The Jewish Connectivity Manifesto

Rabbi Arnold D. Samlan, MSW, RJE

Here’s how we got our information

Our Sources of knowledge: Printed booksTelevisionRadioPrinted handouts in schoolTextbooksNewspapers

Guess what? They don’t need you for information

Your learners (and parents) get their information from:

Social mediaOnline newspapers and blogsEach otherTheir Kindles and other e-readersPhone apps

You get the idea

Relax, they still need you

My belief: Two things have to be taught by Jewish educators:

1. Critical thinking about Jewish content, wherever it may be found

2. More imporantly, JEWISH CONNECTIVITY

Connectedness to the Jewish People

Manifesting itself as: Number and percentage of Jewish friends Number and percentage of Jewish social network contacts Participation in tzedaka that is either under Jewish auspices and/or

benefits Jewish recipients Participation in Jewish community events Participation in Jewish organizations Follows news related to Israel Follow news related to Jewish communities, either locally, nationally or

internationally “JEWDAR” – That profound ability to spot other Jewish individuals or the

tendency to unintentionally find one’s self in a group of Jewish individuals in social settings [including the gym, restaurants, malls, parties, country clubs, supermarkets

How do YOU increase the capacity of Jewish learners to achieve these?

Connectedness to Jewishness

Behaviors that include: Visiting Israel Reading Jewish authors who write about Jewish characters or Jewish

concerns Owning Jewish or Israeli art and/or music Consciously purchasing Israeli products Inviting those who are not Jewish to partake of Jewish events or

observances Reading Jewish blogs, newspapers, and newsfeeds Focusing interest on news events pertaining to Jews, Jewish concerns

or Israel Engaging in family conversations around issues to Jewish interest

How do YOU increase the capacity of Jewish learners to achieve these?

Connectedness to Judaism

Elements such as: Participates in Jewish rituals, such as fasting on Yom

Kippur, attending a Seder, reciting blessings, lighting Hanukah menora

Uses Shabbat and Jewish holidays to mark time and to rest [however s/he defines it]

Observes some level of Kashrut and/or Eco-Kashrut Participates in Jewish study Has a mezuzah on the door of his/her home

How do YOU increase the capacity of Jewish learners to achieve these?

Connectedness to Jewish History

Manifests inself through: Relationship to the Jewish calendar – How connected are you to Jewish

holidays, both ancient and modern Connectedness to Jewish historical events – This includes both cognition,

knowing what and when major events took place in the history of the Jewish people, and affective connection, such as the degree to which one views Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel Independence Day, as a cause for great rejoicing

Involvement in Jewish genealogy – Connectedness to Jewish history may include curiosity about one’s ancestry, and even a commitment to researching it

Connectedness to modern historical events – In our times, the Shoah and the birth of the State of Israel are recent enough to warrant special mention as events to which the connected Jew will have a particular affinity

How do YOU increase the capacity of Jewish learners to achieve these?

Connectedness to Jewish Wisdom, Texts and Values

Which could include: Whether one owns (and actually opens) a Tanach, Jewish

bible Ownership (and reading) classical Jewish books Ownership (and use of) books of contemporary Jewish

wisdom Regularity of visits to websites dedicated to Jewish wisdom

and texts Participation in volunteer work that is motivated by Jewish

values

How do YOU increase the capacity of Jewish learners to achieve these?

Why Bother Being a Connected Jew?

Being Jewish provides a lens through which to see the world. Unlike the Jewishness of past generations, Jewish is not there to close us off to our neighbors (or to spouses or other family members who are not Jewish); it is a way of relating to them that is grounded in our experience, in the same way that any peoples are grounded in theirs.

Jewishness is a means to an end – the goal of a peaceful world, and one in which human needs are met.

Jewish peoplehood, as expressed in community, is a powerful model for other peoples of the world. One need only look at how the Exodus from Egypt that we celebrate in a few days has been used as a model by downtrodden peoples throughout history.

Being Jewish is a path towards the Godly, the holy. No more, but certainly no less, than the paths that other civilizations or religious communities follow.

As Jews, we contribute to the cumulative wisdom of the world in which we live. Our people’s wisdom and literature are a part of humanity’s wisdom.

SO, WHAT ARE YOU, AS A JEWISH EDUCATOR, GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?