Danielle V. Minson — Raising the Bar
Food for Thought
In the past month we brought three amazing thought leaders to Jewish Cincinnati. The Director of Religion Research at the Pew Research Center, Alan Cooperman, spoke about the future of American Judaism; Rabbi Steven Leder, of Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard Temple, with the theme of “you matter,” spoke about the need to spark a renaissance within our organizations to ensure the survival of the Jewish culture and people; and Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of the Wexner Foundation, spoke about the art of civil discourse.
Alan Cooperman, Director of Religion Research at the Pew Research Center
The Federation Board, staff members, and other Jewish organizations got incredible insight from the Director of Religion Research at the Pew Research Center, Alan Cooperman, about the future of American Judaism. His research, showing the change in the US Jewish population by stream, age, and connectedness, was fascinating. The most interesting, perhaps, was his slide showing the percentage of offspring of intermarriage who identify as Jewish as adults: for those over 65, it’s just 25 percent; for millennials, 59 percent. This illustrates how much better our future can look if we succeed in helping interfaith families to raise children with a positive connection to Judaism.
Rabbi Steven Leder, of Los Angeles’ Wilshire Boulevard Temple
Rabbi Steven Leder, of Los Angeles’s Wilshire Boulevard Temple, gave a powerful message that “you matter” at the Sustainers Event last month honoring Abraham Moss Society members, Silver Circle members, and Create Your Jewish Legacy donors. Rabbi Leder said we are at a critical time in Jewish history, but the greatest threats to Judaism are not antisemitism, intermarriage, or assimilation. The greatest threats are boring, ineffectual leadership, substandard synagogues, and unaffordable nursery and day schools. Rabbi Leder said we are the most creative, wealthy, free, powerful, and capable generation of Jews that have ever lived, and we need to spark a renaissance within our organizations to ensure the survival of the Jewish culture and people. You matter, he said. You matter because you are unique and beautiful, unlike anyone else on earth. You matter because you are powerful. You matter because you can be that spark.
Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of the Wexner Foundation
Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of the Wexner Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the 78th Jewish Community Relations Council Annual Meeting in June. Rabbi Abrahamson shared lessons on fostering respectful debate and dissent in our community during this time of increasing polarization. She called upon ancient Jewish texts to illustrate the long history of debate in the Jewish community. Read the speech highlights on Jackie Congedo’s blog.
