1. Authority and Community in the Modern World Introduction to Judaism: Lecture 10

2. Review Authority based on covenantal relationship What communal structure, leadership models, and boundaries embody the covenant?

3. Four Common Models 1.A Nation Led by Prophets 2.Liturgical Community Led by Priests 3.A State Led by Kings 4.A Disciple Community Led by Sages

4. Trigger Questions

5. Authority/Community in the Modern World What are the challenges that modernity brings to pre-modern structures of authority and community? To what extent is religious identity obligatory or voluntary? Ethnic? Racial? Can you fit into more than one category? What authorities do these communities have over you?

6. Modernity and Religious Leadership Enlightenment Emancipation –Jews as equal citizens –Full Civil Rights Jewish Identification is Voluntary –Same with all other religious traditions

7. Civic vs. Religious Authority Split between Political and Religious Identity Rabbis Lose Power of Coercion –Limited to Religious Sphere –Not final arbiter Authority and community structures crumble

8. Authority Jewish Sources and Contemporary Values Rabbinic Authority and Individual Choice

9. Denominations and the Source of Authority Orthodox –Halakhah interpreted by rabbis Conservative –Halakhah interpreted by rabbis with sensitivity to historical change Reform –Individual, Reason What kinds of communities do these different sources create?

10. Mordecai Kaplan and Peoplehood Judaism as a Civilization, 1934 People and faith Community based upon creed will disappear Volk, people, have authority Creates Reconstructionist movement

11. Other Sources of Authority and Community Communal Institutions –Jewish Federations (philanthropy), Jewish Community Centers, Cultural Events History –Shared experiences –Holocaust and Israel Family

12. Case Study Homosexuality and Jewish Law

13. The Sovereign Self Eisen and Cohen 2000 study of Baby Boomer Jews (b. 1946-1964) Personal Meaning as the Arbiter of Jewish Involvement (“Choosing Chosenness”) Judaism is constructed one experience at time Interest in spirituality, but not in organizational life of the Jewish community Identity is fluid

14. Intermarriage and the Boundaries of Judaism Tribal Identity-Born Jewish Universalist, pluralistic outlook –Heterogeneous environments –Culture of religious syncretism Intermarriage rates around 50% Why is intermarriage a challenge to authority and community? How do you think leaders should respond to intermarriage?

15. What About the Millennials? Religion in the TiVo and iPod Era OMG! Survey –Informal, highly personal communities(p.8) –Page 26-Jews and “The Godless” Hillel Survey and the Future of Judaism –Slide 15, 16, 19, 23