Judaism...Individualism....Community

Before I ever got involved in education, I learned to appreciate sociology and its study of society. I still like looking at sociological studies about the Jewish community, especially those conducted by Steven M. Cohen, a research professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College . In one of his studies he looks at the concept of Jewish community. He mentions that all aspects of Jewish life as we know it today, presume the existence of a Jewish community. Religious observance, Jewish education, Jewish charitable activities, and Jewish voluntary organizations are all dependent upon the existence of a strong Jewish community. A strong Jewish community makes it possible to transmit norms of behavior and to shape Jewish identities. Once those identities have been formed, a Jewish community provides the context for expressing one's beliefs.

Cohen asks about the meaning of community today? Does a sense of community require repeated contact among its members? Does community require recognition among its members? Are common interests enough to create community? Do shared values, space, and institutions constitute a sense of community? Is community merely in people's minds or is it a result of repeated social interaction?

Cohen suggests that people in this day and age seem less attached structurally and less attached emotionally to the traditional bases that constitute communities. There is greater individualism among citizens in America. We have many individuals in our midst who change religions as they focus on finding personal meaning. Religion is seen as a means for serving one's individual needs. Americans including Jews tend to be seeking rather than dwelling in a religious community. Fewer Jews count other Jews as significant others in their lives than during past generations. Fewer Jews are members of Jewish communal institutions than their predecessors. There has been a decline in the attachment of young Jews to Israel and Jewish peoplehood. Israel is not as central to the identification of how American Jews see themselves as Jews as in the past. If you look at Federations around the country, they have less money being given to Israel unless it focuses on specific causes that can make younger Jews identify with the cause.

It would seem that the problems we are trying to solve in our own community, are not unique to small communities rather, part and parcel of the American Jewish experience during a period of increased individualism. Is it possible to have strong institutions that promote community if the outlook of those whom we want to join with us are not in alignment with the goals of those institutions? If the synagogue promotes community as a way of enhancing religious observance and education, is it possible to keep programming going if those whom we need to join in, will only do so when they feel as if the experience will be one that enhances their own self- image? Is it possible to regain the idea that in Judaism, the concept of community is a core value?

There are many questions that will be answered only with time. Our response as a community may have to be that of adapting new models of Jewish interaction. But then again, I'm not sure that watering down what has worked for generations is necessarily a positive step.