| | | Click the image above to download a pdf of the current issue of Contact, the journal of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life.
| The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
| | The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life seeks to revitalize Jewish identity through educational and cultural initiatives that reach out to all Jews, with an emphasis on those who are on the margins of Jewish life, as well as to advocate for and support Hebrew and Jewish literacy among the general population.
For more information, please see our website.
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 | | | | Winter 2010 | Volume 12 Number 2 | Dear Rachel,
Welcome to the inaugural email preview of Contact, the journal of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life.
The new issue of Contact focuses on New Jewish Ritual - from theory to inception to widespread promulgation. What do new rituals say about the needs and values of segments of the American Jewish community? How do they reflect the ways in which groups that were marginalized in previous generations are newly energized and empowered? How do new rituals reflect the contours of a community in transition?
The essays in this issue of Contact explore the many facets of new ritual, from theory to inception to widespread promulgation. They examine the ways in which contemporary rituals open up new means of understanding and experiencing Judaism, and they reflect on the phenomenon of Jews empowering themselves to create and contribute meaningfully to the trajectory of Jewish tradition. Taken together, the articles reveal the vibrancy of the contemporary Jewish experience as it continues to adapt to the unique freedoms and possibilities of American life.
The full current issue of Contact can be downloaded in pdf format here. For links to individual articles, please see below.
| Investing in Tomorrow's Rituals: A Dialogue
by Felicia Herman and Rachel Brodie
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The Executive Directors of Natan and Jewish Milestones engage in a conversation about the inception and support of new Jewish rituals aimed at empowering and helping all Jews to become "insiders to the tradition." To download a pdf of the full article, please click here. | The Courage to Reinvent Jewish Ritual
by Vanessa L. Ochs
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Combining her own experience re-imagining the sukkah with a historical overview of the emergence of Jewish ritual, the author explores the creativity and vibrancy of rituals as they sprout up and become widespread in Jewish communal life.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| Ritual and the Forces of the Free Market
by Rabbi Hayim Herring
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Speaking as a student of contemporary innovation in the Jewish community, Rabbi Herring contemplates the complex and often diffuse origins of new rituals as well as their impact on societal trends as they enter the mainstream.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| How Women and Girls Revitalized Jewish Ritual
by Roni Handler and Lori Hope Lefkovitz
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The authors explore the emergence of Jewish rituals that reflect an ethic of inclusiveness and egalitarianism, specifically with an eye towards the empowerment of women, and demonstrate how these rituals have had "the startling effect of reinvigorating Jewish ritual practice more generally."
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| Reinventing the Minyan, Again
by Rabbi Joseph Meszler
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Focusing on Men's Study groups within egalitarian synagogues, the author explores why such modern minyanim might still be necessary, and explains how they can benefit the individual as well as the community as a whole.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| You Didn't Have a Bat Mitzvah?
by Sally Gottesman
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The author, chair of Moving Traditions, remembers her own Bat Mitzvah, the first in her Conservative New Jersey synagogue, and reflects on the ways in which the Bat Mitzvah has more generally evolved from a revolutionary practice into a mainstream rite of passage in the Jewish world.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| Beneath the Surface: Taking Our Principles Seriously
by Aliza Kline
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The Executive Director of Mayyim Hayyim offers wisdom gleaned from operating a community mikveh as a case study in how ritual can help build an inclusive Jewish community that welcomes people from all strains, styles and segments of Jewish life.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| Creative Lifecycle Rituals
by Rabbi Miriam C. Berkowitz
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The author contemplates the emergence of rituals that range from well-established rites to traditions still in formation, emphasizing that "our Jewish heritage should be a lens for experiencing the world, not a box that comes out only on certain holidays and social occasions."
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
| Renewing Ritual: Revitalizing the Sacred
by Debra Kolodny
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The Executive Director of ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal shares the unique rituals and traditions developed by the Jewish Renewal movement that emphasize inclusiveness, creativity and spiritual inspiration.
To download a pdf of the full article, please click here.
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