The Joys and Challenges of Serving Secular and Independent Jews

Exploring the Impact of Panim Hadashot Part 5 in a Series of Reflections by Rabbi Dov Gartenberg

The Joys and Challenges of Serving Secular and Independent Jews

Who did Panim Hadashot serve? Many Jews (and non-Jews) came through our doors and into the homes we celebrated in. Many of these Jews were unaffiliated or loosely affiliated. We also, surprisingly attracted affiliated Jews who were seeking a way to deepen or enrich their home lives.

I will focus on two of our most successful programs in describing the people who came to our programs. The first is Shabbat around Seattle. The second is the Alternative High Holiday programs that we offered in 2005 and 2006.

Shabbat around Seattle was designed to partner with host householders to hold Shabbat dinners and afternoon gatherings. The hosts were counseled to invite friends who were disconnected from Jewish life or who did not ordinarily attend Shabbat home celebrations. In this way, our hosts partnered with us to do keruv (outreach)by connecting their social circles to a joyful Jewish event in their homes.

I would estimate that over 50% of the people we served in Shabbat around Seattle were unaffiliated or inactive synagogue members. I felt that a rich experience around the table offered a low barrier authentic experience of Judaism for people who resisted Jewish institutional life. These are the reasons I thought that secular or independent Jews would be responsive to this format.

1. A Shabbat home gathering is inherently social. Sharing a meal allows for much more interaction than a worship service. Like services there is the opportunity to create a sense of community through song. It is more intimate than synagogue, allowing an opportunity for more conversation and interaction. Secular Jews like their Jewish religious content in small doses or in contexts where they are not forced to be overwhelmed by wall to wall ritual. A ritual feast allows for more breathing room and when conducted thoughtfully can be entirely joyful and accessible.

2. There is religious content with the rituals and prayers, but it is much shorter and less intricate than many worship services. I have discovered over years of teaching that most Jews have fond memories or experiences of table rituals, especially of Passover seders. There is much less resistance to this type of ritual event.

3. Scholars have described ancient Judaism as a table fellowship religion. I believe there is a unique spirituality surrounding the gathering for a Jewish ritual meal. Victor Turner called it communitas. I have consciously tried to lead a seder meal that creates communitas. The tools are guided conversation, participatory ritual, teaching that touches emotions, humor, opportunities for personal sharing. Secular Jews find this as deeply moving as more observant ones.

4. There is always learning and questioning at the table. I am careful to select texts and themes that open up the humanity, diversity, and depth of Judaism. The danger of conducting a seder is to impart that there is a only one way to do it or only one answer to a question. Rather, I act to illuminate the possibilities of what a spiritually powerful seder and shared meal can be. This sensibility is often highly valued among secular and independent Jews.

5. A shared meal is a concrete practice of the mitzvah of hospitality (hachnasat orchim). Many places in the Talmud speak of hospitality as a super mitzvah, an act that leads to eternal reward. The implied ethical dimension of hospitality is something that ‘ritually challenged’ Jews can relate to very powerfully. I always pose the question of who are we willing to share our lives with and why is that important. How does doing Shabbat help us to share our lives and to encounter others who inhabit our ‘life space’.

In the next message I will talk about how we targeted and touched unaffiliated Jews with our approach to the High Holidays.