Kvetching aside, American Jews have never had it so good

With the Days of Awe upon us, American Jews will use the occasion to reflect on the health of their community. As President Shimon Peres likes to remind us, Jews are perpetually dissatisfied, and we will therefore hear quite a bit of kvetching and grim introspection — and this is usually healthy.

But make no mistake: American Jews are doing just fine. In many ways, better than ever.

Dynamic, open, intellectually contentious, and vigorously pluralistic, the American Jewish community finds itself expanding in interesting ways. Haredi enclaves in New York are growing. Growing too are the number of Asians and African-Americans who join Jewish ranks, either through conversion or by marrying a Jew and then finding a place in an American synagogue. Rare is the American synagogue today in a major city that does not have non-white members. After all, since American Jews prefer to keep intermarried children in the Jewish fold, they have created synagogues that welcome them; and American rabbis who believe in inclusiveness are free to affirm it without worrying about the demands of a corrupt and extreme Chief Rabbinate.

Financial pressures continue, but it is best not to exaggerate them. American Jewish institutions are completely voluntary and self-funded; this leads to vigorous competition, which is generally a blessing. But especially in difficult economic times, there will always be winners and losers. Thus, in demographically-challenged rural and Midwestern areas, vulnerable institutions are now suffering, while synagogues and schools in major Jewish centers are thriving, especially if they are creative and cost-conscious. These changes notwithstanding, we should remember just how massive an infrastructure American Jews continue to support. Total expenditures for Jewish education total approximately $5 billion per year, according to Dr. Jonathan Woocher, formerly the president of JESNA (the Jewish Education Service of North America).

There are problems, of course – some more serious than others. One such problem, equal parts amusing and pathetic, revolved around a video that surfaced this summer of Sam Horowitz’s bar mitzvah in Dallas last November. Sam was shown cavorting with Las Vegas showgirls in an exhibition that would have been revolting even had it not been a bar mitzvah celebration; in the context of a sacred religious ceremony and a difficult economic climate in America, it was so egregiously offensive that Jews were left stunned and profoundly embarrassed. Sam was not at fault; what 13-year-old would not crave the attention? But what in heaven’s name were the parents thinking?

The amusing part of this little story comes from the fact that for more than a half century, American rabbis have been regularly raising their voices against ostentatious displays of Jewish wealth connected to synagogue observances and Jewish life cycle events. The first lesson here is that America’s wealthy Jewish elite — and we are talking here of a small percentage of American Jews — continues to grow ever more wealthy. The second lesson is that we are witnessing, alas, a humbling display of the limitations of rabbinic authority. Like their forebears—see, for example, the 18th century Mesillat Yesharim by Luzzatto, chapter 23 — rabbis in America have done their best to restrain the pretensions of wealth, and like their forebears, they have been largely unsuccessful.

When it comes to Israel, American Jewish support remains strong. In a recent poll conducted for JerusalemU, 66 percent of Jews aged 18-29 said that caring about Israel is for them a very important part of being Jewish. As Shmuel Rosner has noted, these numbers may be a bit too high, but still, the distancing from Israel among young Jews that was so widely predicted has not materialized. Taglit- Birthright is undoubtedly a factor, but whatever the explanation, American Jews care about Israel, young Jews included. And the upheavals in Syria and Egypt have united American Jews in their attention and concern for the Jewish State.

Also encouraging is the fact that many Jews now bring a more critical mindset to their thinking on Israel, especially on the issue of religious freedom. Awareness has exploded in the last year, primarily due to Women of the Wall. American Jewish leaders have been talking about religious freedom in Israel for 30 years to little effect, but there is not a committed Jew in America today who does not know Anat Hoffman’s name. Even the “Who is a Jew” battles of the 1980s did not produce the response that has been generated by the struggle at the Kotel.

Regrettably, Israel’s leaders, who have never understood the religious concerns of American Jews, have mostly shown themselves to be clueless on the subject. After Natan Sharansky produced a highly ambitious plan to resolve the situation at the Wall, the government has seemed intent on delivering as little as possible of what the plan promises. And last week’s announcement of a ridiculous interim arrangement by Interior Minister Naftali Bennett, coming just before the High Holy Days and in the midst of the Syrian crisis, was so startlingly inept that Jewish leaders were left scratching their hands in wonderment.

But for American Jews there is no turning back. And the good news is that this commitment to religious freedom and women’s equality in Israel is coming from an American Jewish community that, as noted, is strong, self-confident, and remains deeply devoted to Israel — and that sees the struggle for religious pluralism and women’s rights as a fundamental dimension of their love for the Jewish State.

With the challenges of the New Year ahead, American Jews are ready.