The Amer­i­can Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty is rid­dled with doubts about the via­bil­i­ty of the insti­tu­tions that well served the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty of the twen­ti­eth cen­tu­ry. Syn­a­gogues, fed­er­a­tions and Jew­ish mem­ber­ship orga­ni­za­tions have yet to fig­ure out how to meet the chang­ing inter­ests and needs of the next gen­er­a­tion.

In this chal­leng­ing yet hope­ful call for trans­for­ma­tion­al change, Rab­bi Sid Schwarz looks at the social norms that are shap­ing the habits and lifestyles of younger Amer­i­can Jews and why the next gen­er­a­tion is so resis­tant to par­tic­i­pa­tion in the insti­tu­tions of Jew­ish com­mu­nal life as they cur­rent­ly exist. He sets out four guid­ing prin­ci­ples that can dri­ve a renais­sance in Jew­ish life and gives evi­dence of how, on the mar­gins of the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty, those prin­ci­ples are already gen­er­at­ing enthu­si­asm and engage­ment from the very Mil­lenials that the orga­nized Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty has yet to engage.

Con­trib­u­tors — lead­ing inno­va­tors from dif­fer­ent sec­tors of the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty — each use Rab­bi Schwarz’s frame­work as a spring­board to set forth their par­tic­u­lar vision for the future of their sec­tor of Jew­ish life and beyond.