sid.schwarz Articles communal thickness, covenantal community, Finding a Spiritual Home, Jewish Megatrends, social capital, synagogues
We should appreciate David Cygielman for introducing the broad eJP audience to the notion of communal “thickness” in his 11/13/17 post. As was noted in the response by Rabbi Michael Holzman, this is not a new concept. Well before the David Brooks’ column in the New York Times, sociologists have sought ways to measure the […]
sid.schwarz Sermons and Speeches ', Aging, death, grief, life's purpose, loss, purposeful living
Some sermons take longer to percolate than others. This one has taken about 15 years. That was the first time that it struck me that the lyrics to the Beatle song, “When I’m 64” would be a great hook for a sermon. I decided to give the sermon in the year I turned 64. That […]
sid.schwarz Articles, Sermons and Speeches Bill Moyers, Chautauqua Institution, communities of meaning, crisis of faith, Faith communities, Interfaith, Jewish identity
I recently had the opportunity to speak at the Chautauqua Institution (CI) about the “Crisis of Faith” in America. For those unfamiliar, CI was founded in 1874 by Methodist Bishop John Vincent as a summer camp for Sunday School teachers on the shores of Lake Chautauqua near Jamestown, NY. Today, CI functions like a summer […]
sid.schwarz Articles building spiritual communities, Clergy Leadership Incubator, CLI, communities of meaning, Hayim Herring, Kenissa, networks, organizational change, REALITY, ROI, Schusterman Foundation
Sometimes you read a book to learn about something new. But at other times you read a book to find language for that which is already part of the way you function in the world. I had the latter experience reading the new book by Rabbi Hayim Herring, Leading Congregations and Nonprofits in a Connected […]
sid.schwarz Articles, Megatrends Book Tour building spiritual communities, communities of meaning, emerging Jewish communities, new paradigm, social entrepreneurship
Twice in the past year I have published articles in eJP to introduce the work of the New Paradigm Spiritual Communities Initiative. Last week we had our second annual National Consultation, welcoming another 50 “creatives” into this unique network and we used the opportunity to re-brand the project as Kenissa: Communities of Meaning Network (http://www.kenissa.org/). […]
sid.schwarz Articles Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation, community service, ELI Talks, Haiti, Jewish Civics, Jewish service missions, PANIM, Repair the World
Community service in the Jewish community has come a long way. I had the privilege of being on the ground level in the 1990’s when the Jewish community got on the bandwagon. The passage of the National and Community Service Trust Act was signed into law in 1993 by President Bill Clinton. Building on the […]
sid.schwarz Articles, Sermons and Speeches Abraham Joshua Heschel, Beloved Community, Black History Month, racism, white privilege
Note: These are excerpts of remarks at a Shabbat morning service at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation (Bethesda, MD) which featured many elements marking Black History Month. Two weeks ago, I was at a conference in New York City sponsored by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. It was called “No Time for Neutrality” […]
sid.schwarz Articles leadership, professional education, rabbis, synagogue transformation
A few weeks ago I was at a, first of its kind, gathering in Austin, TX. The leaders of more than ten national religious denominations came together to explore why their congregations were losing membership so rapidly over the last decade. The gathering included leadership from the Methodists, Episcopalians, United Church of Christ, Lutherans, Unitarian […]
sid.schwarz Articles cosmic unity, holiness, Mussar, Shma, social justice, spirituality
This year’s winner of the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Contemporary Jewish Life and Practice is a book titled Changing the World from the Inside Out: A Jewish Approach to Personal and Social Change by Rabbi David Jaffe. The book is an inspiring integration of Musar literature and practice with numerous examples […]
sid.schwarz Articles covenantal community, Jewish innovation, Jewish Megatrends, new paradigm, spiritual community
In 1967 Buffalo Springfield issued an anti-Vietnam War song called “For What It’s Worth” that began with, “There’s something happening here. What it is, ain’t exactly clear.” The lyric expresses what I was observing in the Jewish communal landscape over the last decade that inspired me to write Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the […]