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

[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.