How do we engage young “post-tribal” Jews? Reflecting on his trip to Haiti with a group of young adults, Rabbi Sid Schwarz discusses how, through the groups collaborative work with a Christian church, young “covenantal” Jews began to incorporate a tribal history of Judaism into their identities. By providing the “whys” of Judaism, Rabbi Schwarz argues, we provide deeper meaning to a covenantal engagement with Judaism rooted in tribal affiliation.
Rabbi Sid Schwarz is a senior fellow at Clal: The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership where he directs the New Paradigm Spiritual Communities Initiative (www.npsci.org) and the Clergy Leadership Incubator (CLI), a program that trains rabbis to be visionary spiritual leaders (www.cliforum.org). Rabbi Schwarz founded and led PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values for 21 years, and is also the founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD where he continues to teach and lead services. He is the author of Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue (Jewish Lights); Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World (Jewish Lights); and Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future (Jewish Lights).
