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March 18, 2005/Adar II 7 5765, Volume 57, No. 29
Jewish historian visits Valley
JENNIFER GOLDBERG
Staff Writer
Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University professor and author of "American Judaism: A History" (Yale University Press, $35 hardcover), spoke with Jewish News for a discussion about his new book, Phoenix's place in the American Jewish community and his upcoming lecture at Temple Beth Israel, part of the Jewish Passages lecture series sponsored by the Bureau of Jewish Education.
JN: In "American Judaism," there was more of a focus on the communities of the Midwest and East Coast. Where do you see Western and Southwestern communities like Phoenix or Los Angeles fitting into the fabric of American Jewish history?
Sarna: All of these communities have undergone very substantial growth with the move out to the Sun Belt, which I discuss at the very end of the book. But nevertheless, it does seem to me that much of the history of American Judaism that I write about has affected all areas of the country, because much of my story is really a story of how Judaism was reshaped by the (American) Revolution, by church-state separation, by the fact that anybody could go and open their own synagogue without concern of running afoul of the chief rabbi or any thought of state.
And then, it's a story of periods of renewal, which is very important, and which I think is especially clear to folks in the West, who have seen a great deepening of interest in Judaism, and therefore are well aware of the fact that Judaism isn't kind of a story of linear descent, but is rather much more cyclical.
JN: What role do you think growing communities like Phoenix and Las Vegas will play in the future?
Sarna: I hope they will be incubators of new ideas, and that we will end up viewing them much as we view start-ups in industry - as places where young people, new innovative rabbis, new congregations that are thinking outside the box come up with programs that turn out to be very successful, and ideas from the new frontier, so to speak, will migrate to more established congregations.
What we see in Phoenix and Las Vegas is that there are actually far fewer congregations per Jew. In other words, if you divide the population by the number of congregations, there are far fewer congregations than one finds in Boston or in more established communities. That, I think, presents an exciting opportunity for entrepreneurial rabbis who want to develop the community in new ways, and the question is, will they be able to take advantage of these opportunities? Certainly one hopes that they will.
JN: What impact has the Celebrate 350 program had on the Jewish community?
Sarna: I think it's had a very dramatic impact in terms of helping to acquaint American Jews with their own history. This was a teachable moment for our community. The question was, would we be able to take advantage of this teachable moment? We're now halfway through it, and I think the answer is yes.
Not only have there been extremely well-attended exhibits, beyond that there have been just an astonishing array of lectures and conferences and cultural events, all across the country. You can see that on the Celebrate 350 Web site (www.celebrate350.org).
And I'd like to think that my own book has had an impact on helping American Jews understand better their history. And certainly mine is not the only book that has been published for the anniversary. So I think we will look back and say the community emerged from the 350th with a greater sense of what its history is and what it may be able to learn from that history than what it had before.
JN: You're going to be in Phoenix on March 20 for a lecture at Temple Beth Israel. What is the format of the programs you hold?
Sarna: My recollection is that is going to be a single lecture, summarizing American Judaism on one foot, so to speak, and I certainly hope there will be questions, give and take, and I'll also be signing copies of my book at that event. I'm hoping that the talk will both give people a sense of the past and a sense of major trends, but I do talk about the present as well, and, at the end of the lecture, some of the challenges currently facing the community.
I'd like people in a sense to come away from the lecture understanding that some of the challenges we face today are challenges deeply rooted in the history of the community. It's not the first time that Jews have been worried about continuity, about survival and the like. And that's what I'm particularly eager for them to understand.
JN: As you travel around and hold these lectures, what are some of the most frequent questions you are asked?
Sarna: I think American Jews are deeply concerned about intermarriage. I've frequently been asked what I think is the future of the Conservative movement. I think a lot of people want to know if they should be concerned about recent political developments in the United States. Is the rise of evangelicalism something that Jews should be concerned about? Those have been some of the most popular questions I've been asked, but I'm glad also to have other kinds of questions that people sometimes have on their minds.
JN: What are you learning about the American Jewish community by interacting with people who attend your lectures?
Sarna: First of all, I certainly have a sense that the community is interested in its history but knows very little about it. I think most Jews learn a great deal more about how Jews left Egypt than about how they came to America. I think many Jews are really quite interested in learning about the prehistory of the American Jewish community. And I think we haven't done a very good job of teaching people about their community. Our sense is still that Jewish history is something that happens somewhere else.
I think I have a better sense than I had before of those communities - and I think Phoenix is among them - that see themselves growing very rapidly and facing the challenges - these are good challenges - of what could we create to make ours a stronger community, and how do we build the best kinds of day schools and high schools and the like, how do we strengthen Jewish studies, what other kinds of programs draw Jews in?
But there are certainly other communities, not a few, that really seem themselves declining, that feel that their best days are behind them. I felt this particularly when I spoke in upstate New York, in Buffalo, in Rochester, where unfortunately so many factories, so many businesses have closed down, and many of the Jews have a sense that the next generation won't be in those communities.
I have a greater sense of that difference in America between the haves and the have-nots, the communities that are growing and optimistic and the communities that are stagnant, declining and frankly are somewhat pessimistic about their future.
And the truth is, the Jewish community is more and more consolidating, in fewer and fewer places. It's certainly something that it seems to me American Jewry wants to think about. We're one of the most geographically consolidated religions in America; that is to say while many other religions are very much spread out, even the Mormons at this point are more spread out than the Jews are, and that's something that I think one can really see its implications when one travels around the country. Eighty-five percent of American Jews live in 20 metropolitan areas; (Greater) Phoenix, of course, is one of them.
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