It
has been the focus of much discussion in the American Jewish world,
the new report by the Pew Research Center. I posted about last
week for those of you interested enough to click over to that.
Earlier
this week Conservative Rabbis had the chance to speak to Prof.
Jonathan Sarna about the studies' findings. One thing more than
everything else resonated with me, regarding the news about all the
"Nones" we have out there - people who take a dim view of
"organized religion."
A
fact that struck me, and apparently many others, is that within the
"Nones" group are Jews affiliated with a synagogue. How
can that be?
Prof.
Sarna explained that this is an example of, "all religion is
local." People who have a dim view organized religion as a
whole may still very much appreciate the local synagogue, rabbi,
school, etc. That near-by institution is what will matter even
if the national offices of the movement do not. These people
may not care about organized religion, but they still care about -
well if not "religion" (although some do and they believe
in God also) then at least "being Jewish".
That
to me was very encouraging news about the study. That it is
possible to be successful and reach these people is something that
can happen. But it is not going to happen just because they are
automatically looking for a Conservative synagogue. But if the
local Conservative (or whatever) synagogue can show how it plays a
role in the lives of people - for them, their kids; show them how to
enrich what they do, be better people - then the synagogue can be a
vital institution.
And
isn't that what we really want our synagogues to be anyway?
Shabbat
Shalom,
Rabbi
Aaron Benson
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