local
movement activists, I know the
laundry list of educational and
programmatic material, training
professionals, youth groups,
Israel programs and so on. And
visitors to the 1995 Reform move-
ment convention in Atlanta
found it hard not to be energized.
But such experiences are rare
and fleeting.
I'm more interested in what
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, who is
Orthodox, recently said in New
York City.
The movements should "speak
more charitably of their oppo-
nents and more humbly of their
own accomplishments," he said.
That's because "they should op-
erate on the assumption that
they're not the only Jews who are
going to survive."
Bingo. His mantra is not
looked upon highly by some in
the Orthodox world. Neither is
that of his Orthodox colleague,
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, who
speaks of a post-denominational
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Jewish world.
But the statistics back them
up. In a recent demographic sur-
vey, the Atlanta Jewish Federa-
tion found that about one-third
of us identify as "just Jewish."
That's one of the nation's high-
est rates.
These people are clearly not
captivated by the movements.
The only hope in stimulating
their Jewish identity is to meet
them in less centralized, small-
er units, groups more interested
in Judaism's history, ethics and
moral messages than the politics
of religion.
Ironically, this non-aligned Ju-
daism is finding a home in some
congregations. Increasing num-
bers have chavurot, or small fel-
lowship groups. They often meet
without hands-on rabbinic guid-
ance. That's why we're hearing
more talk about "Jewish tradi-
tion" instead of "what Orthodox,
or Conservative or Reform Jews
do ..." This creates a personal
brand of Judaism, which is very
good.
About one-third of us
identify as "just
Jewish."
That's because there no longer
is a sharp consensus on what a
movement is, but there is a local
sense of what's needed, from city
to city, congregation to congre-
gation.
This will inevitably hamper
the centralized role of the syna-
gogue movements. Yet, they
must encourage the trend if they
want to cultivate more Jews in
the long term.
This should be done through
joint activities outside of the syn-
agogue. And it should be in
places where Jews are, as op-
posed to where the congrega-
tions want them to be. That
means coffeehouses, movie the-
aters, bookstores, malls and,
most importantly, people's
homes.
This in turn will bring tensions
because of the resulting offshoots
of unaligned congregations and
programs. But in promoting this,
we will create a personal sense
of Jewish identity, one that cre-
ates a collective movement of
widely interpreted faith. We have
a name for that: Judaism. ❑
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