Beyond Survival: How Judaism Can Thrive in the 21st Century

Bookman (God 101), cofounder of adolescent outreach program Eitzah, provides an impractical look at how Judaism might evolve in the near future. His laudable aim is to foster optimism about Judaism’s future by imagining one in which anti-Semitism, the Holocaust, fears about Israel’s continued existence, and assimilation have become less central to the Jewish communal agenda. Bookman’s path toward such a future begins with an analysis of why he believes those concerns are overstated at present. For example, while he notes the recent Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, he distinguishes between acts of an anti-Semite, which will always be a threat, and institutionalized anti-Semitism, which he claims “no longer exists. It is over. Gone.” Offering little in practical steps, Bookman concedes that some of his contentions are unrealistic. For instance, in what he dubs a “crazy idea,” he writes: “What if those millions of souls perished in the Holocaust are already here on earth, people who identify with other religions, or no religion at all?” That leads him to suggest that a mass conversion campaign to bolster Jewish numbers would be converting those with Jewish souls. While Bookman rightly diagnoses many current ills, he fails to lay out any practical plans to implement the changes he suggests. (May)