survey for my Jewish readers

[cellio]

A survey in the first session of the Melton (adult-ed) program produced some results that struck me as interesting. I have a theory, but the class wasn't large enough to provide a good sample. So I pose the question to you. :-)

We were given a list of factors (actions and beliefs), and asked which were the top five "in terms of their importance in ensuring that a vital, coherent Judaism will be transmitted to future Jewish generations". So from the options below, which are your top five?

There are two questions below; please respond only to the one that fits your situation. (I've provided "does not apply" options so you can check that and see the poll results more easily.) Feel free to use the comments for things that fall outside the poll parameters (like comments from any non-Jews who read this far :-) ).

[Poll #819573]

Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Why isn't one of the options "tell your children it is important that they are Jewish"?

[cellio]

We nit-picked the questions, yes. "Educate your children as Jews" and "raise children" are both noticably absent.

I am, however, trying to survey the same options that were presented in the in-class survey.

[loosecanon.livejournal.com]

How about
"I was raised in a Jewish home, and the reason I will *not* participate in the religion or raise any children within it is"

[cellio]

True, I was sloppy; I figured "only answer if you identify as Jewish" would cover the rejection case, but one can identify as Jewish while declining to participate.

[goljerp]

Oops, forgot to check off "this question does not apply to me" for the not raised in a Jewish home question.

[cellio]

You can edit poll responses if that makes your life easier. (Really, I just provided that option so people could dispense with the questions and see the answers easily.)

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

Slight tangent: In my husband's family, in his generation, there are six first cousins. Five of them have married; all have married gentiles. (The sixth is engaged to a Nice Jewish Girl, but they have not set a date.)

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

You forgot two answers I would have put:

(1) raise a Jewish child in a Jewish home

(2) have her attend a Jewish summer camp (worked for me!)

[cellio]

These weren't my options (I thought "raise children" was noticably absent). I'm just reproducing the options we were given.

I was kind of surprised by some of the things they did include. Make havdalah? I mean yeah, it's nice and I do it, but as a candidate for top five important things, I'm a little dubious.

(I wouldn't have thought of camp, and you're right: that seems to be formative for many folks.)

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

If you notice, many of the factors that are popular are things that make a Jewish home to raise a child in: observing home-based ceremonies, marrying within the faith (thus keeping the house not interfaith). Other factors lead to Jewish education, such as joining a synagogue. Knowing history allows one to teach there children.

Other factors are more internal, and improve one's spirituality, but wouldn't outwardly make the house *jewish*, such as belief in God, following ethics and morals, supporting Israel, giving to charity. These factors, although Jewish in behavour, are also something that would be done by the fundamentalist Christian population as well.

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

The question set is way off base. Havdalah, but not lighting Shabbat candles or having Shabbat dinner together? Praying daily, but not saying the Motzi or Birkat HaMazon? "Support Israel", but not "visit Israel" or "learn Hebrew"? "Build a Sukkah" but not "attend synagogue regularly"? How about "read Jewish books", "have a Jewish calendar", "put a mezuzah on your house"...

And I'll repeat what others have said about the obvious omission of things like "send kids to Jewish schools/camps/youth groups".

(I'll admit, though, that in a world where the Jewish community seems to revolve around families with kids, a list of things that can all be done by single adults is kinda refreshing.)

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

I once heard an educator remark that he could tell when he visited someone's home whether he needed to worry about instilling a Jewish identity in their kids by looking at the walls and bookshelves of their living room. If there are lots of Jewish books, and if those books are arranged somewhat haphazardly (as though people keep taking them down and using them), if the artwork on the walls is Jewishly themed, then this is a home in which Jewish identity is central. If there's attractive Judaica in a curio cabinet but they and whatever books are pristine, set aside, and in the minority, then this is (he said) a home in which Jewish identity is a fashion statement. And if the closest thing to Judaica in the living room is the (presumably empty) mezuzah case on the front door of the house, oy!

[aliza250.livejournal.com]

Have a Jewishly-themed LJ usericon :-)

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

Always a good idea :)

Five was not enough.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Keeping the mitzvot ensure that I keep Judaism in my personal future. And I couldn't exactly rate Shabbat higher than kashrut or holding a seder.

However, other than supporting Israel, the way to ensure a Jewish future is to raise knowlegible Jewish children - not always possible.

What I wanted to see there was "teach", because that is a way to ensure a Jewish future. I'm surprised it wasn't there.

[ichur72.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone who asked where the options for Jewish education were -- and with everyone who thought the option set was a little goofy. Keep havdalah? Would it be gauche of me to ask why that would be separate from keeping Shabbos?

[cellio]

The option set is not the one I would have constructed, yes. I'm curious about whether a min-trend I saw in the class plays out here, so I didn't edit the options. (I'll post about what I was looking for after more time has passed.)

[murmur311.livejournal.com]

As a postscript to my responses, I'd like to point out these are 5 factors that are ideals and don't always work out. But, they are what I strive for.

I find it very interesting that "Believe in God," while not at 0 in both sections, does not have the response of say "Lead an ethical and moral life."

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

I didn't answer, because I'm not technically Jewish (though some of the answers apply), but I thought I'd mention that I also am confused by the Havdalah option (I also consider it part of Shabbat), and also that "build your own sukkah" and "light Hanukkah candles" are mentioned, while observing other, more holy days, is not.

Wow. That was one hell of a run-on sentance, there.

[cellio]

I said "identify as Jewish" to be intentionally fuzzy (for, e.g., people in the process of converting who haven't finished yet). Feel free to answer if you like.

I agree that some of the options are pretty weird.

This got long.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Early on I learned to separate Jewish culture from the Jewish religion; I grew up in a nearly majority-Jewish school system, in a town where the hordes of people walking to synagogue on Saturday were much more visible than the ones driving to church on Sunday; but only a few were strongly religious.

I agree with the old adage that the Sabbath kept the Jews; it's a very pronounced cultural shibboleth to let the community see itself and be visible in a non-threatening way; surely having a pack of people in suits and nice clothes walking along the side of the road to go worship was something that even the most xenophobic Catholics could understand as a non-aggressive cultural act. Keeping kosher was easier in a town with so many kosher food places, but still not easy, and likewise enough of a marker. Celebrating holidays, similarly. Those help keep the community separate, identifiable and focused.

Keeping that community "Jewish", rather than sliding to another culture? That requires history and tradition. Where I was there was, of course, the traditional fight between the reform and conservatives, and the very small knot of Hassidim, about what it meant to be Jewish. We had our fair share of pregnant rabbis who considered themselves just as Jewish as those in peiyot. Tradition, and history, bound the communities together, but their interpretations of it differed dramatically.

Notice I haven't mentioned god or religion in there anywhere. For me, being (half) Jewish was a culture, not a religion; most of my friends got Bar Mitzvah'd without evincing a strong sense of faith or belief in the supernatural side, despite years of Hebrew school. To keep the religion, especially while teaching people to think for themselves as is the tradition, requires a religion that makes sense and is viable in modern times. Judaism is reasonably good at this, aside from the usual problems with invisible superheroes in the sky; it doesn't ask you with a straight face to believe in direct impossibilities, and it makes exceptions for things that make sense, like breaking sabbath for emergencies. So in the age of free information and open critique, I give it a decent chance of survival.

Re: This got long.

[cellio]

Thank you for these observations! You make a lot of sense.

Broadly speaking, there are two common paths to conversion: God-centered and family-centered (marriage, etc). The former does not necessarily focus on community and history, and the latter might not (though is more likely to). I'm not saying this is good; I'm just making an observation. Speaking personally, I tend to think of my Judaism in tersm of God first, current community second, distant community third, and historical community last.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

If they'd said "belong to some sort of Jewish community," instead of "belong to a synagogue", I'd have chosen that one.

I nearly did choose "build your own sukkah". Sukkot, and Hannukah, which was based on Sukkot, both have strong public components: you put your Hannukiah in a window where it can be seen from the street, and, just because of the lack of yard-space around here, most everyone in the city who puts up a sukkah has it somewhere visible. So both of those are ways to give yourself a public identity as a Jew.

[alice-curiouser.livejournal.com]

You know, I didn't think about that aspect of Hanukkah (probably because we have no window sills, so displaying a Hanukkiah in a window has never really been an option), but that's a good point. I did wish there was some sort of option for wearing a Magen David or otherwise outwardly displaying Jewishness, as sometimes (especially in small towns and rural communities) it doesn't seem like people realise there is such a thing, or that someone could believe in G-d and/or be a decent person without Xianity.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

We stick a TV tray in front of a window and put the hannukiah on that.

[cellio]

I was once in Passaic during Channukah, staying with a family that had ten (!) kids. They placed a table in front of the large front window and loaded it up. Looking up and down the street, that was a common solution.

[cellio]

If they'd said "belong to some sort of Jewish community," instead of "belong to a synagogue", I'd have chosen that one.

Yeah, me too.

Sukkot, and Hannukah, which was based on Sukkot, both have strong public components

Very good point. I live in a neighborhood where the sukkah is more likely to fit in the back yard -- so public but not as public -- but that's obviously not true everywhere.

I counted building a sukkah very low, but if it had said using a sukkah I would have raised it some (not into the top five, though). There is no commandment to build a sukkah, so if I was going to choose just a few observances to try to instill in others, I'd focus on some that are actual commandments.