Under 50? Read This.
February 15, 2011
Across the country, Jews in their 20’s, 30’s and into their 40’s are creating new forms to connect spiritually with the religion they grew up in, or chose, and socially with the community of their peers. Younger men and women are finding Jewish meaning through activities and practices of their own design, over and above the ways of their parents and grandparents.
We haven’t seen a great deal of that here at Temple Emanu-El yet. Our younger members join mostly as couples with children ready for Religious School. By that time, their days, nights and weekends are filled with the responsibilities of work and raising a family. The Temple community they have embraced seems to “belong” to an older generation. As newcomers with pressing demands on their time, they might not consider taking an active, let alone leadership, role.
It is time for that to change. You younger members know what speaks to you in ways that people of my generation cannot fully grasp. We try, but without your guidance we are at a loss. Would a different approach to ritual be meaningful to you? More family activities? Young adult evenings? Educational programs? Speakers? How can you reshape Temple Emanu-El to make it a thriving center of Jewish life that resonates with you and with your children?
Temple Emanu-El “belongs” equally to all our members. We lay leaders recognize that the needs and desires of different constituencies within the greater community vary. The Temple will continue to address the spiritual and life-cycle considerations of older and longer-term members. You, the under-50 crowd, will be the ones to shape the Temple’s future that will, one day, rest in your hands.
How should the Temple re-form itself to best serve you too?
Talk to your spouse and your friends. Think about what a synagogue community should be to be attractive and Jewishly rewarding for you. Then email Executive Director Judith Emanuel at je@Emanu-el.org or me at president@Emanu-el.org, or call one of us directly. Some day soon you and your contemporaries will be in charge here. Let’s plant the seeds for our future growth today.
