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Authority and Community in the Modern World

Authority and Community in the Modern World. Introduction to Judaism: Lecture 10. Review. Authority based on covenantal relationship What communal structure, leadership models, and boundaries embody the covenant?. Four Common Models. A Nation Led by Prophets

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Authority and Community in the Modern World

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  1. Authority and Community in the Modern World Introduction to Judaism: Lecture 10

  2. Review • Authority based on covenantal relationship • What communal structure, leadership models, and boundaries embody the covenant?

  3. Four Common Models • A Nation Led by Prophets • Liturgical Community Led by Priests • A State Led by Kings • A Disciple Community Led by Sages

  4. Trigger Questions

  5. Authority/Community in the Modern World • What are the challenges that modernity brings to pre-modern structures of authority and community? • To what extent is religious identity obligatory or voluntary? Ethnic? Racial? • Can you fit into more than one category? • What authorities do these communities have over you?

  6. Modernity and Religious Leadership • Enlightenment • Emancipation • Jews as equal citizens • Full Civil Rights • Jewish Identification is Voluntary • Same with all other religious traditions

  7. Civic vs. Religious Authority • Split between Political and Religious Identity • Rabbis Lose Power of Coercion • Limited to Religious Sphere • Not final arbiter • Authority and community structures crumble

  8. Authority • Jewish Sources and Contemporary Values • Rabbinic Authority and Individual Choice

  9. Denominations and the Source of Authority • Orthodox • Halakhah interpreted by rabbis • Conservative • Halakhah interpreted by rabbis with sensitivity to historical change • Reform • Individual, Reason • What kinds of communities do these different sources create?

  10. Mordecai Kaplan and Peoplehood • Judaism as a Civilization, 1934 • People and faith • Community based upon creed will disappear • Volk, people, have authority • Creates Reconstructionist movement

  11. Other Sources of Authority and Community • Communal Institutions • Jewish Federations (philanthropy), Jewish Community Centers, Cultural Events • History • Shared experiences • Holocaust and Israel • Family

  12. Case Study • Homosexuality and Jewish Law

  13. The Sovereign Self • Eisen and Cohen 2000 study of Baby Boomer Jews (b. 1946-1964) • Personal Meaning as the Arbiter of Jewish Involvement (“Choosing Chosenness”) • Judaism is constructed one experience at time • Interest in spirituality, but not in organizational life of the Jewish community • Identity is fluid

  14. Intermarriage and the Boundaries of Judaism • Tribal Identity-Born Jewish • Universalist, pluralistic outlook • Heterogeneous environments • Culture of religious syncretism • Intermarriage rates around 50% • Why is intermarriage a challenge to authority and community? • How do you think leaders should respond to intermarriage?

  15. What About the Millennials? • Religion in the TiVo and iPod Era • OMG! Survey • Informal, highly personal communities(p.8) • Page 26-Jews and “The Godless” • Hillel Survey and the Future of Judaism • Slide 15, 16, 19, 23

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