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A Young Adult Looks at General Assembly 2012

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Two Jewish icons, Elie Wiesel and Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, speaking at the General Assembly about issues of deep concern to the Jewish people.As with any generation, we are constantly looking ahead, assessing our current situation and looking for ways to ensure success in the future.

But, this generation is different. I believe that this generation, with modern technologies, social media, new fundraising and educating techniques, has the greatest potential to impact the world and further the success of the Jewish people. There are many ways that this change can happen, but there are also challenges standing in the way. How can we identify these challenges? Professionals, rabbis, and student leaders in the Jewish community are at the forefront of the “research,” and it’s possible that they can identify what the greatest challenge facing the Jewish people today is.

At the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly (GA), I approached many of these individuals to see where they stood in the discussion.

A program organizer, working in Israel, who encourages young Jews to come to Israel to intern and volunteer, cites coming together as a community as the greatest challenge. She feels that extreme opinions, segregating the Jewish people, will be the end of the people as a community. As a nation, no matter where we live, Jews need to stick together. We have enough problems trying to collaborate and live together with non-Jews that there shouldn’t be conflict coming from within the population.

A Hillel student board leader at The University of Delaware cites the challenge as educating Jews. She feels that there is lack of serious curriculum within Jewish education. As a Hebrew school teacher herself, and remembering her days in the pre-Bat Mitzvah education system, she says that the education isn’t serious and it isn’t relatable. As Rabbi Rick Jacobs proclaimed at the GA opening plenary session, we are a generation full of “fluff,” seeking substance.

The debate about assimilation arose in many of the conversations that I had throughout the survey. After all, is America good for the Jewish people? A Hillel International staff member said that America is both good and bad. On the one hand, it gives Jews the opportunity to integrate into society. Here, we don’t feel as though we are on the outside. However, the difficulty that comes with maintaining Jewish identity no longer stems from Jews worrying about where we will fit into America. That was true through the first stages of immigration. Today, in a free, democratic, diverse society, the difficulty with assimilation resides in the fact that being Jewish is no longer as significant as it was in the past. Now, when Jews do assimilate, it’s much easier to let go of Judaism altogether.

Thus, it seems only reasonable that many of the Jewish leaders that I approached find getting young Jews to care as the greatest challenge to the Jewish people. Furthermore, many leaders cited reasons that stem from apathy and indifference — such as intermarriage and distancing from the community — to be the greatest challenge.

Masa Israel Journey Campus Representatives at Pennsylvania State University advanced the opinion that the dilemma facing Jews is one of diminishing numbers. They said intermarriage is the biggest cause. It all comes down to a lack of significance. If being Jewish isn’t important, marrying someone Jewish isn’t important. Additionally, intermarriage not only leads to a weakening of Judaism in the home, but also in the budget, meaning a lessening in support of Jewish philanthropies and organizations. Our recent history shows that significantly larger donations go to general causes than to Jewish ones.

In sum, we are right in worrying about the future of the Jewish continuity. It’s a widespread topic of discussion and concern. However, as difficult as it may be to rally a community in the face of fear, it is even more so in the face of indifference. Identifying the problem may be the first step to solving the problem, but it definitely isn’t the last. I only spoke with a small community and, even then, it was evident that there was not an agreement on the largest challenge. Being a community, educating the future, causing the next generations to care were on the list, but how can such a small community work towards overcoming a challenge when they simply cannot agree on the challenge?

Sarah Pollack, an alumnus of The Jewish Agency’s and Government of Israel’s Masa Israel Experience, is a student at the University of Florida.

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