simchat_torah
23rd June 2004, 06:50 PM
There seems to be a "neo-Chassidic" movement taking place today within Judaism. A movement that focuses on evangelism, creativity and the arts, worship, etc. I mentioned it in another thread, so I thought I'd start something seperate as it was way off base (a rabbi trail... hehe, ok ok ok, a rabbit trail).
Many of the Jewish Renewal services have contemporary music with guitars, drums, cellos, violins, congas, etc. They incorporate art and worship in a modern form while maintaining the traditional practices. You can find lots of stuff on the web, but here's a couple of blurbs you might find interesting:
What is Jewish Renewal?
Jewish Renewal is a new movement within Judaism. It is a kind of neo-Hasidism, in that it seeks the spiritual renewal of Judaism, but "neo" because it insists on full equality for women and a creative return to the process of transforming Hallakhah (Jewish law) so that it continues to be a living path to connection to God. The philosophy of Jewish Renewal is articulated best in the theological writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel (see particularly The Propehts and God In Search of Man and Man Is Not Alone) and Zalman Schachter Shalomi (Paradigm Shift), Arthur Waskow (Down To Earth Judaism, GodWrestling) and Michael Lerner (Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation).
Judaism is a distinctive blending of spirituality and a liberatory political vision. But when Judaism abandoned its liberatory message, the Judaism that survived was unable to command the respect and adherence of many Jews. Those who sought spiritual vitality often found themselves attracted to other traditions. Others became disillusioned with all forms of spirituality, assuming that it would necessarily be associated with patriarchal and repressive social realities.
So Jewish Renewal seeks a revolutionary transformation of the world: away from the ethos of selfishness and materialism and toward an ethos of love and caring. Its political vision is spelled out in two books by Rabbi Michael Lerner: The Politics of Meaning and Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul. One of its central ideas is that we need a new definition of productivity, efficiency and rationality. Institutions and social practices should be judged efficient or productive not only to the extent that they maximize wealth and power, but also to the extent that they maximize our capacities to be loving and caring, ethically/spiritually/ecologically sensitive, and capable of transcending a narrow utilitarian attitude toward other human beings and toward the universe so that we can respond to them with awe, wonder and radical amazement at the grandeur of Creation.
Jewish Renewal is an attempt to take God seriously at every level of our being. That requires more than adding a few phrases about social justice to an existing liturgy or ritual. It is an attempt to make us more fully alive to God's presence the world, to build a life that is God-centered, and to provide us with a way of reclaiming the unique spirituality of Judaism, deeply embedded in political consciousness but not only political.
Jewish Renewal energy is flowing through all the various denominations of Jewish life - and it will eventually help to transform all of them.
There's even an organization which has become the coordinator of some Jewish Renewal activities. It is called Aleph (http://www.aleph.org/) and you can go their website to get a list of Jewish Renewal synagogues or to find other valuable Jewish Renewal activities.
And there are many people in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox movements of Judaism who are actually embodying aspects of Jewish Renewal and making it happen in their respective movements. So it would be a mistake to think that any one organization is "the" Jewish Renewal movement. Rather, you will find elements of Jewish Renewal consciousness in a wide variety of institutions and movements in Jewish life today, and it our intention at TIKKUN to support and nurture that consciousness.
So, at the present moment the promise of Jewish Renewal is only a promisory note to be filled in by you. A set of ideas have been developed, and there are some inspired teachers and spiritually alive communities. But the full vision is yet to be instantiated in the world.
TIKKUN magazine is committed to supporting the development of a Jewish Renewal movement wherever it occurs. Our writers are Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Reform - not to mention the many writers who are not part of any particular religious movement or those who are adamantly secular. In TIKKUN you'll find our attempts to clarify and deepen a Jewish Renewal consciousness, but you'll also find that many of our articles are not written from that perspective. We provide a place for secular Jews as well as for those seeking Jewish Renewal.
But if you are interested in Jewish Renewal, we want to encourage you to become part of the TIKKUN community, because it is in TIKKUN that we try to provide the space for both the theological and the political discussions that provide the foundation for a spiritual renewal of the Jewish people. And we encourage you also to participate in the activities of Aleph, and many other kinds of Jewish Renewal programs described in TIKKUN.
- www.tikkun.org/renewal (http://www.tikkun.org/renewal)
What is Jewish Renewal?
Jewish Renewal is dedicated to revealing Judaism's inner spirit and nurturing the spiritual life of Jews. It makes use of both traditional practices such as meditation, chanting and music and traditional Kabbalistic and Hassidic sources, to enhance both individual and communal practice. Jewish renewal seeks to transform and renew the kavanah (spiritual intention) with which Jews of all kinds practice Judaism. It seeks to bring creativity, relevance, joy and an all-embracing awareness to spiritual practice, as a path to healing our hearts and finding balance and wholeness.
Jewish renewal is a "movement" in the sense of a wave in motion, a grassroots effort to discover the modern meaning of Judaism as a spiritual practice. It sees itself as transdenominational, a tendency that transcends the boundaries of the various movements. Jewish renewal draws heavily on the thought of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (http://www.neveikodesh.org/rebzalman.html), which is a loving critique of the limitations of traditional Rabbinic Judaism and a call to continue the ongoing renewal of Jewish life in our time, as the Talmudic rabbis did in theirs. Jewish renewal is sometimes referred to as "Neo-Hasidic" or "Four Worlds (http://www.neveikodesh.org/FourWorlds.html)" Judaism (a reference to the "four worlds (http://www.neveikodesh.org/FourWorlds.html)" of Jewish mysticism). While it seeks to restore the spiritual vitality characteristic of the Hasidic movement of pre-war Europe, Jewish renewal believes, along with the Reconstructionists, that Judaism is an evolving religious civilization.
Jewish renewal acts to fully include all Jews and to respect all peoples. Jewish renewal helps to heal the world by promoting justice, freedom, responsibility, caring for all life and the earth that sustains all life —tikkun olam
Jewish renewal has long been committed to a fully egalitarian approach to Jewish life and welcomes the public and creative input of those who were traditionally excluded from the process of forming the Jewish tradition.
- http://www.neveikodesh.org/Home/JewishRenewal.html
You can also find information at these sites:
http://www.jewishrenewal.org (http://www.jewishrenewal.org/)
http://www.aleph.org/
http://www.jewishrenewallifecenter.org/
shalom,
yafet
Many of the Jewish Renewal services have contemporary music with guitars, drums, cellos, violins, congas, etc. They incorporate art and worship in a modern form while maintaining the traditional practices. You can find lots of stuff on the web, but here's a couple of blurbs you might find interesting:
What is Jewish Renewal?
Jewish Renewal is a new movement within Judaism. It is a kind of neo-Hasidism, in that it seeks the spiritual renewal of Judaism, but "neo" because it insists on full equality for women and a creative return to the process of transforming Hallakhah (Jewish law) so that it continues to be a living path to connection to God. The philosophy of Jewish Renewal is articulated best in the theological writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel (see particularly The Propehts and God In Search of Man and Man Is Not Alone) and Zalman Schachter Shalomi (Paradigm Shift), Arthur Waskow (Down To Earth Judaism, GodWrestling) and Michael Lerner (Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation).
Judaism is a distinctive blending of spirituality and a liberatory political vision. But when Judaism abandoned its liberatory message, the Judaism that survived was unable to command the respect and adherence of many Jews. Those who sought spiritual vitality often found themselves attracted to other traditions. Others became disillusioned with all forms of spirituality, assuming that it would necessarily be associated with patriarchal and repressive social realities.
So Jewish Renewal seeks a revolutionary transformation of the world: away from the ethos of selfishness and materialism and toward an ethos of love and caring. Its political vision is spelled out in two books by Rabbi Michael Lerner: The Politics of Meaning and Spirit Matters: Global Healing and the Wisdom of the Soul. One of its central ideas is that we need a new definition of productivity, efficiency and rationality. Institutions and social practices should be judged efficient or productive not only to the extent that they maximize wealth and power, but also to the extent that they maximize our capacities to be loving and caring, ethically/spiritually/ecologically sensitive, and capable of transcending a narrow utilitarian attitude toward other human beings and toward the universe so that we can respond to them with awe, wonder and radical amazement at the grandeur of Creation.
Jewish Renewal is an attempt to take God seriously at every level of our being. That requires more than adding a few phrases about social justice to an existing liturgy or ritual. It is an attempt to make us more fully alive to God's presence the world, to build a life that is God-centered, and to provide us with a way of reclaiming the unique spirituality of Judaism, deeply embedded in political consciousness but not only political.
Jewish Renewal energy is flowing through all the various denominations of Jewish life - and it will eventually help to transform all of them.
There's even an organization which has become the coordinator of some Jewish Renewal activities. It is called Aleph (http://www.aleph.org/) and you can go their website to get a list of Jewish Renewal synagogues or to find other valuable Jewish Renewal activities.
And there are many people in the Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox movements of Judaism who are actually embodying aspects of Jewish Renewal and making it happen in their respective movements. So it would be a mistake to think that any one organization is "the" Jewish Renewal movement. Rather, you will find elements of Jewish Renewal consciousness in a wide variety of institutions and movements in Jewish life today, and it our intention at TIKKUN to support and nurture that consciousness.
So, at the present moment the promise of Jewish Renewal is only a promisory note to be filled in by you. A set of ideas have been developed, and there are some inspired teachers and spiritually alive communities. But the full vision is yet to be instantiated in the world.
TIKKUN magazine is committed to supporting the development of a Jewish Renewal movement wherever it occurs. Our writers are Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Conservative, Reform - not to mention the many writers who are not part of any particular religious movement or those who are adamantly secular. In TIKKUN you'll find our attempts to clarify and deepen a Jewish Renewal consciousness, but you'll also find that many of our articles are not written from that perspective. We provide a place for secular Jews as well as for those seeking Jewish Renewal.
But if you are interested in Jewish Renewal, we want to encourage you to become part of the TIKKUN community, because it is in TIKKUN that we try to provide the space for both the theological and the political discussions that provide the foundation for a spiritual renewal of the Jewish people. And we encourage you also to participate in the activities of Aleph, and many other kinds of Jewish Renewal programs described in TIKKUN.
- www.tikkun.org/renewal (http://www.tikkun.org/renewal)
What is Jewish Renewal?
Jewish Renewal is dedicated to revealing Judaism's inner spirit and nurturing the spiritual life of Jews. It makes use of both traditional practices such as meditation, chanting and music and traditional Kabbalistic and Hassidic sources, to enhance both individual and communal practice. Jewish renewal seeks to transform and renew the kavanah (spiritual intention) with which Jews of all kinds practice Judaism. It seeks to bring creativity, relevance, joy and an all-embracing awareness to spiritual practice, as a path to healing our hearts and finding balance and wholeness.
Jewish renewal is a "movement" in the sense of a wave in motion, a grassroots effort to discover the modern meaning of Judaism as a spiritual practice. It sees itself as transdenominational, a tendency that transcends the boundaries of the various movements. Jewish renewal draws heavily on the thought of Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (http://www.neveikodesh.org/rebzalman.html), which is a loving critique of the limitations of traditional Rabbinic Judaism and a call to continue the ongoing renewal of Jewish life in our time, as the Talmudic rabbis did in theirs. Jewish renewal is sometimes referred to as "Neo-Hasidic" or "Four Worlds (http://www.neveikodesh.org/FourWorlds.html)" Judaism (a reference to the "four worlds (http://www.neveikodesh.org/FourWorlds.html)" of Jewish mysticism). While it seeks to restore the spiritual vitality characteristic of the Hasidic movement of pre-war Europe, Jewish renewal believes, along with the Reconstructionists, that Judaism is an evolving religious civilization.
Jewish renewal acts to fully include all Jews and to respect all peoples. Jewish renewal helps to heal the world by promoting justice, freedom, responsibility, caring for all life and the earth that sustains all life —tikkun olam
Jewish renewal has long been committed to a fully egalitarian approach to Jewish life and welcomes the public and creative input of those who were traditionally excluded from the process of forming the Jewish tradition.
- http://www.neveikodesh.org/Home/JewishRenewal.html
You can also find information at these sites:
http://www.jewishrenewal.org (http://www.jewishrenewal.org/)
http://www.aleph.org/
http://www.jewishrenewallifecenter.org/
shalom,
yafet