Big Tent Judaism

JOI Tribute Evening

Last night, the Jewish Outreach Institute held its fourth annual tribute evening, and we were proud to honor Adam R. Bronfman for his unwavering commitment to outreach and unity among the Jewish people. We were so happy to be joined by people who care deeply about both Adam’s work, and the work we do on a day to day basis towards embracing intermarried families and unengaged Jews, and encouraging their increased participation in Jewish life. Exactly how best to engage these folks is one of the greatest debates in the Jewish community, and JOI President Alan B. Kane put it best in his introduction last night when he said “JOI has become the model and go-to source for the solutions to the challenges everyone is talking about.”

Through our direct service programs like the Mothers Circle, Grandparents Circle and Empowering Ruth, our Public Space Judaism^SM events like Passover in the Matzo Aisle and Sunday in the Park with Bagels, and our advocacy coalition Big Tent Judaism, Alan noted that, “JOI has always led the way in building innovative programs to help people find their way in the Jewish Community. Jewish individuals and institutions are looking for answers, and increasingly they are finding them at the Jewish Outreach Institute”

We wouldn’t be where we are today without the commitment and support of so many members of the Jewish community, too many to list in a single blog entry. Last night was a tremendous success (with some great “Jew-grass” country music from Jew-by-Choice Mare Winningham), and we look forward to continuing our work with Adam and creating new relationships with all those who seek to promote a more welcoming and inclusive North American Jewish Community.

Virtually Everyone can Pray During the High Holidays

Just before the High Holidays, we received a question from a gentleman in Antarctica. He is a doctor working down at the McMurdo Station, about 850 miles north of the South Pole. He wrote to us asking where he could find streaming High Holiday services because there wasn’t a synagogue in sight. We directed him towards the Jewish TV Network, which was streaming both Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Hopefully the doctor was able to watch and pray – and if he did, he would have joined the nearly 200,000 people from all over the world who took advantage of these free, online services.

Offering High Holiday services for free online proved to be a tremendous success for the Jewish TV Network. In an article in the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles, we are told that people who logged on included “Jews and non-Jews in small isolated communities across the United States, the bedridden and terminally ill, disaffected young Jews who never go to shul and single mothers who couldn’t afford the cost of High Holy Days tickets.” According to the article, “the response stunned Jay Sanderson, CEO and executive producer of JTN Productions.” He said he received over 400 “enthusiastic, at times ecstatic” emails from the people who watched.

While the congregation that ran the services, Nashuva, is based in Los Angeles, they found a way to bring Judaism to everyone who wanted to participate. And they put it right in their homes. Talk about lowering barriers! Even if a person didn’t have their own high-speed internet connection, chances are they knew someone who did. At the end of the day, when you can boast a Kol Nidre service with around 200,000 participants, it’s safe to say you are doing something right.

Hopefully the service and its accessibility resonated with many of the people who watched, and they will continue to find ways to engage with the Jewish community. But it’s clear from the overwhelming response that there are lots of folks out there who have a desire to become part of the community, and it’s our job to continue to find creative and innovative ways to welcome them in.

The “Plot” Thickens for Interfaith Couples

Jewish interfaith couples already face a distinct set of challenges when they decide to get married and start a family. And part of planning for a life together means planning for the inevitable – death. Unfortunately, interfaith couples who support and maintain a Jewish lifestyle are rarely given the opportunity to be buried alongside one another in a Jewish cemetery. But for interfaith couples in Toronto, that is no longer true. According to an article in Toronto’s Globe and Mail, Temple Sinai has “purchased a plot of land in the Lambton Mills Cemetery where it will offer 130 sites for intermarried couples in its congregation.”

Temple Sinai has now joined a growing list of synagogue sponsored cemeteries that allow interfaith couples to be buried together. This, we think, sends the right message to interfaith couples contemplating marriage and living a Jewish life. The article says:

It’s a move meant to promote inclusiveness in a congregation with more and more interfaith couples, Senior Rabbi Michael Dolgin said.

“It was only appropriate to create a place for these people who choose to live their lives affiliated with the Jewish community,” he said.

This makes sense. How can we deny active and affiliated interfaith couples of the community the privilege of spending eternity with each other? If we want to let these couples know that our doors are open and we welcome them into our midst, we have to mean that for the entire life cycle. Not allowing an interfaith couple to be buried in the same place is another unnecessary barrier to Jewish engagement.