Understanding Continuity

mo

A week at Brandeis helps a reporter see her current connections to the past.

ALLISON KAPLAN

Special to The Jewish News

T

o my fellow young and
sometimes single readers:
Judaism wants you.
"But I'm already Jewish,"
you're probably saying, and I'm going to
assume you know what you're talking
about. What you might not know is
what they are talking about — they being
the Jewish Studies professors who spent
their summer days sitting around tables
in freezing cold board rooms expound-
ing on issues much more complex and
historically rooted than applied catch
phrases such as-"Jewish Continuity"
would suggest.
I know this is what goes on behind
the ivy-covered walls of esteemed East
Coast campuses because I recently
returned from a week at Brandeis
University in Waltham, Mass., where I
participated in the first-ever Brandeis
Fellows Program for Journalists in the
Jewish Press.
-I'll admit, I was nervous about
attending a program with such a long
title. I had nightmares in which I was
the only relatively non-observant person
attendinab the conference with 14
Hassidic Jews who ultimately get me
kicked out of the program for not being
able to write a 4-page single-spaced
essay comparing and contrasting the
contributions of Abraham and Isaac.
Of course I realized on some rational
level that my fears were totally
unfounded. The whole point of the
program was to provide a well-rounded
base of Jewish knowledge for young
reporters like myself who write on
Jewish topics, but managed not to learn
much more than the Hebrew alphabet
in eight years of Jewish education.
I went in to the conference thinking
journalism was the common interest
among the 17 of us, chosen from news-
papers around the country. But I found
that the real link was a curiosity about
this religion we share — a connection,
without being quite certain what it is
we're connecting to.
Our group spent a week talking with
the experts about Talmud, modern

Allison Kaplan (singlstyle@aolcorn) is
a freelance writer based in Chicago.

9/11
1998

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Jewish history, Jewish philanthropy and
current social issues in Judaism.
For the first time, I was able to draw
modern-day meaning from ancient text.
It puts our every relationship crisis in
perspective to realize talmudic charac-
ters grappled with infidelity, temptation
and jealousy.
I found out that Judaism has histori-
cally been pro-abortion. I learned the
emphasis on higher education didn't
begin with my generation. I realized
some of my own attitudes, which I
thought were strictly my own, may sub-
consciously relate to my religious back-
ground and upbringing. I felt very
much a part of this group - and not just
because we could play the name game
or joke about not being able to under-
stand any of the Hebrew words we can
all read.
The sense of connection I was feel-
ing on a personal level, I've come to
understand, relates to a favorite topic of
Jewish scholars and historians. Whether
our discussions were based on ancient
text or current surveys, most evolved
into perspectives on Jewish continuity
The phrase, the idea, the contemporary
debate, came up over and over again.
Associate Prof. Sherry Israel, with
the Hornstein Program of Jewish
Communal Service at Brandeis, is

alarmed that the number of American
Jews earning advanced degrees is on
the rise, but our Jewish education is
stuck at age 13. As graduate students
and corporate-climbing professionals,
today's young Jewish adults are on the
move, which Israel says breaks up con-
nections not only to family, but to
synagogues, neighborhoods, lifelong
friendships.
The thinly-veiled point Israel makes
is our dispersion adds to that well-
known intermarriage rate which she
believes is over-emphasized, yet under-
valued.
To cope with intermarriage, Israel
suggests we "raise our children to be so
Jewish, no matter who they marry, their
kids will be Jewish."
Another Brandeis professor, Sylvia
Barack Fishman, says even more signifi-
cant than intermarriage today is the rate
of non-marriage among Jews. As we put
off settling down, a growing number of
Generation Xers aren't marrying at all,
said Fishman, assistant professor of
Contemporary Jewish Life and
Sociology of American Jews.
Beyond the future implications of
Jews not replacing themselves here on
Earth, the experts say this trend toward
singleness confounds traditionally cou-
ples-oriented synagogues. Let's face it,

those one-year trial memberships go out
as gifts for weddings, not medical
school graduations.
So basically, the Jewish establishment
doesn't know how — or where — to reach
us.
I think my favorite lesson of the
week came from Prof. Jonathan Sarna,
head of the Brandeis Department of
Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, co-.
coordinator of the fellows program and
one of the country's most highly regard-
ed American Jewish historians.
Sarna — who proudly declares his 6-
year-old daughter already knows her
daddy will not attend her wedding if
she marries outside the faith — calls con-
tinuity the oldest debate in Judaism. He
compares the Jewish people to
hypochondriacs who live a long time,
but always worry about dying.
"It is a function to Jews to keep
thinking they're disappearing," Sarna
said. "It stimulates the best efforts to
keep fighting."
I was brought back to this insightful
statement during a discussion at the
close of the conference which had edi-
tors from some of the country's largest
Jewish newspapers "scratchingtheir
heads over how to draw in young read-
ers. Some said they have even conduct- c'
ed surveys, concluding what they need
to do is give young people...what they
want. Take a moment to ponder that
one.
Listening to this profound discussion
were the journalism fellows — about half
of whom are in our 20s, none of whom
are particularly religious. In my mind, a
group fairly representative of our gener-
ation.
Believe it or not, many of us write
for Jewish papers as a way to connect
with the Jewish community. Heck,
some of us used sacred vacation days
to participate in this unique opportu-
nity to expand our Jewish horizons. I
don t think any of us walked away
from the conference with a brilliant
plan to engage young people in
Judaism and stop them from marrying
outside the faith, but at least we cared
enough to come together — learning
about religion and making friends at
the same time.
I'm no expert. But to me, that's
Jewish continuity. ❑

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