oints of view Reforming Reform from page 23 How will we know when the high-profile campaign has succeeded? Reads the resolution: "When, rather than being the exception, it becomes the norm that Reform Jewish teens experience social, emotional, spir- itual, moral and intellectual growth within the context of a vibrant, caring and inclusive Jewish community" An earlier resolution passage gives a timeline: "By 2020, we aim to engage a majority of Reform Jewish teens actively in Jewish communal learning and living in order to guarantee a vibrant and dynamic Jewish future' Time, of course, will tell. But standing pat isn't the answer. Buoyed by the generous support of Audrey and Bill Farber of Franklin, Temple Israel has initiated "One Hundred Ways In:' an innovative approach to engaging post-b'nai mitzvah teens that can serve as a national model. The target population is about 750 teens. The synagogue currently serves about 50 percent in the post-b'nai mitzvah years, a decrease of 20 percent from previous decades. The goal is to significantly expand options to get involved and dramatically lower hurdles to participate — and thus create 100 ways in not just for temple teens, but also unaffiliated teens. Troubling Trend In his address at the biennial, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, outgo- ing URJ president, declared: "I don't believe that our kids are a lost generation. And we cannot afford to wait and see what happens. Therefore, our synagogues and our movement are already doing what they do in times of distress — they are rethinking, readjusting and recon- figuring. And this is what is going to happen. We are going to invite our young people in. We are going to empower them. And we are going to dream with them." Rabbi Yoffie The test will be how many of those dreams come true, especially here in Metro Detroit, where the Reform-teen synagogue dropout rate is high. The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's 2010 Update to its 2005 Detroit Jewish Population Study reveals that the num- ber of 5- to 12-year-olds in Reform synagogue schools is about even since 2005, but the number of 13- to 17-year-olds is down a whopping 36 percent. Jewish camp enrollment, a key launch pad for future leaders within organized Jewry, is down nearly 2 percent for Reform synagogue youth ages 3-17. Rabbi Mike Moskowitz of Temple Shir Shalom in West Bloomfield said, "For many, myself included, the decision to become a rabbi began as a teen in NFTY, where the influence of exciting young rabbis and pro- fessionals challenged us and motivated us to dedicate our lives to Judaism. "We realized our faith gave us not only social connections we desired as teens, but also a lens through which to see our world. Our community has been blessed with great rabbis that understand this, but developing this understanding nationally will moti- vate us even more." It's not a stretch to say the future of Rabbi the Reform movement, nationally and Moskowitz locally, hinges mightily on the broad, but not-yet-deep pillars of the Campaign for Youth Engagement. I I 24 January 5 - 2012 JN Commentary A New Israel? Threats to democracy come from within. I write this out sadness and alarm. I immigrated to Israel more than 40 years ago, and never have I been as worried about Israel's future as I am now. It's not the external threats, but the internal threat that distresses me. When I moved to Israel in 1971, the country was open and fairly liberal. Although there were conflicts between the ultra-Orthodox and secu- lar populations, in general, an attitude of "live and let live" prevailed. Over the past few years, this has changed. The ultra-Orthodox popula- tion has imposed segregation between men and women on buses in Jerusalem and sought to enforce separate pathways for men and women on the same streets. Ultra- Orthodox soldiers have refused to participate in events where female soldiers sing, and a well-known yeshivah head recently declared that "it's better to face a firing squad than to hear a woman's voice." Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, an ultra- Orthodox member of the Knesset, excluded women from participating in an official awards ceremony. I keep asking myself, what kind of Judaism is this? Certainly not the Judaism I learned in yeshivah and Hebrew school growing up in Detroit. Over the past year, our Knesset has been deluged with all manner of antidemocratic and totalitarian legislation that mandates loyalty oaths for Arab citizens, attempts to muzzle the news media, fines for anyone advocating a boycott of products from the occupied territories, and stringent regulations and exorbitant penalties for non-governmental civil rights and leftist organizations. Most of these bills have been introduced by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party. He and most of his Knesset faction grew up in the former Soviet Union. Their concept of democracy is far dif- ferent from Western democracy and values. Violent and thuggish settlers and their right-wing allies, who for years have uprooted Palestinian olive trees and attacked innocent Palestinians and were not arrested nor convicted of their crimes, have been emboldened to desecrate mosques and to attack soldiers, who are there to protect them. Who is responsible for these antidemocratic trends that are destroying Israel's Declaration of Independence and record of defending human rights and liberal values? The blame lies squarely with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite his tough words and speeches, during his premiership he has done noth- ing to protect Israel's democracy and stop the drift toward authoritarianism. Although he has preached about and marketed fear about the external threats to Israel, which do exist, he conveniently ignored the I keep asking myself, what kind of Judaism is this? Certainly not the Judaism I learned in yeshivah and Hebrew school growing up in Detroit. dangerous internal threats that became worse and more blatant as time went on. One well-known political commentator sees this as a reflection of Netanyahu's weak leader- ship and moral laxity. It appears that Netanyahu is more interested in holding together his right-wing coalition and staying in power than he is protect- ing Israel's democracy, freedom of expression and human rights. After an army base was recently attacked by vio- lent settlers and their supporters, none of whom was arrested, and the shock this had on Israelis, Netanyahu was forced to emerge from his lethargy. He assured Israeli voters that such action would not be tolerated and the perpetrators would pay a heavy price. But since he has ignored violent set- tler actions in the past, we must wait and see if his actions match his words. Recently, certain Knesset members launched a misguided publicity campaign in the United States to bring Israeli expatriates back to Israel by instill- ing the fear of assimilation and loss of Jewish iden- tity. This upset the American Jewish community. Because the prime minister is very cognizant of American Jewish opinion, he ordered it stopped. But how successful would any such campaign be if the Israel being marketed to the expatriates is more religiously intolerant, less democratic and less free than the country they currently live in and the Israel they left? The only solution to the internal threats we face is strong governmental action to stamp it out. Without such a commitment, Israel will become a country that few Jews in Israel or abroad will support or want to be identified with. Israel is a wonderful country to live in. Israelis are warm and outgoing. The country is filled with talented and creative people. The numbers of Nobel Prize winners, medical and agricultural innovations, high-tech startup companies, patents and Israeli prize-winning films all attest to this. In this sense, the country would make its founders proud. But the recent antidemocratic and antiliberal trends are not what they dreamed of and our young men died for. Robert Rockaway is a professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. He grew up in Detroit and wrote a history of Jewish Detroit, "The Jews of Detroit: 1762-1914" (Wayne State University, 1986).