Recharging Judaism
Recharging Judaism

Author: Rabbi Judith Schindler

Publisher: CCAR Press

Published: 2017-12-04

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 0881233099

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Recharging Judaism is the essential and timely guide for every synagogue and community seeking to strengthen the bonds of Jewish communal life through advocating for social justice. This volume delves into the enriching civic engagement and acts of righteousness already undertaken by Jews and Jewish communities across the country, and further explores the positive differences we can all affect upon the future of America. There are a myriad of ways in which advocating for social justice and participating in civic engagement can create lasting change. Those inspired to affect such change will find new meaning in the texts and history of our tradition. Using real examples from both small and large congregations across the country, Recharging Judaism offers a framework to guide us through our journey of civic responsibility and social duty and into a brighter future for our country.

Venice Synagogues
Venice Synagogues

Author: Umberto Fortis

Publisher: Assouline Publishing

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 6

ISBN-13: 1614280525

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Commemorating the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Venice Ghetto, this magnificent hand-bound Ultimate Collection volume introduces readers to the beauty and historical and spiritual significance of the five principal synagogues in Venice, the most important markers of Jewish faith and culture in the Most Serene Republic. Behind the walls of the Ghetto, Venetian Jews expressed strong ties to the traditions of their forefathers in constructing these beautiful places of worship. The architecture, furnishings, and decorations blended the memory of their different countries of origin with traditions of Venetian artistic culture, bequeathing the City on the Lagoon enduring monuments of unparalleled eminence that remain sites of reverence and admiration.

The Synagogue in America
The Synagogue in America

Author: Marc Lee Raphael

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2011-04-18

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0814775829

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Chronicles the history of the Jewish synagogue in America over the course of three centuries, discussing its changing role in the American Jewish community.

Finding a Spiritual Home
Finding a Spiritual Home

Author: Rabbi Sidney Schwarz, PhD

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

Published: 2012-07-12

Total Pages: 432

ISBN-13: 158023657X

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The Jewish community has lost some of the most sensitive spiritual souls of this generation. They are Jews who were looking for God and found spiritual homes outside of Judaism. Their journeys traversed the Jewish community, but nothing there beckoned them. The creation of synagogue-communities in which the voices of seekers can be heard and their questions can be asked will challenge many loyalist Jews. It will upset and enrage them. But it would also enrich them. —from Chapter 18 In this fresh look at the spiritual possibilities of American Jewish life, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz presents the framework for a new synagogue model—the synagogue community—and its promise to transform our understanding of the synagogue and its potential for modern Judaism. Schwarz profiles four innovative synagogues—one from each of the major movements of Judaism—that have had extraordinary success with their approach to congregational life and presents practical ways to replicate their success. Includes a discussion guide for study groups and book clubs as well as a new afterword by the author describing developments in synagogue change projects since the book was first published.

Who Rules the Synagogue?
Who Rules the Synagogue?

Author: Zev Eleff

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 0190490276

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Who Rules the Synagogue? explores how American Jewry in the nineteenth century transformed from a lay dominated community to one whose leading religious authorities were rabbis. Zev Eleff weaves together the significant episodes and debates that shaped American Judaism during this formative period, and places this story into the larger context of American religious history and modern Jewish history.

Jewish Secularity
Jewish Secularity

Author: Zachary I. Heller

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2012-05-04

Total Pages: 137

ISBN-13: 0761857958

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A growing number of Jews identify themselves as secular or “somewhat secular.” Is this expansive definition of Jewishness a new phenomenon? What are its roots? What are its implications for the Jewish community, its institutions, and its future? In reflecting on secular forms of Jewishness, the contributors to this book explore the sources of Jewish secularism and its articulation in Jewish thought, belief, literature, and culture. Included in this book are several personal accounts of Jewish journeys, as well as analyses of the extent of the division between secular Jews and others in the Jewish community. In sum, Jewish Secularity: The Search for Roots and the Challenges of Relevant Meaning provides an overview of a profound development in the evolving history of Jewish life in America.

Synagogues in Hungary 1782-1918
Synagogues in Hungary 1782-1918

Author: Rudolf Klein

Publisher: Terc Press

Published: 2017-05-01

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9786155445088

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"Synagogues in Hungary 1782-1918" is the first comprehensive study that systematically covers all synagogues in Hungary from the Edict of Tolerance by Joseph II to the end of the First World War. Unlike prior attempts, dealing with Post-World-War-Two Hungary only, the geographical range of this study includes historic Hungary, today Austro-Hungarian successor states, within the mentioned chronological timespan. The study presents Hungarian architecture of synagogues in a chronological order; the author gives special attention to the boom of synagogue architecture and art from 1867 to 1918, a time also called "the modern Jewish Renaissance". However, the greatest contribution of this book is the innovative matrix method, which the author applies to determine the basic types of synagogues by using eight basic criteria. The book also deals with the problem of urban context, the position of the synagogue in the city and its immediate environment. There are two detailed case studies how communities built their synagogues and how were these received by the general public. The book ends with a theoretical summary that tries to determine the role of post-emancipation period synagogues in general architectural history.

Relational Judaism
Relational Judaism

Author: Ron Wolfson

Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1580236669

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Noted educator and community revitalization pioneer Dr. Ron Wolfson presents practical strategies and case studies to guide Jewish leaders in turning institutions into engaging communities that connect members to Judaism in meaningful and lasting ways.

The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side:
The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side:

Author: Gerard R. Wolfe

Publisher: Fordham Univ Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 0823250008

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The classic book on the Lower East Side's synagogues and their congregations, past and present-now back in print in a completely revised and expanded edition

Jewish Megatrends
Jewish Megatrends

Author: Sid Schwarz

Publisher: Jewish Lights Publishing

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 64

ISBN-13: 1580236677

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Visionary solutions for a community ripe for transformational change--from fourteen leading innovators of Jewish life. "Jewish Megatrends offers a vision for a community that can simultaneously strengthen the institutions that serve those who seek greater Jewish identification and attract younger Jews, many of whom are currently outside the orbit of Jewish communal life. Schwarz and his collaborators provide an exciting path, building on proven examples, that we ignore at our peril." --from the Foreword The American Jewish community is riddled with doubts about the viability of the institutions that well served the Jewish community of the twentieth century. Synagogues, Federations and Jewish membership organizations have yet to figure out how to meet the changing interests and needs of the next generation. In this challenging yet hopeful call for transformational change, visionary leader Rabbi Sidney Schwarz looks at the social norms that are shaping the habits and lifestyles of younger American Jews and why the next generation is so resistant to participate in the institutions of Jewish communal life as they currently exist. He sets out four guiding principles that can drive a renaissance in Jewish life and gives evidence of how, on the margins of the Jewish community, those principles are already generating enthusiasm and engagement from the very millennials that the organized Jewish community has yet to engage. Contributors--leading innovators from different sectors of the Jewish community--each use Rabbi Schwarz's framework as a springboard to set forth their particular vision for the future of their sector of Jewish life and beyond. CONTRIBUTORS: Elise Bernhardt - Rabbi Sharon Brous - Sandy Cardin - Dr. Barry Chazan - Dr. David Ellenson - Wayne Firestone - Rabbi Jill Jacobs - Anne Lanski - Rabbi Joy Levitt - Rabbi Asher Lopatin - Rabbi Or N. Rose - Nigel Savage - Barry Shrage - Dr. Jonathan Woocher