Programs versus People

Next week, starting Monday night, starts the holiday of Passover, often regarded as the single most observed Jewish event of the year (unless you count Chinese food on Christmas).

As many Jewish young adults return to their families for Seders, a large number will be targeted for 'young adult seders', programs organized or paid for by Federations, foundations, and other sources. While many of these programs will be incredibly positive for those who attend, they are rarely a substitute for the familiar familial settings.

It was this realization that caused me to start thinking about the situation in which we find ourselves, where programming has replaced people.

I am, on a weekly basis, invited to tens of events, ranging from fundraisers, concerts, panel discussions, and Jewish educational, social, cultural, and religious events.

The chance that I might actually get to have a Shabbat dinner with a few friends, instead of being at a 'Shabbat Dinner Program' is pretty slim. Or at least it was.

You see, organizations, from the Jewish Federation to Moishe House, Next Dor, and on down the line often confuse outcomes with outputs, substituting the number of programs and of participants at these programs for the actual larger goal of creating a Jewish community.

Perhaps this is a result of the non-profit industrial complex, that is to say that in trying to make our work comply with for-profit standards of return-on-investment, that we are forced to view people as widgets.

Jewish community isn't about the number of Shabbat programs I go to, but rather if I have a solid group of friends with whom I am regularly able to have a Shabbat dinner.

This doesn't mean programs aren't valuable. Providing someone, particularly a transplant with a place for Seder can be very powerful, but when we try to use the Seder to leverage other programs, instead of focusing on the people, the relationships, and the experience, I believe that something is lost.

On Passover, we celebrate leaving 'Mitzrayim', the Hebrew for Egypt, but literally translating to 'the narrow place'. It is therefore fitting that we should try to escape narrowly viewing our work as the number of programs we create and recognize that the programs are the vehicle to get us to the destination, they are not the destination itself..

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Next Dor's 5th Question

This story originally appears on Birthright Israel NEXT's blog, Alef and can be found here

Next Dor’s 5th Question

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We’ve asked Jewish educators and organizations all over North America to add a fifth question to the Seder – one that will inspire us to make Passover meaningful for today’s Jewish world. Find out more about our 5th Question project.

This 5th Question comes from Next Dor -

Passover, it turns out, is the most celebrated Jewish holiday of the year. More than Shabbat, more than Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Even ‘high holiday only’ Jews usually make it to a Seder. If Passover, then, is the most important Jewish holiday (by participation), and the Four Questions are the most important parts of the Seder, a fifth question must be taken quite seriously. After all, the Four Questions cut to the heart of the narrative, forcing us to think about our meal as more than just the sum of the foods and people assembled therein. Therefore, I propose a straightforward question, one that it seems is taken for granted by many, but altogether unclear for so many other in our community.

The question is: “Why be Jewish?”

Ok, I know it isn’t in the standard format of ‘why on this night do we do this or do we not do this’, but I think it is probably the most important question in the Jewish world that receives the least amount of attention. Particularly in a time in which so many young adults born to Jewish parents are not identifying with the Jewish community in ways previous generations did, when Antisemitism seems so foreign, and when Israel is so mired in conflict, identifying with and participating in the Jewish community isn’t a given.

I believe that asking this question at the Seder would be quite powerful. Particularly after spending so much of the Seder identifying with our ancestors of old and their struggles, asking and answering the question ‘why’ should we be Jewish today and build the Jewish community in the future would be a strong reaffirmation of our people-hood. It also might give us a chance to really listen to those we consider ‘unaffiliated’ or ‘disengaged’. We might just learn a thing or two and find deeper answers for ourselves as to why we choose, in an age of science, secularism, and sectarianism, to be Jewish.

Next Dor is a platform and program to empower young adults to build Jewish community that is relevant and vibrant. Based out of a renovated house, Next Dor provides the resources and opportunities to bring young adults together in an informal and non-institutional setting.

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Passover Shenanigans

Happy April 1st, a day marked by Google changing its name to Topeka, youtube streaming videos as ASCII text, and us Jews still not eating bread.

This Pesach has already been filled with some interesting happenings, detailed below

First, in the lead up to Pesach, a holiday in which we don't eat chametz, a certain level of 'Spring Cleaning' goes on. But beyond the simple sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming, we also soaked dishes in boiling water to ritually purify them and remove any lingering chametz. All that is pretty standard, but when Dan, president of the Next Dor Board, asked us to sign a contract to allow a Rabbi to sell our remaining Chametz, we were a little confused.

See, religious Jews get rid of all of their chametz, either selling it, giving it away, or burning it in some cases. For those who don't want to waste the food, you can give someone the authority to 'sell' the chametz for the duration of Passover, after which the ownership automatically returns to you.

This work around is pretty humorous to secular Jews who look at it and think, if you are just going to get around it on a technicality, why do it at all... which is a conversation for another day.

We were able to hold a large (38 people) First Night Seder, thanks to a few enterprising friends and a generous grant from Birthright Israel Next. Sure, only 25 people RSVPed, with many contacting us last minute (the latest being around an hour before our scheduled start time), but that is the point of a Seder right? To enable all who are in need to come take part, to help to make people feel at home and welcome, and to fulfill the educational and ritual traditions associated with the holiday.

After consulting with a few Israeli friends, we are happy to announce a Chag Sheinee BBQ, as well as a Mimouna Celebration. There isn't a whole lot of time between now and then, so figure out if you can make it and let us know ASAP.

How have you been dealing with Passover? Have you found the lack of bread particularly hard this year, or has the partial fast aided you in moving towards your own personal freedom?
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Best of the Yidnternet

Good for the Jews: Newsweek rates Central Reform in St. Louis one of the top 25 congregations in the US.
Bad for the Jews: CRC is described in the article as "St. Louis's [sic] only congregation". See the other 24 here

In our ongoing coverage leading up to Pesach (Passover), we bring you the Grad Student Hagaddah, for all our homies locked down in ivory towers.

Finally, the New York Times wrote a fantastic story about Michelle Obama's cousin, who is a Rabbi. The story gets into some really important issues of race and Judaism. One of those, 'who is and who isn't' deals. Worth a read. Read More......