What should the ideal American Jewish community look like in order to survive?
Dennis Prager, a nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host and author, said Sunday that the community should be religious, yet non-Orthodox. Even atheist Jews should observe the Jewish Sabbath to set an example for the next generation, he contended.
But lawyer, author and activist Alan Dershowitz replied, “How can you force somebody to be religious?”
And Anne Roiphe — author and columnist for the New York Observer — said she opposes a uniform Jewish community, favoring instead a vital and diverse American Jewish community.
She added that every generation has had and will continue to have secular Jews who were brought up religious but eventually question their faith, thus ensuring debate among Jews for generations to come.
This exchange was part of the impassioned discussion these three Jewish authors had Sunday on “The Future of American Jewry” at the 92nd St. Y in New York City — and by video with 32 Jewish communities across the United States, including Milwaukee.
The virtual “gathering” was the first in a three-part series called Kallah initiated by the Jewish Community Centers of North America and the 92nd Street Y. Kallah is sponsored locally by the Harry & Rose Samson Family JCC and co-sponsored by Cardinal Stritch University.
“What we are trying to do is to reproduce [a Kallah — an adult Jewish study gathering] in a technological way,” explained Jody Hirsh, director of Judaic Education at the JCC and local moderator for Kallah.
Using videoconferencing technology, panel discussions are telecast from New York City to audiences across the United States, including those gathered in Stritch’s Schroeder Auditorium.
Audience members are able to submit questions to their local moderator, who e-mails them to the panelists, making the program interactive.
According to Hirsh, “There was a lot of passion” in Sunday’s discussion. The panelists “were yelling and interrupting each other; but even though they were passionate about their points, they were committed to having everyone express their opinion.”
Local Jewish educator and activist Marty Katz described the program as “phenomenal…. Their passions were incredible to share and the fact that JCCA was able to do this across the country where there were others like me was fascinating.”
Katz said that while there was much disagreement between the panelists, “all three supported more Jewish days schools, more Jewish education” and all supported the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard for “political, humanitarian and moral reasons.”
Judy Kaplan, associate director of the State of Israel Bonds in Wisconsin, who attended with her husband and son, said she was “particularly interested in seeing and hearing Dennis Prager. I … was not aware of his conservative political leaning … but he was articulate and I enjoyed the range of opinions. That’s what gave [the program] its spark.”
Other topics discussed included school vouchers, the role of American Jews in Israeli politics, anti-Semitism and whether Jews should engage in proselytizing.
Katz summed up the program as “a dialogue at a high intellectual level on a broad array of topics where Jewish texts were read, rabbis names were evoked, where our history was loved and our future cared for. Agree or disagree with the positions they held, I left more respectful and continue to be proud of myself as a Jew.”
The next programs are Tuesday, March 20, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 25, 6:30 p.m., on “Great Jewish Thinkers, Great Wisdom” and “An Evening with Elie Wiesel,” respectively.
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