I’ll admit it, I enjoy Facebook.
I find it a convenient way to share pictures of my kids, milestones and important accomplishments. I enjoy seeing what friends who live outside of Milwaukee are doing and how their kids are growing — it’s a way to stay connected.
I try hard not to post every thought that fills my head or post too often. Instead, I focus on sharing those things I consider to be more important in my life.
Another thing that I appreciate about Facebook is the push I get to read and pursue different articles about Jewish life.
Each month through Facebook, I am exposed to dozens of blogs and articles from The New York Times, the Jewish Forward, The Washington Post and kveller.com about a different aspect of Judaism and Jewish parenting.
When half a dozen of my friends share the same article on Facebook in one day, I can’t possibly pass it up.
In the interest of full disclosure, this phenomenon might be stronger for me. Many of my Facebook friends are rabbis, cantors or educators; and I’m subscribed to at least three Jewish educational “groups” on Facebook. Still, I love how easy it is to read different opinions on Jewish life.
In the last year, a string of shared articles has appeared, pro and con, about the cost and importance of Jewish day schools, the power of Jewish preschools and recent postings about bar and bat mitzvah celebrations and where they are headed.
The latter was precipitated perhaps by the YouTube video of Sam Horowitz’s bar mitzvah dance, or the bar mitzvah “save the date video” last year in Atlanta that went viral.
And we can’t forget about the multitude of postings about Jewish summer camps that start appearing in May and scroll through the summer.
Is there a takeaway from these articles and blogs? Besides being powerful tools that expose us to other opinions and educational philosophies, do they offer another role in our lives?
I suggest they do hold a key for our Jewish futures. What the composite of these blogs and articles do is remind us of the breadth of options and paths that we need to offer for engagement in Jewish life.
They reinforce that Jews in the 21st century are diverse and are often looking to gain something specific to their lives from Judaism.
The adage that for every two Jews there are three opinions holds true for engagement as well, for every two Jews are looking for three different aspects of Judaism to enhance and affect their lives.
Jewish day school might be the right decision for my family and my children, but it might not be the answer for the family down the street. Synagogue religious schools educate hundreds of thousands of children, yet, some still find it to be tedious or burdensome and opt out.
Same thing for why a Jewish preschool could be a way to connect for some families and too intimidating or high a barrier for another.
Likewise, our difference in connecting compels some Jews to support a congregation and belong throughout their lives, and others wonder why they should pay dues after their kids are grown.
Even a rite of passage as meaningful as bar/bat mitzah ceremony is open for change when we stop and recognize that a traditional celebration might be meaningful for one 13-year-old and not as effective as undertaking a large scale social action project for a different 13-year-old.
In the Torah (Genesis 9:6 and elsewhere), we are taught that we are created “b’tzelem Elohim,” in the image of God. We each share a divine spark, but also have differences that ensure that no two of us are alike and that no three of us find meaning in the same way.
We are taught to celebrate and respect those differences. Consequently, we must work to make sure that your spark and mine can both find their places in Jewish life.
What does this say for a Jewish community of today? We need synagogues, Jewish community centers, Jewish federations, Jewish preschools and summer camps.
We need PJ Library programs to promote Jewish literacy among our children, and we need a canopy of Judaism that is wide enough and has enough entrances to inspire Jews to enter.
We need more collaboration and more partnership. We need liberal Judaism and Orthodox Judaism and everything in between.
We all need to do our part to engage, to attract, to inspire and to allow each and every Jewish and in some cases, non-Jewish souls, to find their place in Jewish life today.
And we need to keep reading and allow our eyes to be open to the new possibilities that exist in our ever-changing Jewish world.
Rabbi Shari Shamah is Jewish Family Specialist at the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center.
Loading ...