CHALLENGING QUESTIONS
CELEBRATING REALITIES

Opinion

FSU Renaissance
Needs Support

Tulsa/JTA

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COLLOQUIUM 2009
OCTOBER 23 25
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CHALLENGING CONVENTION:
SECULAR AND HUMANIST AND JEW

WHO ARE SECULAR AMERICANS?
CAN YOU BE GOOD WITHOUT A GOD?
CAN YOU SEPARATE 'SYNAGOGUE AND STATE' IN ISRAEL?
WHEN IS CONFORMITY GOOD?

Secular Humanistic Judaism challenges convention in
many directions. We challenge conventional wisdom,
looking for meaning and community in this world, not
beyond. We challenge universalist secular conventions,
insisting on our particular Jewishness. And we challenge
Jewish convention in Israel and North America, asking
questions and celebrating realities that others fear.

FEATURED PRESENTERS:

RON ARONSON • CARYN AVIV
JACQUES BERLINERBLAU
LORI LIPMAN BROWN
ADAM CHALOM • GREG EPSTEIN
SIVAN MALKIN MAAS

The International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism
Pivnick Center for Humanistic Judaism at The Birmingham Temple
28611 West Twelve Mile Road, Farmington Hills, MI 48334

Registration Information: 847-777-6907
iishj@iishj.org • www.iishj.org

COLLOQUIUM 2009

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October 15.- 2009

answer would ultimately hold the key
to Jewish renewal in the United States
and elsewhere.

or millennia, the month of
Elul has been a time for con-
Modern Perspective
templation for many Jews.
Today, what we and others sowed in
The waning of the prior year and the
the 1980s and 1990s have grown into
promise of a new beginning offer the
fruit-bearing trees from which the
perfect opportunity to take stock of
local and global Jewish community
where we have traveled and the road
will benefit for years to come.
that lies ahead.
In addition to the 26
It was against this back-
Hinds in the region, there
ground of our tradition
are synagogues, Jewish
that I recently traveled to
community centers, chesed-
Kiev and, on my way home,
im (social service/welfare
found myself reflecting on
centers), kindergartens, day
the miraculous revival of
4.4.,
schools, camps, youth pro-
Jewish life in the former
grams, academic groups,
Soviet Union, a transforma-
women groups and Taglit/
tion I have had the privilege
Birthright Israel. Even local
of witnessing firsthand dur-
Jewish fenders, including
ing the past two decades.
Sand ythe Genesis Philanthropic
Fifteen years ago, the Jews
S p ecial
Group, are supporting a
of the former Soviet Union
Commentar yvariety of other projects in
were just awakening from
the region, including Hillel.
70 years of oppression. The
In short, it is no longer a stretch to
Communist regime prohibited the
talk in terms of Jewish communal life
practice of Judaism and those syna-
in places such as Kiev and Kharkov,
gogues that were neither destroyed
Tashkent and Tblisi, Moscow and
nor allowed to fall into ruin were put
Minsk. Thanks to the efforts of many,
to use by the state for non-religious
a strong Jewish infrastructure now
purposes.
exists to support the Jews of these
Other than the American Jewish
communities, especially those who
Joint Distribution Committee and
still live on meager pensions and
Chabad, very few Jewish groups had
require our ongoing assistance.
any meaningful representation and
Of course, our community-build-
programs in the region; and the mix
of apprehension and ignorance among ing work in the FSU is far from over.
Even in these difficult economic times,
the local Jewish population made
we must continue to make long-term
working there a very difficult task.
investments in the region in addition
Despite these obstacles, Lynn and
to meeting individual needs of the
the late Charles Schusterman consid-
elderly and infirm or risk watching
ered the lifting of the Iron Curtain a
our hard-earned gains of the past 20
window of opportunity that they sim-
years slip away.
ply could not afford to miss. They also
We cannot afford to take an 'either-
felt there could be significant lessons
or" approach; an "and-both" is our
to be learned about assimilation and
only alternative and we must find
the power of the Jewish experience
ways to muster the resolve and the
from a people returning to Judaism
resources to make that happen.
from a deep, dark, government-
imposed slumber.
Useful Take-Aways
And so, in 1994, our foundation
And
what of the lessons we hoped to
joined with Hillel and the American
learn?
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
We confirmed our sense that
to open Hillel programs in Moscow,
using
Hillel to reach out, educate and
St. Petersburg and Kiev. Our goals
empower
young Jews would be an
were to begin to plant the seeds of
effective
way
to identify, recruit, train
a vibrant Jewish community in the
and
engage
a
new
generation of Jewish
former Soviet Union and then, if we
communal
leadership,
both lay and
were successful, to discover what it
is about Judaism that kept a yearn-
ing alive for so many. We hoped that
FSU Renaissance on page 32