In the fall, the Pew Research Center released “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” and we devoured article after article, and one infographic after another, analyzing the changing demographics of the Jewish people.
A few years before that, we were treated to the results of the “Jewish Community Study of Greater Milwaukee,” telling us that there were many more Jews in and around our city than had been previously thought, and that we are much more spread out that many want to believe.
The Union for Reform Judaism, the Reform Movement’s umbrella organization, is currently engaging in “Communities of Practice” initiatives, studies and other targeted campaigns to try to reach out to young adults, to teens, to young families, to the unaffiliated and to many more segments within and outside the Jewish community.
We Jews like to find other Jews, to count other Jews and to bring them into our communities — and we have always tried to do so.
In this month, we will read the last few Torah portions from the book of Leviticus, and begin the book of Numbers.
Many of us think of Leviticus as a listing of laws, some easy to follow and some not. Some are easy to understand, and some have stumped generations of rabbis.
But all of these laws seek to do much of what these modern-day studies and initiatives are still trying to do — define community and bring people into it.
So as these studies tell us that the Jewish community is both growing and changing, our Torah tells us that traditions stay the same. And yet, one of our goals is to help our growing, changing community to appreciate and learn about these seemingly-static traditions. And so we find the ways that our tradition, too, can grow and change.
I have joked about holding office hours where I run into people the most, which is often everywhere other than in my office.
Perhaps, I have said, I should work at a rotating array of coffee shops, the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun’s own Soref Lounge and in the aisles of Metro Market or Trader Joe’s.
In all these places, I am likely to see a mix of congregants, interested Jews and Jews who would never dream of intentionally walking into a rabbi’s office, let alone a sanctuary.
In the coming months, I may do just that. We have found that our tradition can grow and change along with our population, as we move Shabbat observances beyond the synagogue and into other spaces where Jews gather.
I have been celebrating a monthly Shabbat with young adults in assorted spaces in Shorewood and the city of Milwaukee. There are conversations about celebrating part of Shabbat or Havdalah with representatives of many congregations at PrideFest, and we continue to seek new ways to celebrate old and thriving traditions.
Leviticus and the census that opens the book of Numbers remind us that Judaism is, and always has been, all about building community. For our ancient ancestors, that meant bringing sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem.
For our parents and grandparents, it may have been helping out at the synagogue as often as possible. For our changing and growing community, it might mean forming a Facebook group, having Shabbat dinners together or eating Jewish foods.
But throughout time, it is about getting to know one another so that as we grow and change, we learn more about ourselves and our tradition.
It is about getting to know one another so that the Pew study’s “Jews of no religion” are not just a few bars on an infographic, but people who might be curious to learn just a little more, to sit down together for some Jewish food (or just a cup of coffee), to remember that there is more to being Jewish than bar mitzvah and Yom Kippur.
It is about getting to know one another so that the Jews in Bay View, Franklin, Wauwatosa and Grafton feel as connected as those in Mequon, Bayside and Fox Point.
It is about getting to know one another so that we can discuss the different ways we do and do not keep Shabbat, the different ways we do and do not study Jewish texts, the different ways we do and do not cook our matzah balls and kugels, and more importantly, the similar ways we do all of those things.
Our tradition has always been based on building community, and finding the changing, growing community and reaching out to its members.
Want to have a cup of coffee and keep moving forward? I can’t wait to continue building our community, one cup of coffee, one conversation at a time.
Rabbi Jessica Barolsky is rabbi-director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun.
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