In Rabbi Sid’s 2023 Kol Nidre sermon, “When Religion Died: A Fable” he portrayed America in 2084, when religion had been banned and, from the grassroots, “sacred circles” started to be created, filling a spiritual hunger that had devastating consequences for the quality of life in this country. This 3-part course will re-visit some of the issues in the sermon but in a more contextual way. While Americans still give a lot of lip service to “God and country”, suggesting that we are a very religious country, all the indicators tell us that American religion has been in steep decline for the last 25 years. In this course, Rabbi Sid will trace the reason for that decline and discuss alternative ways that Americans are meeting their spiritual needs. Among the questions we will explore: Why do we need religion? How is it changing? What new forms are emerging that are appealing to the next generation? What is the “secret sauce” that allow a handful of synagogues to thrive while many others are dying?
The publication of Rabbi Sid’s first book, Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews can Transform the American Synagogue (2000), launched the next phase of his career as a synagogue consultant and a coach/mentor to rabbis from all denominations, all across North America. His current platform is a 2-year fellowship for rabbis called the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI) . In this final session, we will look at some of the most innovative synagogues in North America and how it is that they are bucking the trend of older paradigm synagogues that are shrinking and closing.
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In a pioneering national project called Kenissa (entrance-way): Communities of Meaning Network, Rabbi Sid and his team have uncovered an array of organizations across North America that are literally re-inventing conceptions of Jewish identity and Jewish life. Many of these organizations are operating under the radar screen of the organized Jewish community yet they are attracting the next generation of American Jews who are, for the most part, bypassing the legacy institutions of the organized Jewish community. This talk will provide some insight into the people and ideas that make these Jewish communities of meaning tick.
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