Jewish Renewal is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut " Who is a Jew? " (Mihu Yehudi? ?מיהו יהודי is a basic question about Jewish identity. This article focuses on the Etymology of the word Jew. Biblical and Middle Eastern origins The Jews in their land The Jewish ethnonym in Secular Jewish culture embraces several related phenomena above all it is the Culture of secular communities of Jewish people but it can also include Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Although Jews and religious leaders share a core of monotheistic principles Judaism has no formal statement of principles of faith such as a Creed or Catechism In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים "Prophets" is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים "writings" is the third and final section of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) after Torah and Nevi'im This article is about commandments in Judaism For the Jewish rite of passage see Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah Mitzvah ( Hebrew: מצוה See also Mitzvah See also Biblical law in Christianity The 613 Mitzvot ("commandments" (also " 613 Mitzvos The Talmud ( Hebrew: he תַּלְמוּד is a record of Rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs and history Halakha ( הלכה; alternative transliterations include Halocho and Halacha) is the collective body of Jewish Religious law For the Gregorian dates of Jewish Holidays see Jewish holidays 2000-2050. Jewish services ( Hebrew: תפלה, tefillah; plural תפלות, tefillos or tefillot; Yinglish: davening Tzedakah ( צדקה) is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on a root meaning Justice Jewish ethics stands at the intersection of Judaism and the Western philosophical tradition of Ethics. Kabbalah (קַבָּלָה lit "receiving" is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mystical aspect of Judaism. Minhag ( Hebrew: מנהג "custom" pl minhagim) is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. Midrash ( Hebrew: מדרש plural midrashim, lit "to repeat" is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact but comparative ( homiletic See also Judaism by country Jewish ethnic divisions refers to a number of distinct communities within the world's ethnically Jewish population Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing Sephardi Jews ( Hebrew: ספרדי, Standard Səfardi Tiberian Səp̄arədî; plural Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, ( also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (Communities of the East are Jews descended Jewish population refers to the number of Jews in the world Precise figures are difficult to calculate because the definition of " Who is a Jew " remains a Jewish population centers have shifted tremendously over time due to the constant streams of Jewish refugees created by expulsions persecution and officially sanctioned killing This article deals with the practice of Judaism and the living arrangement of Jewish people in the listed countries The History of the Jews in the Land of Israel begins with the ancient Israelites (also known as Hebrews) who settled in the Land of Israel. 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Please understand that this article is frequently subjected to vandalism and the insertion of personal opinions Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of the late Mordecai Kaplan (1881 – 1983 Karaite Judaism or Karaism (ˈkærəˌaɪt ˈkærəˌɪzəm) is a Jewish movement NOTE The word sect should not be used without defining it first and Humanistic Judaism is a movement within Judaism that emphasizes Jewish culture and history—rather than belief in God—as the sources of Jewish identity Alternative Judaism or Agnostic Judaism refers to a variety of groups whose members while identifying as Jews in some fashion nevertheless do not practice Rabbinical The Jewish languages are a set of Languages that developed in various Jewish communities around the world more notably in Europe, West Asia, and Yiddish (yi [[wiktייִדיש ייִדיש]] yidish or yi [[wiktאידיש אידיש]] idish, literally "Jewish" is a nonterritorial High Judæo-Persian dialects are a subgroup of Persian dialects spoken by the Jews of Iran Judæo-Aramaic is a collective term used to describe several Hebrew -influenced Aramaic and Neo-Aramaic Languages History The Judæo-Arabic languages are a collection of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews living or formerly living in the Arab world; the term also refers to Jewish history is the History of the Jewish people, faith, and culture. 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The word Pharisees ( lat. pharisæ|us, - i) comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "separated" This article discusses the traditional views of the two religions and may not be applicable all adherents of each The historical interaction of Judaism and Islam started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. The Jewish diaspora ( Hebrew: Tefutzah, "scattered" or Galut גלות "exile" Yiddish: tfutses) the presence The History of Jews in the Middle Ages (approximately 500 CE to 1750 CE can be divided into two categories Also not to be confused with Subbotniks or Sabbatarians. Note Most Sabbateans during and after Sabbatai Zevi were Jews Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew Haskalah ( Hebrew: השכלה "enlightenment" "education" from sekhel " Intellect " "mind") the Jewish Enlightenment Jewish question Jewish emancipation was the abolition of discriminatory laws as applied especially to Jews in Europe in the nineteenth century the recognition of Jews The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Aliyah ( refers to Jewish Immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948 the State of Israel) For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The State of Israel (מדינת ישראל Medinat Yisrael) was established in 1948 after nearly two thousand For other uses see Israel (disambiguation The Land of Israel ( Hebrew: אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל Eretz Yisrael) is Note This article is about the movement See Orthodox outreach, Reform outreach, and Conservative outreach for more information about the rabbis See also Antisemitism, History of antisemitism, New antisemitism The persecution of Jews has occurred many times in Jewish history. Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility The history of antisemitism, hostile actions or discrimination against Jews as a religious or ethnic group goes back many centuries Jewish political movements refer to the organized efforts of Jews to build their own political parties or otherwise represent their interest in politics outside of History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Labor Zionism ( Labour Zionism, ציונות סוציאליסטית tsionut sotsialistit) can be described as the major stream of the Left wing of the Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement Religious Zionism, or the Religious Zionist Movement (a branch of which is also called Mizrachi) is an ideology that combines Zionism and religious The General Zionists (ציונים כלליים Tzionim Klalim) were centrists within the Zionist movement and a political party in Israel World Agudath Israel (The World Jewish Union usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to improve the religious legal and social status of women within Judaism and to open up new opportunities for religious experience Politics of Israel takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic Republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Israel is Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut Mysticism (from the Greek grc μυστικός mystikos, an initiate of a Mystery religion) is the pursuit of communion with identity Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc from the Hebrew: he '''''חסידות''''', Chassidus, meaning "piety" from the Hebrew Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness
Contents |
Overview
The term Jewish Renewal describes "a set of practices within Judaism that attempt to reinvigorate what it views as a moribund and uninspiring Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices drawn from a variety of traditional and untraditional, Jewish and other, sources. Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה Yehudah, " Judah " in Hebrew יַהֲדוּת Yahedut In this sense, Jewish renewal is an approach to Judaism that can be found within segments of any of the Jewish denominations. "
The term also refers to an emerging Jewish movement, the Jewish Renewal movement, which describes itself as "a worldwide, transdenominational movement grounded in Judaism’s prophetic and mystical traditions. " [1] The Jewish Renewal movement incorporates social views such as feminism, environmentalism and pacifism. Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment.
The movement's most prominent leader is Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi. Rabbi Zalman M Schachter-Shalomi, b and commonly called " Reb Zalman " (pr rǎb is considered one of the major founders of the Jewish Renewal movement Other prominent leaders, teachers and authors associated with Jewish Renewal include Dr. Arthur Green, Rabbis Pam Baugh, David Cooper, Elliot Ginsberg, Shefa Gold, Lynn Gottlieb, Miles Krassen, Michael Lerner, Goldie Milgram, Marcia Prager, Daniel Siegel, Shohama Wiener, David Wolfe-Blank, Stan Levy, Tirzah Firestone, and Arthur Waskow. Lynn Gottlieb entered pulpit life at the age of 23 in 1973 as rabbi to Temple Beth Or of the Deaf in New York City Michael Lerner is an American rabbi political Activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish and Interfaith Rabbi Goldie Milgram is an American Rabbi, educator and author Arthur Ocean Waskow, born Arthur I Waskow (born 1933 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author political activist and Rabbi associated
Jewish Renewal brings kabbalistic and Hasidic theory and practice into a non-Orthodox, egalitarian framework, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as neo-Hasidism. Kabbalah (קַבָּלָה lit "receiving" is a discipline and school of thought discussing the mystical aspect of Judaism. Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized Egalitarianism (derived from the French word égal, meaning equal) is a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have Neo-Hasidism is a name frequently given to the significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non- Orthodox Jews in different decades due to the Like Hasidic Jews, Renewal Jews often add to traditional worship ecstatic practices such as meditation, chant and dance. Religious ecstasy is an Altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is frequently Chant (from Old French chanter) is the Rhythmic speaking or Singing of Words or Sounds often primarily on one or two Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic In augmenting Jewish ritual, some Renewal Jews borrow freely and openly from Buddhism, Sufism and other faiths. Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفیگری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف
History
Jewish Renewal, in its most general sense, has its origins in the North American Jewish counter-cultural trends of the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, groups of young rabbis, academics and political activists founded experimental chavurot (singular: chavurah) or "fellowships" for prayer and study, in reaction to what they perceived as an over-institutionalized and unspiritual North American Jewish establishment. A chavurah or havurah (חבורה Hebrew: "fellowship" plural chavuroth) is a small group of like-minded Jews
Initially the main inspiration was the pietistic fellowships of the Pharisees and other ancient Jewish sects.
Also initially, some of these groups, like the Boston-area Havurat Shalom attempted to function as full-fledged communes after the model of their secular counterparts. Havurat Shalom is a small egalitarian Chavurah in Somerville, Massachusetts, best known as the first such lay-led Jewish community in the United States Others formed as communities within the urban or suburban Jewish establishment. Founders of the havurot included the liberal political activist Arthur Waskow, Michael Strassfeld (who later became rabbi for a Conservative congregation and then moved on to serve a major Reconstructionist congregation), and Zalman Schachter. Arthur Ocean Waskow, born Arthur I Waskow (born 1933 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author political activist and Rabbi associated Michael Strassfeld is a prominent American rabbi He is rabbi of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, a Manhattan synagogue Rabbi Zalman M Schachter-Shalomi, b and commonly called " Reb Zalman " (pr rǎb is considered one of the major founders of the Jewish Renewal movement Although the leadership and ritual privileges were initially men-only, as in Orthodox Jewish practice, the "second wave" of American feminism soon led to the full integration of women in these communities. Orthodox Judaism is the formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized
Apart from some tentative articles in Response and other Jewish student magazines, the early havurot attracted little attention in the wider North American Jewish community. Then, in 1973, Michael and Sharon Strassfeld released The Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit. Patterned after the recently-published counter-culture Whole Earth Catalog, the book served both as a basic reference on Judaism and American Jewish life, as well as a playful compendium of Jewish crafts, recipes, meditational practices, and political action ideas, all aimed at disaffected young Jewish adults. The Jewish Catalog became one of the best-selling books in American Jewish history to that date and spawned two sequels. A much more widespread havurah movement soon emerged, including self-governing havurot within Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist synagogues. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently subjected to vandalism and the insertion of personal opinions Conservative Judaism (also known as Masorti Judaism in Israel and Europe) is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of the late Mordecai Kaplan (1881 – 1983
By 1980 an increasing number of havurot had moved away from strictly traditional Jewish worship practices, as members added English readings and chants, poetry from other spiritual traditions, percussion instruments, and overall a less formal approach to worship. Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar)
Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Hasidic-trained rabbi ordained in the Lubavitch movement, broke with Orthodox Judaism beginning in the 1960s, and founded his own organization, The B'nai Or Religious Fellowship, which he described in an article entitled "Toward an Order of B'nai Or. Rabbi Zalman M Schachter-Shalomi, b and commonly called " Reb Zalman " (pr rǎb is considered one of the major founders of the Jewish Renewal movement Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism, and is based in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn " The name "B'nai Or" means "sons" or "children" of light, and was taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls material, where the "sons of light" battle the "sons of darkness. The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of roughly 1000 documents including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1947 and 1979 in eleven Caves " Schachter-Shalomi envisioned B'nai Or as a semi-monastic ashram-type community, based upon the various communal models prevalent in the 1960s and 70s. An Ashram in ancient India was a Hindu hermitage where sages lived in Peace and tranquility amidst Nature. This community never materialized as he envisioned it, but B'nai Or did produce a number of important leaders in the Renewal movement. It also produced the B'nai Or Newsletter, a quarterly magazine that presented articles on Jewish mysticism, Hasidic stories and Schachter-Shalomi's philosophy. The masthead of this publication read: "B'nai Or is a Jewish Fellowship established for the service of G-d [sic] through prayer, Torah, celebration, meditation, tradition, and mysticism. We serve as a center to facilitate people in the pursuit of Judaism as a spiritual way of life. "
Schachter-Shalomi was strongly influenced by Sufism (Sufi Islam) and Buddhism, even translating some of the prayers into Hebrew. Sufism ( تصوّف - taṣawwuf, Persian: صوفیگری sufigari, Turkish: tasavvuf, Urdu: تصوف Buddhism is a family of beliefs and practices He also focused more on urban sustainable living than rural culture, and suggested for instance interconnected basements of houses in urban neighborhoods that would create collective space (especially for holidays), while providing the level of privacy secular life had encouraged. Sustainable living refers to a specific Lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the Earth's natural resources Some of these ideas have influenced urban economics. Urban Economics is broadly the economic study of urban areas As such it involves using the tools of economics to analyze urban issues such as crime education public transit housing
In 1985, after the first national Kallah (conference) gathering in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the name was changed from B'nai Or to P'nai Or ("Faces of Light") to reflect the more egalitarian perspective of the rising feminist movement. Together with such colleagues as Arthur Waskow, Schachter-Shalomi broadened the focus of his organization. Arthur Ocean Waskow, born Arthur I Waskow (born 1933 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author political activist and Rabbi associated In 1993 it merged with The Shalom Center, founded by Rabbi Waskow, to become ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, which served as a loose umbrella for like-minded havurot. However, some of the more Orthodox members of the old B'nai Or were not happy with these radical changes, and left the Renewal movement at this time. This resulted in major leadership changes, with Waskow taking an increasingly important role.
In 1979, Waskow had founded a magazine called Menorah, which explored and encouraged many creative ritual and social issues from a Jewish perspective. It was in this publication that Waskow coined the term "Jewish Renewal. " In 1986, Menorah merged with The B'nai Or Newsletter to become New Menorah, now available online through ALEPH. The new version of the publication addressed Jewish feminism, the nuclear arms race, new forms of prayer, social justice, etc. Several of the early New Menorah issues explored gay rights, and became an important catalyst for opening this discussion in more mainstream synagogues. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian
The greater cohesion and focus created by B'nai Or/ALEPH and its magazine led gradually to the spread of Jewish Renewal throughout much of the United States and, by the close of the century, to the establishment of communities in Canada, Latin America, Europe and Israel. By this time, the beginnings of institutionalization were in place, in the form of the administrative ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal, the rabbinical association OHaLaH, and an increasingly formalized rabbinic ordination program that today is accepted by the National Council of Seminaries which includes the heads of all major non-Orthodox North American Rabbinical and Cantorial Training programs.
Renewal and the contemporary Jewish community
Statistics on the number of Jews who identify themselves as "Renewal" are not readily available. Nevertheless, the movement has had a significant impact on the other non-orthodox streams of Judaism within the United States. Perhaps the greatest impact has been on the Reconstructionist movement, which began as an avowedly rationalistic and intellectual phenomenon but, under the influence of rabbinic and lay leaders with a Renewal orientation, has come to embrace Jewish mystical imagery and practice, particularly in its wholly new series of prayer books issued in the 1990s. The often-controversial trend in non-Orthodox movements towards increased ritual and leadership privileges for women, lesbians and gays arguably has its origin in the liberal political activism of those havurot which formed the kernel of Renewal.
Signs of Renewal influence can be found elsewhere; it is not uncommon for congregations not associated with the Renewal movement to feature workshops on Jewish meditation and various Judaized forms of yoga. Many melodies and liturgical innovations are also shared among the Reform, Renewal, and Reconstructionist movements. Even rabbis trained by one of these movements have begun to serve congregations with other affiliations. An example of a Jewish Renewal community can be found at Beyt Tikkun in San Francisco, founded by Rabbi Michael Lerner in 1996. Michael Lerner is an American rabbi political Activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish and Interfaith [1][2]
Criticism and response
Critics of Jewish Renewal claim that the movement emphasizes individual spiritual experience and subjective opinion over communal norms and Jewish textual literacy; the above-mentioned formalization of the ALEPH ordination programs may be a response to such criticism. Some critics within the Jewish community have dismissed Jewish Renewal as "New Age Judaism. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature " Others reply that the criticism is overblown and that the community values a range of practices and that textual literacy is a priority within the movement as a whole.
Some find fault with what they consider to be excessive borrowing from non-Jewish traditions. They hold that just as Jews cannot adopt Christian beliefs and practices and still consider themselves to be followers of Judaism, one cannot adopt Buddhist, Sufi, and polytheistic beliefs and practices and still consider themselves to be part of Judaism. Some Renewalists counter that Judaism has long since assimilated Canaanite, Babylonian, Hellenistic and Muslim elements without harm to its integrity, and that Renewal-style "deep ecumenism" poses no threat to Judaism.
Like all religious movements, the movement faces challenges today. Some within the Renewal community maintain that the movement has been more successful in providing occasional ecstatic "peak experiences" at worship services and spiritual retreats than in inculcating a daily discipline of religious practice. Others have observed a tension within the community between those who prefer to focus on liberal social activism on American, Middle East and global issues; and those who favor an emphasis on meditation, text study and worship. These, together with the challenge of training and recruiting future generations of leaders, are among the issues facing Jewish Renewal today.
References
- ^ Lerner, Michael (May/June 2005). Biographical Notes on Rabbi Lerner. Tikkun. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
- ^ Katz, Leslie (August 1996). Controversial editor : Tikkun's Lerner starts S.F. synagogue. San Francisco Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-01-15. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 588 BC - Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem under Zedekiah 's reign
Further reading
- Michael Lerner, Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation (1994)
- Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Paradigm Shift: From the Jewish Renewal Teachings of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (1993)
- Arthur Waskow, Godwrestling (1978)
- Arthur Waskow, Seasons of Our Joy: A Handbook of Jewish Festivals (1982)
External links
- ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal
- OHaLaH: The Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal
- Elat Chayyim: Transdenominational Jewish Retreat Center
- The Shalom Center: a prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, & American life, fusing spirituality and social action
- Academy for Jewish Religion of California (non-denominational seminary - Rabbinical, Cantorial, and Chaplaincy programs)
- Reb Zalman Legacy Project - documents life and works of Rabbi Zalman Schachter Shalomi
- Reclaiming Judaism as a Spiritual Practice Rabbi Goldie Milgram's website
- Defining Renewal
- What B'nai Or was like in the Old Days - a personal memoir by a former Renewalist, with history from the 1970s and 80s.
- Rabbi Marcia Prager's Website
- Kehilat Romemu - Transdenominational, NeoHassidic, Kabbalistic, integral synagogue led by Rabbi David Ingber
- Neohasid.org Chasidus without Borders - Reb David Seidenberg's collection of Torah, Songs, Kabbalah, Liturgy and Ecology resources
- Tikkun Magazine - Tikkun Magazine; Network for Spiritual Progressives; Rabbi Michael Lerner
- Torah Journeys - Rabbi Shefa Gold's Jewish Renewal guide to the weekly Torah portion
- Chochmat Halev
- Jewish Renewal Community of Boulder - Nevei Kodesh
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