CONTACT

SPRING 2005/NISAN 5765 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3 THE JOURNAL OF JEWISH LIFE NETWORK/STEINHARDT FOUNDATION

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SPRING 2005/NISAN 5765 VOLUME 7 NUMBER 3

Eli Valley The Changing Nature Editor of the Jewish Family Erica Coleman Copy Editor o many people, the phrase “traditional Jewish family” calls to mind a Janet Mann husband and wife and at least three children, possibly seven. It might Administration summon inherited memories of the shtetl, or images of a father and Yakov Wisniewski Design Director Tmother surrounded by their parents and children at the Seder table — three generations, reproducing mightily and wrapped in a web of mutual JEWISH LIFE NETWORK STEINHARDT FOUNDATION support.

Michael H. Steinhardt Times have changed. The Jewish family today encompasses a wide variety of Chairman Rabbi Irving Greenberg textures and forms. Decades of high intermarriage have diversified the President customs and complexions of the family. High divorce rates, meanwhile, have Rabbi David Gedzelman Executive Director altered the very definition of what is “normal.” Whereas single-parent Jonathan J. Greenberg z”l households were once a rare exception, they now account for an increasing Founding Director proportion of American Jewish families. Some in the community have CONTACT is produced and distributed by Jewish Life Network/ interpreted the changing family in strident and judgmental terms: it is a sign Steinhardt Foundation, 6 East 39th of rampant assimilation, loss of tradition or moral permissiveness. But such Street, 10th floor, New York, NY 10016. scolding does nothing to respond to the new realities and to the changing Phone: (212) 279-2288 Fax: (212) 279-1155 needs of Jews today. Email: [email protected] Website: www.jewishlife.org If the family has changed, then old methods of relating to the family need to For media inquiries about Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, change as well. How can the community better respect, understand and meet please contact Richard Dukas at the needs of single parents? In what ways can the community be more [email protected]. inclusive towards families that include adopted children? How can the Copyright © 2005 by Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation. community offer support to couples who are struggling with infertility? This

issue of CONTACT features articles from a wide gamut of opinion on the state of the contemporary Jewish family. Although the perspectives are diverse, they share a commitment to strengthening Jewish life in families that are as Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation is dedicated to strengthening and multihued as contemporary America itself. transforming American Jewish Life to ensure a flourishing, sustainable commu- nity in a fully integrated free society. We seek to revitalize Jewish identity through Eli Valley educational, religious and cultural initia- tives that are designed to reach out to all Jews, with an emphasis on those who are on the margins of Jewish life. CORRECTION: In the Winter 2005 issue of CONTACT, the article “Engaging the Intellect: Jewish Studies on the College Campus,” by Amy Sales and Leonard Saxe, Photographs in this issue appear courtesy of should have noted that the research was commissioned and supported by the AVI CHAI contributors and Photos.com. Foundation, with the collaboration of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation.

2 CONTACT Single, Jewish, Mother by RABBI LAURA GOLD

t’s three o’clock in the morning and There wasn’t one last night and there Jewish Population Survey, there are the baby is crying again. She will won’t be one tomorrow night. I am a 2.9 million Jewish households in Amer- not sleep again until 6 a.m. (and single mother, profoundly blessed and ica, and children reside in 754,000 or 26 I then only for two hours). I have very, very tired. percent of them, in most cases with two been assailed by the same bad cold she This is not the life I had envisioned adults. Three percent of all Jewish house- has, and I have a twelve-hour workday while growing up. I thought I would get holds (or 87,000 out of 2.9 million) are ahead of me. So, even though it feels married in my twenties, move to the composed of a single adult with one or deeply tender to hold my baby through- suburbs, raise four children (I planned more children, suggesting that 11.5 per- out the night, I would really like to on two boys and two girls) and work cent of Jewish households with children nudge my husband awake and inform part-time once they were in school while are single-parent households. Although a him that it’s his turn to sit up rocking my husband served as primary bread- precise breakdown is difficult to ascer- with her. The only problem is that there winner. We would be financially com- tain, it seems safe to assume that single, is no sleeping husband next to me. fortable enough to send the children to Jewish parents are, to a great extent, day school and summer camp. What I divorced and to a lesser extent widowed never imagined was that by my mid-for- or never-married. With single mother- Rabbi Laura Gold, Ph.D. has been in practice as a ties, I would be an unmarried (not-yet- hood now viewed by many unpartnered clinical psychologist for seventeen years and was ordained as a Conservative rabbi in 2003. While she married?) rabbi, psychologist and women as a viable option, the numbers finds both of her lines of work enormously gratifying, mother of a seventeen-month-old in this last group are likely to increase. the arrival of her daughter Raphaela has been the daughter. Yet here I am. Out of simple pragmatism, if not com- greatest joy of her life. According to the 2000-01 National mon decency, the community needs to

SPRING 2005 3 recognize and address the special needs ily, the balance of career and parenthood parent struggles with the limitations of of single-parent families. is especially complicated and expensive. time like no two-parent family does. First and foremost, Jewish institu- The single mother doesn’t have the lux- Imagine how it feels when all the child- tions should ensure that they welcome ury to focus on either supporting the care, in addition to normal household single-parents and their children with as family or child-rearing; she must attend maintenance, falls on the shoulders of much enthusiasm, warmth and respect to both in equal measure. The more the one adult. There is no other adult with as they would a two-parent family. The mother works, the less time she has to whom the single parent can equitably arrival of a baby to a single mother spend with her child and the more she divide these tasks. One of the greatest should be announced and celebrated must pay for childcare. But working gifts the community can give the single with as much joy as the arrival of any fewer hours (or, as may be the case, parent is time, especially by spending other baby. Be mindful of language that fewer jobs) can seriously impede making time with the child while the mother may be exclusive (“Moms, tell your hus- ends meet, much less being able to afford takes care of other duties or even takes bands it’s their turn to bring the kids on to participate in Jewish communal life. care of herself. Sunday morning so you can sleep in”). Anything that Jewish institutions can The best way for me to illustrate Suggest ways that people in your com- do to ease the financial burden for single how individual members of a Jewish munity can help out the single parents parents can make a significant difference community can make a significant dif- in their midst (“This Sun- ference in the life of a single day’s program might pro- parent is by relating my own vide a good opportunity for experience. I am exceed- some of you to offer to ingly fortunate to belong to bring the children of a sin- a synagogue that has been gle mom or dad you know, unstintingly supportive in so they can have a little countless ways. Friends time to themselves”). Orga- OUT OF SIMPLE pragmatism, if not have gone out of their way nize gatherings of single to send referrals for my psy- parents with and without chotherapy practice as well their children — with common decency, the community as to recommend me for babysitting provided. And rabbinic jobs. One member don’t forget about the of my minyan has come over involved non-custodial par- needs to recognize and address the almost every Shabbat after- ent. If your synagogue is noon since my baby was having a father-child pro- born to spend an hour or gram (or any program that special needs of single-parent families. two with her, freeing me to is likely to attract more read the paper or take a fathers than mothers) and much needed nap. Friends there are single moms in brought meals over the first your congregation, ask few weeks after the baby them if their children have was born and contributed fathers who might like to both food and paper goods participate, even if the fathers are not in their participation in Jewish commu- for the baby-naming reception. Even members of the shul. This can be an nal life. Offering sliding scale member- people in my shul who are not close important way for the synagogue to ship dues and tuitions based on income friends seem to keep me in mind in meet children’s needs by fostering their is one way to help, and making it com- helpful ways. On those occasions when I relationships with their fathers. fortable for single parents to ask for make it to shul, I feel extremely grateful A single person raising a child on a scholarships and fee reductions is for the bevy of people — children, teens single income often is faced with an another. It should never be presumed and adults — who vie for a chance to enormously challenging financial situa- that in instances of divorce (or single- play with my baby, giving me an oppor- tion, and actively engaging with Jewish motherhood with an actively involved tunity to daven or to socialize at kiddush life is a costly enterprise. As the NJPS father), two parents in the picture means unencumbered. notes, “those with low income are less two incomes contributing equally to the By now, my baby and I have recov- likely than others to be members of syn- raising of the child. Indeed, when it ered from our respective colds, and she agogues, Jewish community centers and comes to divorce, it is well documented is hard at work on her furniture-climb- other Jewish organizations.” In addition, that generally the man’s economic com- ing skills. As for me, I continue to learn Jewish summer camp, Jewish day school, fort increases and the woman’s decreases. how to navigate the path of single moth- bris and baby-naming celebrations, bar By offering sliding scale membership erhood, and my stride sometimes feels and bat mitzvah celebrations, keeping dues and tuitions, institutions can con- as clumsy as my daughter’s first steps kosher, making festive Shabbat and holi- vey how much they value having single- were. I look to the Jewish community to day meals, travel to Israel and other parent families in their community. provide the occasional steadying hand, aspects of living Jewishly are expensive. Money isn’t the only notable source some encouraging smiles, and a sense of In the case of the single-parent fam- of stress for the single parent. The single a larger, loving home.

4 CONTACT Meeting the Needs of Jewish Adoptive Families

by KATHY BRODSKY and DINA ROSENFELD

esearch shows that 15 percent of couples in the general population of childbearing age have faced infertility. Within the Jewish community, infertil- R ity rates are believed to be higher than among other populations. This may be due to several factors, including later marriage, the pursuit of advanced educa- tion and professional careers by women and extensive use of birth control for long periods of time, all of which serve to delay the start of childbearing. While infertility is painful for anyone, Jewish families often feel additional pressure to have children because of the commandment in Genesis to “be fruitful and multiply” and a strong desire to repopulate the community after the Holocaust. Even attending services where the struggles of our matriarchs are highlighted can be stressful for those yearning to be parents or grandparents. When it becomes apparent that a biological child may not be forthcoming, many singles and couples begin to consider adoption. The adoption of a child is an exciting and life-affirming event. Recent estimates approach 120,000 domestic and 20,000 international adoptions annually in the United States. A 1997 survey conducted by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute found that “every 6 out of 10 Americans have had a personal experi- ence with adoption, meaning they themselves, a family member, or a close friend was adopted, had adopted a child or had placed a child for adoption.” According to the National Jewish Population Survey, nearly 3 percent of all Jewish children under age eighteen were adopted—one quarter of them internationally. When the parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other extended family members are added, this number approaches 500,000 Jews touched by adoption. In addition, for every adoption, there

Kathy Brodsky, LCSW is Director of the Ametz Adoption Program of the Jewish Child Care Association in New York. Dina Rosenfeld, DSW is Director of the Undergraduate Program at the New York University School of Social Work and an Ametz Adoption Program consultant. Each has worked in the field of adoption for more than twenty years.

SPRING 2005 5 AS MORE CHILDREN and families of diverse backgrounds enter the institutions of Jewish life, it is hoped that these institutions will respond with a supportive and inclusive academic and social environment.

are many Jewish institutions and Jewish They ask only that the Jewish commu- Many synagogues, Jewish community communities that come into contact nity does the same. centers, schools and other communal with the child and family. Acceptance of difference is a critical institutions are continuing to work The Hebrew word for adoption, task facing the Jewish community. If a towards heightening awareness so that Ametz, is mentioned in Psalms and liter- family has a weak Jewish identity, then sensitivity to the needs of adoptive fami- ally means, “to hold strong.” The Ametz incorporating another tradition may be lies can be enhanced. Adoption Program of the Jewish Child easier. If there is a strong Jewish identity, The first step to creating accepting Care Association in New York chose its then the issue becomes more compli- communities is an awareness that Jewish name to reflect its work to strengthen cated. A Guatemalan child adopted into families come in all shapes, sizes and the family and its ties to the community. a Jewish family may wish to learn Span- colors. A public recognition of their Welcoming any child into the Jewish ish or travel to the city where he was presence is an indication that they are a community is a celebration. Most born. A child whose race is not that of full part of the Jewish community and adopted children do not have Jewish her parents will need to learn how to an enrichment to clal Yisrael. Open dia- birth mothers. The first step for many respond to those who treat her differ- logue with families regarding their needs parents is to interact with the Jewish ently because of the color of her skin. and their perception of how to create a community regarding bris, conversion The ethnic diversity represented by more welcoming community will benefit and/or baby naming. There are more adoptive families may feel foreign to both the families and the community. complications when an older child is members of a particular synagogue or As more children and families of adopted. While there are differences in communal organization. As a result, diverse backgrounds enter the institu- how the various movements address Jewish multi-cultural adoptive families tions of Jewish life, it is hoped that these conversion, it is important that the Jew- are easily recognizable and may feel like institutions will respond with a support- ish community recognize this is a time they don’t belong. This can result in ive and inclusive academic and social for the Jewish community to support the them leaving one institution and joining environment. Consider the following: family and welcome its new member. another perceived as more welcoming • Teach the value of diversity — Another occasion when the Jewish and diverse. Some families, feeling that within the family, synagogue, school community can show its strength and the Jewish community cannot provide a and community. support is at the age of Bar/Bat Mitzvah, home for them, seek a more comfortable • Add culturally sensitive materials to when identity issues during adolescence environment for themselves and their libraries and classrooms. can be complicated by adoption. children outside of the Jewish commu- • Encourage others to learn and use Adopted children may grapple with nity. It is important to remember that positive adoption language. thoughts about where they belong or Judaism teaches the wrongfulness of • Talk about the meaning of being a how their physical appearance differs humiliating someone in public. The loss minority, as Jews have been through- from other family members. of personal dignity at the hands of oth- out history, and discuss what that These and other Jewish rituals mark ers is considered one of the gravest experience means to individuals, times of transition and growth and pro- wrongs in Judaism, akin to murder. It is families and communities. vide an opportunity for the Jewish com- our responsibility as Jews to not allow Agencies such as the Ametz Adoption munity to come together. Ahavat hager this to happen. Program of Jewish Child Care Associa- (“loving the stranger”) is a value empha- While there are many professionals tion, located in New York City, educate sizing compassion towards strangers, and institutions who regularly interact and support families before, during and empathy towards foreigners, and their with Jewish families and who have after adopting and act as clearinghouses inclusion in every aspect of society. worked diligently to insure that every- for ideas about Jewish rituals and inclu- Adoptive families live this ethic every one can comfortably engage in Jewish sion in the Jewish community for fami- day by opening their hearts and homes. life, additional education is required. lies and Jewish professionals.

6 CONTACT OF GONGS & GROGGERS: A Family Becomes Jewish, Chinese and (Really) American by EVAN EISENBERG and SARA XING EISENBERG

an walks into a kosher Chi- presume is Bernstein’s on Essex). His When she gets wise, what will she say? nese restaurant (which, given waiter, whose features are Asian, addresses “For this I left the Middle Kingdom, the the crusty-yellow-mustard him in perfect Yiddish. world’s most populous nation, the foredes- M vintage of the joke, we may The customer waves the owner to his tined economic and military superpower table. “How does it happen,” he asks, “that of the 21st century — to be spat at by Mel Evan Eisenberg is the author of The Ecology of Eden the waiter speaks Yiddish?” Gibson fans?” and The Recording Angel, an expanded edition of “Shh,” says the owner. “He thinks he’s And I will hang my head. After all, any which will be issued this spring by Yale. His essays, learning English.” tribe that would accept me as a member is humor and fiction have appeared in The New Yorker, Raising a Chinese girl in a Jewish fam- not one an infant in her right mind would The Atlantic and other periodicals. Sara Xing Eisen- ily, I sometimes feel guilty of a similar fly 7,000 miles to join. berg is a third-grader at PS 87 in Manhattan. They fraud. Perhaps, however, she is already wiser live in Manhattan with their wife and mother (respec- tively), Freda Eisenberg, an urban planner. She thinks she’s becoming American. than the wised-up child I fear. For when,

SPRING 2005 7 to dovetailed lunar calendars, coincides with the Harvest Moon Festival — we eat mooncakes in the sukkah, gumming lotus- paste filling as the moon grins through the cedar boughs. On Purim we schlepp a huge Chinese gong to the megillah reading. Chil- dren of all ages line up to strike it. The noise it makes fills the great hall, drowning out not only Haman’s name but the noise that is meant to drown out Haman’s name, and hence, perhaps, defeating the purpose; but glorious fun nonetheless. Fun, multicultural fun, can be hard work. Even by New York standards our daughter is overscheduled, with two after- noons of Hebrew school and one of Man- darin on top of cello, piano and judo. To be a French-Spanish-American family would have been easier — no aleph-bet to learn, no 50,000 characters. Early on, Sara Xing had mixed feelings about being Chinese. Like most adopted IF I WERE AN INVESTOR in literary futures, I would bet children, she wanted to be as much like my all on the horde of Jewish-Chinese-American female her parents as possible. Then a famous star of Kunqu opera came to live with us. As novelists that is sure to hit the scene in a decade or so. Sara Xing writes in her essay, “I watched how beautiful she danced and I loved the in flagrant violation of child labor laws, I tashchit, I do know that avoiding waste is music, so I changed my mind and I asked her to write an essay on being Jew- one reason for this omnivory. wanted to be Chinese again.” Even so, in ish, Chinese and American (not necessar- If American civilization (if that is the third grade she has decided to call herself ily in that order), so that I would not have word) is not one of the ones in which we Sara, mainly because she’s tired of hearing to do it myself, she obliged me with this: are trying to mingle, that is because we Xing mispronounced. (In case you’re won- “I like being Chinese American Jewish don’t have to try; it is the soup in which dering, it’s “Hsing” or “Shing,” depending because I like speaking the languages and our kreplach and wonton inevitably float. on whether the speaker is a Litvak from it’s fun to have friends, American Jewish or Float, or sink, or bump against each other Beijing or a Galitzianer from Shanghai.) Chinese American or Jewish Chinese, so like funboats at Coney Island. When a friend’s mother offered to buy her you can share some of your same culture Shortly after crossing the Pacific and an American Girl doll, she chose one with with them. Like my friend Xian does dif- emerging from the mikva, our daughter Chinese features but named her Zoe Beth. ferent things on Chinese New Year so we officially received her Hebrew name, Sara She has not been back to China since can share what we do different and the Mazal. For most of her first six months we plucked her from the banks of the same. My friend Anna is American Jewish she’d been known as Fu Xing, or Lucky Yangtse. Nor has she been to Eretz Yisrael. and we usually celebrate the Jewish holi- Star. Lest striking the Fu from her English Both these lacks we plan to remedy soon days together and it’s lots of fun. …” name — Sara Xing — impair her fortunes, — or, at the very latest, when she’s twelve It is fun, though it is also taxing, this we grafted it onto her Hebrew name. or thirteen. If I were an entrepreneur, I project of mingling in one household two (Mazal means constellation, another piece would start a travel agency called Wall to of the three great civilizations that have of luck.) In a Zhang Yimou film we’d seen Wall Tours, offering packages (Western, shaped the world we know and whose a baby passed through a huge, bagel- Great) for b’not mitzvah and their families. chains of tradition stretch largely unbro- shaped steamed bun one month after his If I were an investor in literary futures, I ken from ancient times to the present. birth; accordingly, we had a baker friend would bet my all on the horde of Jewish- (Adopting a boy from India would com- bake a giant, bagel-shaped, braided challah Chinese-American female novelists that is plete the trinity, but the resulting cultural and passed our baby through it at her sure to hit the scene in a decade or so. rijstafel might be too rich and spicy even naming ceremony. In the snapshot taken What tales of gongs and groggers, of for us.) Affinities between them exist, of by my brother-in-law, she looks as bewil- mooncakes and moonstruck Jewish boys, course, which makes things easier: family, dered as if she’d just crawled out of the will they have to tell? And what (I wonder food and learning loom large in both. But birth canal. Chinese friends who attended with some trepidation) will they say of differences are equally notable: while the said the steamed-bun ritual was news to their doting, demanding, awkwardly Jews build fences around the dinner table, them — some non-Han ethnic thing, world-straddling parents? the Chinese pride themselves on eating maybe. Never mind. Mr. Bernstein — may I everything, from jellyfish to crocodile. Yet Eight years later the melding goes on, call you Schmulke? — we don’t have to even here a deep affinity may be glimpsed: with home-baked meaning trumping whisper. They are becoming Americans, in though I don’t know the Mandarin for bal authenticity. On Sukkot — which, thanks the richest sense of the word.

8 CONTACT AFTER SEVERAL DECADES of intermarriage,American Jewish families have On Advocating become much more diverse than they once were. In light of this, we asked two experts whether the community has the right — morally, communally and even pragmatically — to send the message to parents and children For Endogamy that Jews must marry other Jews. In the long run, has the community’s policy of promoting endogamy been effective in nourishing a strong Jewish family life? Has this approach come to repel the large numbers of Jews who are intermarried or who are the children of intermarried families? Is VIEWS there a way that the community can emphasize endogamy without [2 ] alienating large numbers of American Jews?

Optimism Cultivating Jewish for the Roots: Why Jewish Future American Judaism

by RABBI KERRY M. OLITZKY Should Advocate for Endogamy hile I would have perhaps preferred a histori- cal Jewish journey for our people that did by SYLVIA BARACK FISHMAN not include intermarriage, especially at the rates we are now experiencing in North W nclusiveness is a compelling concept for many Ameri- America and elsewhere, I recognize that the phenomenon is can Jews. Outreach activists urge synagogues and Jew- not new to us (or any community in this generation) and, ish institutions to lower or obliterate boundaries in fact, is reflected—and celebrated—in various episodes in between Jews and non-Jews in intermarried households the Torah and throughout the Tanach, as well as in all stages I and to welcome non-Jews into Jewish congregational and of Jewish history. communal life with or without conversion. Correctly assert- As a rabbi, this phenomenon and the tension that it has ing that intermarried households comprise an increasingly created have always been a challenge to me. I think that my large proportion of American Jewish households, some argue struggle is emblematic of those of my colleagues who like- that urging endogamy or conversion into Judaism will need- wise confront the reality of the American Jewish demo- lessly alienate intermarried parents—and their children— graphic every day. How can we celebrate and affirm a loving and thus further diminish an already challenged Jewish relationship between someone who is not Jewish with community. This policy advice, often passionately expressed, someone who is, while at the same time encourage those is articulated in the name of pluralism, tolerance, and the who have not yet made a decision to marry, to marry some- universalistic elements of biblical and historical Judaism. one who is Jewish? In working with families comprised of a Research unequivocally shows, however, that having one Jewish and a non-Jewish parent, I have come to realize that Jewish and one non-Jewish parent literally reverses the like- we have established a false dichotomy in our message to lihood that children will identify as Jews and create Jewish people, and especially to our children, about whom they homes of their own. When American Jews ages 25 to 49 seek out as a life partner. There are many among us who have two Jewish parents, 72 percent are married to Jews. have placed the message to “marry Jewish” above all else. When they have one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent, 79 No other demands are being made, nor is anything required percent are married to non-Jews. Moreover, having a Jewish to back up such a directive. As part of this message, an mother is critical. Although the great majority of affiliated endogamous marriage is seen as a success in the commu- intermarried Jews join the Reform movement, which recog- nizes Jewish fatherhood as equal to Jewish motherhood since the Patrilineal Descent Decision, a study of Jewish college Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky, Executive Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, is author of Introducing My Faith and My Community: The Jewish Outreach Institute Guide for the Christian in a Jewish Interfaith Relationship (Jewish Sylvia Barack Fishman, Ph.D. is Professor of Near Eastern & Judaic Studies at Lights) as well as many books that bring Jewish tradition into everyday life. Brandeis University and Co-Director of The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute.

SPRING 2005 9 Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky continued from page 9

partner. After all, interfaith marriage is Interfaith marriage is not not the end of Jewish continuity. Not raising Jewish children is the end of Jew- the end of Jewish continuity. ish continuity. There is no denying the fact that Not raising Jewish children is statistics do not paint an optimistic picture with regard to the Jewish future the end of Jewish continuity. and the results of interfaith relation- ships. But I refuse to allow the past to determine what the future will look like. nity, while an exogamous marriage is is dear to us. As more Jews marry those If we don’t open our institutions and seen as a failure. Yet, in most cases, both who are not Jewish, such an emphasis ourselves to interfaith families, then we kinds of marriages are more reflective of tends to alienate an ever-growing num- will have no one to blame but ourselves. local demographics than they are driven ber of people. Even more so, it sends a And we know that there are literally by any “successes” or “failures” in Jew- message of exclusion to their children hundreds of thousands of intermarried ish identity formation. And they cer- and often to their parents—driving them families already rising to the task, with tainly do not represent success or failure away from the community, something perhaps hundreds of thousands more in child-rearing or Jewish education or that we cannot afford. And it causes us who would join them if they were the role modeling that emerges from to miss opportunities for engagement. welcomed and encouraged. One of our Jewish communal leadership. While our communal obsession pilot programs in Atlanta, thanks to the Moreover, the community has over interfaith marriage has driven generous support of the Marcus already tried advocating for Jewish countless children of intermarriage Foundation, is called the Mothers Circle. endogamy and it hasn’t worked. So what away from the organized community, It includes, among other things, an happened? Were our parents and grand- it has not necessarily driven them away educational course for women from parents not yelling loudly enough? Were from Jewish identity. That may explain other backgrounds committed to raising they not sitting shiva dramatically why the NJPS found that a huge per- Jewish children. It is a free program, a enough? Those who advocate for a centage of Jewishly identifying college “thank you” from the Jewish community “return” to such a strategy never offer students hail from so-called interfaith for accepting the challenge of creating a concrete programmatic plans as to how families (45 percent), as compared to Jewish household. In speaking to these to do it, because they suggest it while the much more oft-quoted NJPS statistic women, we know it is one of the most sitting in an ivory tower rather than about interfaith families raising Jewish powerful statements of support they while working in the “trenches.” They children (33 percent). To us it says that have ever felt from the Jewish use statistics to suggest causal relation- the potential spark of Judaism remains community. ships that are not provable while ignor- within, waiting to be rekindled. But Finally, this conversation belongs in ing myriad other factors. They see these kids will never join the commu- the midst of a relationship, not as a dia- reality through their own clouded lenses nity if our ultimate measure of their tribe from the pulpit (where few people and then present it as “scientific fact” in identity continues to hinge on whom are there to listen in any case) nor in op- order, for example, to discount a family’s they marry (or whom their parents mar- eds or propaganda pamphlets. I would Jewish identity simply because the chil- ried). Marriage is not the end game. welcome the opportunity to sit with col- dren eat Christmas dinner at the home It reminds me of what has happened leagues, including those with whom I of their non-Jewish grandparents. with the functional reality of b’nai disagree, so that we might fashion a Jew- If there are other core values in mitzvah; they have become the end of ish community where in-marriage is Judaism, especially those which are a process of Jewish education rather encouraged but not at the expense of manifest in forms of ritual practice, why than the beginning. Similarly, an those who have already intermarried. don’t we advocate for them more emphasis on in-marriage, if it is to And similarly, I would like to imagine strongly? Why don’t we hear pulpit come, should organically evolve at the that we might work together toward the exhortations about Shabbat (especially if end of a process of adopting Jewish per- creation of a community where those Ahad Ha’am is correct that “Shabbat has sonal practice rather than at its begin- who have intermarried are welcomed kept the Jewish people”)? Or about ning through communal proclamations. without judgment or distinction. I pray kashrut (since so many of its laws kept Our emphasis should be on what it that the day may come where in the us separate from others throughout our takes to create a Jewish household and midst of such a dialogue, our leaders Diaspora travels)? Instead, we are con- raise Jewish children, or on what it takes might be able to echo the words of the sumed by an emphasis on endogamy to live a Jewish life, irrespective of the Talmud and declare, “Elu v’elu . . . both that seems to eclipse everything else that choices we have made with regard to a are for the sake of Heaven.”

10 CONTACT Sylvia Barack Fishman continued from page 9 freshmen with only one Jewish parent showed that 40 percent of students who Families with mixed grew up with a Jewish mother consid- ered themselves to be Jewish, while only religious celebrations are 15 percent of those with a Jewish father considered themselves to be Jewish. not environments that succeed Children growing up in households with mixed religious traditions are strik- at raising Jewish children. ingly less likely to identify as Jews because Christian and Jewish holiday and life cycle celebrations are celebrated side by side: nal inclusiveness for interfaith families. cious, but all recent systematic research December brings both Christmas trees and The marketing analogy is familiar but shows that it thrives only with cultiva- Chanuka candles, April brings Easter din- misleading, because potential “customers” tion. Jewish culture is most effectively ners and Passover Seders. The 2000-01 for religion are not choosing between transmitted under certain conditions, National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) “superior” or “inferior” products, where a including: (1) having two Jewish parents, showed that intermarried families who say superior product will naturally rise to the especially having a Jewish mother; (2) they are raising Jewish children have top and claim an increasingly large market having Jewish social networks, such as almost identical rates of Jewish behaviors share. The personal attractiveness of partic- neighborhood and friendship groups, and affiliations, as measured by the NJPS, ular ethno-religious lifestyles is dependent during the teen years; (3) receiving for- as those saying they are raising children in on many factors, including social networks, mal (classroom) Jewish education during two religions. Dual religion households, family background, education, activities both elementary and high school years; however, have more Christian obser- and experiences, not on the innate superi- (4) growing up in a family that includes vances, and they are more likely to attend ority of one religion over another. regular involvement with Jewish religious church and to send children to both Ecological or agricultural models are rituals and cultural celebrations, and does church schools and Jewish Sunday schools more useful than marketing models in not include the celebration of any other or supplementary religious schools than thinking about religious choices in an religion. We can call them the three Ps— those defining themselves as raising Jewish open society. History shows repeatedly Parents, Peer group, and Pedagogy. children. Families with mixed religious that connections to a minority religion Nurturing Jewish cultural transmission celebrations are not environments that must be nurtured in order for that reli- requires effort, because American Jews are a succeed at raising Jewish children. gious group to transmit its culture to the tiny minority, 2.5 percent, among a large Inclusiveness advocates counter sta- next generation. The cultivation of a Christian majority, 84 percent. Despite the tistical data and systematically collected minority religion is enhanced by (1) creat- attractiveness of Robert Frost’s poem, interview data with anecdotal evidence, ing conditions that nurture that religion “something there is that doesn’t love a such as essay contests or email surveys and by (2) maintaining a certain number fence,” many living things, including they have conducted among families that of boundaries. Gardeners often create a minority religious groups, require interven- subscribe to their specialized chat groups. specific environment for particular plants tions and yes, even some fences. Without They quote stories of warm connections to thrive. They know that if current condi- boundaries, minority groups, like cattails with Judaism forged by outreach pro- tions favor another species and if bound- along the water, can easily be overrun by grams. They suggest that Christian cele- aries are not in place, the desired plant can the Christian largest common denominator. brations in intermarried households do falter and become an endangered species. Today, American Jewish leaders and not necessarily interfere with Jewish iden- In New England, for example, the acid religious and communal institutions are tity, and they accuse those who worry soil favors acid-loving plants. Gardeners pressured to abandon advocacy for the cre- about mixed messages as lacking confi- who want diversity in their plantings, ation of unambiguously Jewish homes. To dence in Judaism as a product. including green grass and the many other some extent, communal norms have Religious identification is like the mar- plants that cannot tolerate acidic soil, must already changed in the direction of an ketplace, they suggest. If Judaism is suffi- apply lime frequently. Similarly, along New unthinking espousal of inclusiveness as the ciently attractive and compelling, Judaism England waterways, brown cattails are highest goal. American Jewish denomina- will win a bigger market share even in increasingly pushed out by plants with tall tions and movements will best succeed in households where Christianity gets equal purple spires called loosestrife, because their effort to transmit their living heritage billing. They assert that if Judaism is not loosestrife is a pervasive plant that has an by taking the countercultural stand of advo- winning out in these households, the Jew- easier time of multiplying. Ecologists are cating for in-marriages whenever possible, ish community is failing in marketing willing to intervene to protect endangered conversion into Judaism where intermar- Judaism to this potential population. species like cattails, precisely because they riage has taken place, and exclusively Jew- Indeed, some suggest that the marketing believe that diversity is precious. ish religious traditions in homes where the failure is due to a deficit of Jewish commu- Similarly, religious diversity is pre- goal is the raising of Jewish children.

SPRING 2005 11 years must “put our money where our mouths are.” That is, we must help to provide Coping With the day-care arrangements and tuition aid for Jewish day schools, supplementary schools and camps. Here the Talmud’s insistence that Pressures of grandparents have the same duty to provide a Infertility Jewish education for their grandchildren as parents do for their children is especially apt by RABBI ELLIOT N. DORFF in our time. It is not a great favor when grandparents help with these costs; it is sim- WE MUST RECOGNIZE the infinite worth of each Jew, married or not and with children ply what our tradition expects them to do. or not, a value imprinted in each of us when we were created in the image of God. Third, we need to recognize that the emphasis on children in the Jewish tradition surprising number of biblical fig- from 27 to 35 a higher percentage of cou- only exacerbates the problems of infertile Jew- ures had fertility problems. Abra- ples encounter problems with infertility ish couples. Not only do they suffer person- ham and Sarah, Rebekah and than their younger contemporaries. Those ally each time they see their contemporaries A Isaac, Rachel and Jacob, and problems become even more prevalent in become pregnant or deal with their children, Elkanah and Hannah (who ultimately bore the 35 to 40 age group. wishing that they could be in that stage of life the prophet Samuel) all had difficulties. No It is good that Jews value education and as well; their own Jewish tradition seems to other culture’s sacred scripture focuses so seek to excel in their professional lives. For condemn them for not having children. extensively on infertility. reproduction, though, the unfortunate result Here it is critical to note two things. What can we learn from this? First, that is that Jews postpone marriage and procre- First, like all obligations in Jewish law, the children are precious. Indeed, the Jewish ation. Rabbis routinely report that most duty to procreate ceases to apply to those tradition sees them as a great blessing. In young couples who ask them to officiate at who cannot fulfill it through no fault of their part that is because of their inherent value their wedding these days are in their late own. Furthermore, adoption is an honored as human life, but it is also because of the twenties or early thirties. That means, how- choice in the Jewish tradition that should be psychological growth and joy they bring to ever, that if they can have children, they will encouraged and supported. Finally, we must their parents. The very difficulty that so probably have only one or two, and there is impress upon Jews that even if childbirth is many couples have in conceiving and bear- a 30 percent chance, up to age 35, that they not an option, there are other ways to con- ing children is itself a mark of how precious will have trouble having children altogether. tribute to the nourishment of the Jewish they are when they come. Infertility, it should be noted, is not just a people. For example, the Talmud analogizes Second, the biblical stories amply indi- women’s problem: 40 percent of infertile those who teach other people’s children to cate that infertility causes immense tensions couples are infertile due to a problem in the those who give birth to them. in marriage. Many infertile couples begin to woman; 40 percent are infertile to a problem Second, we in the Jewish community question who they are individually and what in the man; 10 percent are infertile due to a must take steps to support and assist young their future together holds. Worse, many problem in both members of the couple; and adults who would love to get married and couples seeking to become pregnant feel the in 10 percent doctors cannot determine have children, but cannot. Communal equivalent of a final examination each what is wrong (“undiagnosed”). activities and Internet sites like JDate can month, and, if they are having difficulties Jews, who have had a virtual love affair help, but so can parents who host intellec- conceiving, they will fail many of those with medicine for the last 2,000 years, trust tual, religious and social gatherings at their examinations. that whenever they want to bear children, homes for their children and their friends In our own time, Jews are especially medicine will enable them to do so. While and their friends’ friends. In Los Angeles, troubled by this problem not because of infertility specialists have made great strides the Salters and Wagners did just that in the Jewish genetic diseases, but rather because in making it possible for many couples to 1980s, and many marriages came from the we have been duped by the American ideol- bear children, they cannot do that for “S and W Good Company.” ogy that makes work the fundamental everyone, and the younger the couple is, We also must recognize that many cou- source of one’s identity and pride. That leads the greater the chance that the new tech- ples in our midst would love to have chil- Americans to sleep less and work more niques will work. dren, but cannot. That requires minimally hours than any other nation on earth. It also Because infertility is a great source of that we must not badger couples without inevitably takes a major toll on family life. pain for the couples involved and a demo- children with questions about when they are Part of that toll is in the very attempt to graphic quandary for the Jewish people, we going to have them. We must instead try to have children in the first place. While there as a community must work to address this be there for them emotionally as they strug- are many factors that can cause infertility, problem. First, in a proactive mode, gle with this issue and support them in their age is the primary one. Physicians maintain teenagers need to be encouraged to choose efforts to have their own biological children that the optimal age for both men and colleges where there are many Jews — not or to adopt. Moreover, in our programming women to procreate is 22. We human just so that they might take a course in Jew- we must plan for couples who do not have beings are designed to have children in our ish studies or attend a service or holiday children as well as for those who do. Our late teens and our early twenties. This abil- celebration, but to increase their chances of Jewish institutions should not be only for ity continues unabated until age 27, but meeting a Jewish mate. We also must com- couples with children, for that group consti- municate that it is not too early to look for tutes a diminishing percentage of our people. Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, Ph.D. is Professor of Philos- a spouse while in college, and if one finds Instead, we must recognize the infinite worth ophy at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles and one, it is not too early to marry and begin of each Jew, married or not and with children author of Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish to have children in graduate school. or not, a value imprinted in each of us when Approach to Modern Medical Ethics. Second, those of us beyond childbearing we were created in the image of God.

12 CONTACT Towards an pen Community by RABBI SHARON KLEINBAUM

esbian and gay Jewish spiritual communities are politically chal- THE FAMILIES of gay and lesbian couples in our congregation, young and old, men lenging to the mainstream of our and women, are deeply committed to being part of the larger Jewish community. society. They are also a moral challengeL to the mainstream of our society’s 2 percent and 10 percent of the population a gay partner was not allowed to have a religious discourse. In a society that tries to is gay or lesbian. If those statistics are cor- say in his partner’s burial, erection of the ignore us and would prefer to exclude us, rect, that means of the world’s 12,000,000 stone or any of the details of shiva and lesbian and gay synagogues are an increas- Jews, 240,000 to 1,200,000 are gay or les- mourning. These are all Jewish families. ingly visible and undeniable social and reli- bian. This doesn’t mean, of course, that We have families in our community with gious reality. In a society that does not these people are living visible lives as gay children who are adopted, or have been recognize same-sex marriage, our couples men or lesbian women. It does mean that conceived through alternative insemina- marry. In a society that considers homosex- the reality just below the surface, and cer- tion, or are children of previous heterosex- uality a threat to traditional family values, tainly becoming more visible, shows that a ual marriages or from surrogacy. our congregants are raising children, and significant part of the Jewish community is The Jewish family is radically diverse. raising them in one of the world’s greatest gay or lesbian. If we then consider how And while some would have us believe religious traditions. In a religious culture many of these people have parents, siblings, that the Jewish family has looked the same that still debates and largely opposes the children, aunts, uncles or cousins, it’s not from time immemorial, and that it is gays ordination of openly gay clergy, we count long before we see that the majority of the and lesbians who today are threatening the half a dozen out rabbis among our Congre- Jewish community has a relative, in some traditional family, let us simply remember gation Beth Simchat Torah membership cases very close, who is gay or lesbian. The what our ancestral family looked like in and have seen half a dozen more undertake question for our community is, as always, the Tanach: Polygamy was the norm. training for a career in the rabbinate. In a how visible will the population be. The families of gay and lesbian couples spiritual landscape that has been largely I have been the senior rabbi of Congre- in our congregation, young and old, men divvied up among the religious right, new- gation Beth Simchat Torah, the New York and women, are deeply committed to age searchers, and the prevailing secular City synagogue serving gay, lesbian, bisex- being part of the larger Jewish community. culture, lesbian and gay synagogues repre- ual and transgendered Jews — our friends I have been accused by some of my col- sent a vital religious alternative, putting and our families — for thirteen years. In leagues of leading people into abomination forward a thriving model based on the tra- that time I have officiated at dozens of reli- and destroying the fabric of Jewish life. In ditional values of organized, institutional gious wedding ceremonies for same sex fact, I believe that our families, families religion. Finally, in the face of the religious couples. These couples do not receive the educated by our community and for whom right’s vigorous efforts to co-opt and dictate legal benefits that heterosexual couples this community presents opportunities for the terms of the dialogue of organized reli- receive, and yet they yearn for and are celebration and mourning, are strengthen- gion in America, our communities are liv- deeply affected by a Jewish religious wed- ing the Jewish family. And when I officiate ing proof that the spiritual resources of ding ceremony that unites them in a Jew- at a wedding ceremony for beautiful Jew- traditional religion are not the exclusive ish way. I officiated at a ceremony for a ish couples and see the pain on one of the preserve of one particular segment of soci- woman whose employer, instead of send- bride’s faces under the chuppah or the sad- ety or of one particular view of the nature ing a gift and having an office party, fired ness in one of the groom’s eyes because of religion and religious life. her for participating in a Jewish gay wed- their parents are not at the ceremony, I feel Scientific studies estimate that between ding ceremony. I have officiated at a cere- a great sadness. mony for which one partner’s parents I believe with perfect faith that one Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is Senior Rabbi at Congre- refused to come. In fact, six months in day there will be a Jewish world in which gation Beth Simchat Torah, the New York City synagogue advance, her mother scheduled elective our children’s children may never know serving the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered surgery to take place the week of the cere- what it is to be rejected for being who Jewish community as well as its family and friends. mony. I have officiated at funerals at which they are.

SPRING 2005 13 If You Build It, They Will Come by CANTOR MARK S. HOROWITZ, DIANA GANGER and ERICA KAUFMAN

WE MUST BE COGNIZANT of the varied relationships that can be formed in our Jewish meeting places. Family members need relationships in which they feel safe and respected just as children do.

undreds of years ago, the Jew- community has the potential to become entire family, a system based on relation- ish family unit was simultane- a family’s core, or even its extended fam- ships is created. Educators have strong ously simple and tightly knit. ily. Judaism is a religion of community. relationships with the children’s families; H Communities were smaller, If Jewish schools are employed correctly, collaboration takes place between the and there were fewer ideological spec- this community will create families homes and the early childhood program; trums to choose from. Today, the Jewish immersed in Jewish life. children’s development and learning are family is architecturally vast, spanning We at the Jewish Early Childhood Edu- enhanced; families become engaged in multiple ideologies and perspectives. cation Initiative (JECEI) have spent the the life of the school and the commu- The constitution of each individual fam- past few months visiting over 70 centers nity. When the school engages in living ily has become more and more unique. and examining Jewish early childhood edu- Jewish life within its walls in a real and Families are no longer as large, and Jew- cation around the country, as well as in genuine way (including the meaningful ish women delay having children. Such Israel. We’ve also been taking note of the study of text), families can begin a jour- a shift or progression in what classifies a different types of communities these ney to life-long Jewish living and learn- Jewish family makes creating an actual schools are in, and how Jewish identity and ing. This principle is applicable to all definition complex. This is why Jewish community are present in these places. institutions that come into contact with education, and early childhood educa- Research shows that the beginning of families of young children. tion in particular, becomes essential. family life is one of the most significant When an institution is open and Families need a space to build relation- points of change for all involved, and democratic and invites a sincere ships, a place from which to gain under- holds the most potential for deepening exchange of ideas, it brings people closer. standing and perspective. identity and imparting critical values. We This allows for the opportunity to main- In the past, a Jewish family would believe that families long for environ- tain a welcoming feeling for all who include several generations, an intimate ments that offer support and genuine rela- enter. This we refer to as collaboration web that often served as its own com- tionships, and an excellent Jewish early and collegiality. It is characteristics like munity. Knowledge was passed down childhood center can offer such a space. these that define excellence in Jewish from generation to generation. Judaism Excellent Jewish early childhood centers early childhood education. JECEI plans was an inherent tradition, omnipresent need to be accepting of Jewish diversity, to instill this sort of excellence in centers in many families. In contemporary welcoming, supportive and loving. This nationwide. Loris Malaguzzi, the founder America, the extended family is exactly will create a craving among Jewish fami- and inspiration of the Reggio Emilia that— in most cases, extended. After the lies to continue within our system schools in Italy, wrote, “A rich integrated Second World War, families moved from because once Judaism is genuinely experi- network of interpersonal relationships urban to suburban areas, and more enced, the need for more becomes organic represents for children [families] a great recently they have begun to move from and systemic. In fact, our study and expe- potential for growth.” We plan to take the east coast westward, creating a spa- riences show that families who have been these theories of relationship building tial gap between generations. Relatives welcomed into these environments con- and bring them into communities in are no longer in close proximity of each tinue their ties to Jewish culture. order to enrich the bonds between Jew- other, and the nuclear family is becom- It is as if, along the lines of the ish people, in and out of schools. ing more and more rare. As a result, famous story, when a young woman An example of this sort of excellence families are more isolated now than ever. approached Rabbi Hillel to ask him how can be found in a teacher’s home visit The Jewish community must reach out to engage young Jewish families and before the school year begins. The to engage them and provide healing, ensure them a lasting and meaningful teacher takes pictures and brings them holy, covenantal spaces. The Jewish place in the Jewish community, he back to the classroom to strengthen the responded, “Relationships, my daugh- home-school connection. The teacher ter... This is the entire answer. The rest then follows up with an open house to Cantor Mark S. Horowitz, Diana Ganger and Erica Kaufman are Executive Director, Program is just commentary. Go and learn.” share information while engaging the Director and Executive Assistant, respectively, of Jew- When the Jewish early childhood adults in a group setting. It is psycholog- ish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI). educational experience involves the ically comforting for the child and reas-

14 CONTACT suring to the parent when the staff social workers, arises. Social situations take the time and make a concerted effort understands where the child is coming like these enhance the development of a to know them, to care about them and to from. As a result, parents are woven into community atmosphere in any school. form meaningful relationships that will the fabric of the school. Relationships We must be cognizant of the varied continue to grow and develop. We must are formed early on. Parents begin to relationships that can be formed in our afford them this opportunity within the feel welcome in the classroom, and trust Jewish meeting places. Family members walls of our Jewish community, or they between teachers and parents continues need relationships in which they feel safe will certainly find it elsewhere. Building to blossom as time passes. and respected just as children do. They relationships is the cornerstone of our Likewise, in this sort of setting, as want the best, not only in terms of the success, the path to true excellence. Ulti- parents linger, the conversation flows. quality of education, but in the quality of mately, the mental, emotional and spiri- Parents support each other and normalize interaction. They are searching for a com- tual health of the family will transfer to this shared experience. The opportunity munity in which to belong. Parents will the child, forming the start of a rich and to involve members of the staff, and even gravitate to those spaces where people meaningful Jewish life.

SPRING 2005 15 Non-Profit Org. Jewish Life Network/ U.S. Postage Steinhardt Foundation Paid 6 East 39th Street Rockville, MD 10th floor Permit No. 800 New York, NY 10016

diu massa latuere sub illa, sidera coeperunt toto effervescere caelo. Neu regio

foret ulla suis animalibus orba, astra tenent caeleste solum formaeque deorum,

cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae, terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis

aer. Request for

Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae deerat adhuc et quod dominari in

cetera posset. Natus homo est, sive hunc divino semine fecit ille opifex rerum,

mundi melioris origo, sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto aethere cognati EssayProposals Addidit et fontes et stagna inmensa lacusque fluminaque obliquis cinxit retinebat semina caeli quam satus Iapeto mixtam pluvialibus undis finxit in declivia ripis, quae, diversa locis, partim sorbentur ab ipsa, in mare perveniunt effigiem moderantum cuncta deorum. Pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram, os ewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation invites the submission partim campoque recepta liberioris aquae pro ripis litora pulsant. Iussit et homini sublime dedit, caelumque videre iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus. extendi campos, subsidere valles, fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes. Sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sine imagine, tellus induit ignotas hominum conversa of proposals for essays articulating the core ideas and values of Utque duae dextra caelum totidemque sinistra parte secant zonae, quinta est arden- figuras. tior illis, sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem cura dei, totidemque plagae Ja common Jewish narrative. The ideas and values should be tellure premuntur. Quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu nix tegit alta authentically Jewish, capable of being held in common by Jews duas totidem inter utrumque locavit temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma. Inminet his aer. Qui quanto est pondere terrae, pondere aquae levior tanto est from across the denominational spectrum, and meaningful and onerosior igni. Illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes iussit et humanas motura

tonitrua mentes et cum fulminibus facientes fulgura ventos. His quoque non passim compelling to the large numbers of Jews who are not actively Mundi origo Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum unus erat toto naturae mundi fabricator habendum aera permisit vix nunc obsistitur illis, cum sua quisque vultus in orbe, quem dixere chaos rudis indigestaque moles nec quicquam nisi pondus engaged in Jewish life. regant diverso flamina tractu, quin lanient mundum tanta est discordia fratrum. iners congestaque eodem non bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum. nullus adhuc Eurus ad Auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matu- mundo praebebat lumina Titan, nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe, nec cir- tinis vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt, proxima sunt Zephyro Scythiam We would like to invite Jewish academics, rabbis and other cumfuso pendebat in aere tellus ponderibus librata suis, nec bracchia longo margine septemque triones horrifer invasit Boreas contraria tellus nubibus adsiduis pluvi- terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite utque aer, tellus illic et pontus et aether. Sic aque madescit ab Austro. professionals, as well as all interested lay persons, to submit erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda, lucis egens aer nulli sua forma manebat, Haec super inposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem aethera nec quicquam terre- obstabatque aliis aliud, quia corpore in uno frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia proposals of no more than 2,000 words for 10,000- to 14,000-word nae faecis habentem. Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis, cum, quae pressa siccis, mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus. Hanc deus et melior litem final essays. Up to three proposals will be selected and the authors natura diremit. Nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas, et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aere commissioned to write full essays. The deadline for submission of caelum. Quae postquam evolvit caecoque exemit acervo, dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit. Ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli emicuit summaque locum sibi proposals is June 24, 2005. fecit in arce proximus est aer illi levitate locoque densior his tellus, elemen- taque grandia traxit et pressa est gravitate sua circumfluus umor ultima possedit For further information and submission guidelines, please go to solidumque coercuit orbem. Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille deorum congeriem secuit sectamque in membra redegit, principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni parte www.jewishlife.org. foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis. Tum freta diffudit rapidisque tumescere ventis iussit et ambitae circumdare litora terrae.

inaugural report

Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation is

pleased to announce the publication of our

Inaugural Ten Year Report, which includes

information on our Foundation’s history, mission

and programs from 1994 to 2004. Please go to

www.jewishlife.org to download the Report.