One of the most talked about books in the Jewish community when it originally appeared, Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World offers an eloquent and thoughtful new vision for all Jews seeking a sense of belonging in a changing world, regardless of their current level of observance. Roberta Kwall sets out a process of selection, rejection, and modification of rituals that allow for a focus on Jewish tradition rather than on the technicalities of Jewish law. Her goal is not to sell her own religious practices to readers but, rather, to encourage them to find their own personal meaning in Judaism outside the dictates of Commandment, by broadening their understanding of how law, culture, and tradition fit together. She inspires readers to be intentional and mindful about the space they allocate for these elements in defining their individual Jewish journeys and identities. The paperback edition includes a new preface addressing recently released findings, including the Pew Report on the American Jewish Community, exploring the challenges of practicing Judaism today.

Remix Judaism: Preserving Tradition in a Diverse World offers an eloquent and thoughtful new vision for all Jews seeking a sense of belonging in a changing world, regardless of their current level of observance. Kwall sets out a process of selection, rejection, and modification of rituals that allow for a focus on Jewish tradition rather than on the technicalities of Jewish law. Her goal is not to sell her own religious practices to readers but, rather, to encourage them to find their own personal meaning in Judaism outside the dictates of Commandment by broadening their understanding of how law, culture and tradition fit together. In Remix Judaism, Kwall inspires her audience to be intentional and mindful about the space they allocate for these elements in defining their individual Jewish journeys and identities.

A myth exists that Jews can embrace the cultural components of Judaism without appreciating the legal aspects of the Jewish tradition. This myth suggests that law and culture are independent of one another. In reality, however, much of Jewish culture has a basis in Jewish law. Similarly, Jewish law produces Jewish culture. Roberta Rosenthal Kwall develops and applies a cultural analysis paradigm to the Jewish tradition that departs from the understanding of Jewish law solely as the embodiment of Divine command.

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies—an engaging firsthand portrait of American Judaism today American Judaism has been buffeted by massive social upheavals in recent decades. Like other religions in the United States, it has witnessed a decline in the number of participants over the past forty years, and many who remain active struggle to reconcile their hallowed traditions with new perspectives—from feminism and the LGBTQ movement to "do-it-yourself religion" and personally defined spirituality. Taking a fresh look at American Judaism today, Jack Wertheimer, a leading authority on the subject, sets out to discover how Jews of various orientations practice their religion in this radically altered landscape. Which observances still resonate, and which ones have been given new meaning? What options are available for seekers or those dissatisfied with conventional forms of Judaism? And how are synagogues responding? Offering new and often-surprising answers to these questions, Wertheimer reveals an American Jewish landscape that combines rash disruption and creative reinvention, religious illiteracy and dynamic experimentation.

This volume analyzes historical and recent developments in female religious leadership and the larger issues shaping the scholarly debate at the intersection of gender and religious studies. Jewish activism and scholarship have been crucial in linking theology and gender issues since the early twentieth century. Academic and vocational leadership and training have had significant, concrete impact on religious communal practices and formation across the US and Europe. At the same time, these models provide important avenues of constructive dialogue and comparative ecumenical and interfaith enterprises. This volume investigates those possibilities towards constructive, activist, holistic female ministerial leadership for religious faith communities.

Today there are more than seven million Jews in the United States. As with Americans of all ethnicities and religious persuasions, Jews can identify with and embrace their heritage in any number of ways. Alternatively, they can choose to distance themselves from anything distinctively Jewish. For millennia, the Torah – literally, instruction – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, has been a centerpiece of Jewish study, thought, and action. Throughout the years, the Torah has been interpreted and applied to life in varying times and places. It has long been customary for Jews to read chapters of the Torah each week as part of an annual cycle of study and synagogue ritual. In the third decade of the twenty-first century, there are Jews who question or doubt the continuing relevance of Jewish texts to their lives. Yet, the search for meaning is enduring, and most American Jews are interested in engaging with a heritage in which they take pride. It is, primarily, for such readers that this book is designed. At the same time, there are people who are not Jewish for whom a book unpacking a Jewish understanding of the Torah might be of interest. The aim of this work is to share ideas, themes, values, and practices that are all part of the living Torah, with full awareness that personal meaning is, by definition, unique to each individual. “Living Torah” describes both Torah as a vibrant text and those who lead Torah-informed lives. “Torah-informed” by no means implies uniformity of life-style. There are a number of books that explore the meaning that Judaism can hold for contemporary Jews and others interested in the wisdom expressed in its classical texts. While these books draw upon classical sources and offer interesting perspectives, none undertakes to systematically introduce the reader to the richness of the Torah text. The uniqueness of this very accessible volume is that it identifies a central theme in each of the five books of the Torah, and, following exploration of the substance of each book, looks at implications of the book’s key theme for the lives of contemporary readers The book is comprised of ten chapters, organized as follows: a chapter synopsizing a book of the Torah and identifying its central theme, followed by a chapter applying that theme to the lived experience of Jews in the twenty-first century. The themes explored are: (a) the Jews’ relationship to the land of Israel; (b) purpose in history; (c) the pursuit of holiness; (d) living in community; (e) Jewish learning.

For a religion that is hyper-focused on transmitting the Jewish tradition "from generation to generation," "l'dor v'dor" — the notion that Millennials just aren't interested in carrying on Jewish practices or embracing the Jewish commitments of those who came before them poses quite a challenge, both on interpersonal and organizational sustainability levels. As a result, it seems much of the Jewish organizational world is concerned with how to engage Millennials in their offerings. But, if the data collected from reliable sources such as The Pew Research Center are any indication, there is much more work to do. Just Jewish: How to Engage Millenials and Build a Vibrant Jewish Future shares proven techniques and models ready to be adopted by the Jewish world's myriad organizations, touching on everything from branding, to fundraising, to programmatic approaches, to relationship development, and more, extrapolating lessons from The Well so they can be applied to the Jewish community writ large. As more seasoned generations start to take steps back from Jewish communal leadership, the time to meaningfully engage Millennials to ensure future leadership pipelines (both professional and volunteer) and Jewish vibrancy is now, and this book exists to help make it happen! “Terrific and inspiring! I highly recommend you make this important book a must-read together with your professional and lay leadership team.” —Dr. Ron Wolfson, Fingerhut Professor of Education, Author, Relational Judaism “A must-read for Jewish professionals and for anyone who cares about the future of the American Jewish community.” —Sarah Hurwitz, Author, Here All Along “A worthy addition to the new Jewish bookshelf that is catalyzing new thinking and practices for the Jewish future we’re just beginning to build.” —Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President, Union for Reform Judaism