From: stvjas@meteor.wisc.edu (Stephen Jascourt)
Subject: Why so many "drop-outs"? (was Re: Torah is the center of every Jew?)
Organization: University of Wisconsin, Meteorology and Space Science
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 93 06:01:40 GMT

Maddi writes:
> Dmitry writes:
> >Religion is not the problem here. I think Refrom  (and C.) people will
> >agree with me on that one. People are the problem, not the religion.

>write.  I refer to people who leave the ranks of Judaism as drop-outs,
>e.g. people who do not identify themselves as Jewish.

>I disagree with you completely: the problem is not the people, but
>the religion.  Otherwise, why are so many people leaving?  People
>do not leave religions that are compelling, supportive, and give
>them a sense of community and belonging.

Something can be supportive and give a sense of community and belonging
only if the *people* reach out to others and *form* that community. 

I see people talking past each other rather than communicating in this
discussion. I would bet each poster, and perhaps each reader, has a
different conception of what is meant by "the religion", "the people",
"the problem", etc. even in these brief excerpted passages. One of the
reasons for this is that Judaism is very broad and encompassing and can
offer very different experiences to different people who approach it
differently. 

As to why so many people are leaving: yes, in many cases that supportive
community is lacking, though in other places it is thriving. Even within
the same city some synagogues are cold while others are warm and inviting.
And that emotional experience, of how one is received, may play an important
role for whether people on the fringe, who have some curiosity, enough to
try once, respond and become more interested and excited. However, I'm not
sure we're even at the stage as a community where that is the most important
factor. I think we are losing people because we-- not those of us posting,
but the entire community of Jews-- have become terribly ignorant. Most
Jews have very little basic understanding of their religion, much less the
multitude of ways it can run through their life and give meaning. And this
ignorance is being passed on to the next generation. Once something loses
its meaning, it isn't going to hold attraction. 

Instead of talking about what "the problem" is, let's talk about what we
are doing about it.

>I contend people leave because the religion is so at odds with the
>secular world, they feel they must choose one or the other.  Only
>religions who can integrate better will survive.

This is a loaded statement (no flame intended). What religion? What is the
"secular world"? One could certainly make a good case that the Lubuvitch
(I hope I spelled that right) Chasidim are isolated and relatively non-
adaptive to the outside world, but I don't see how one could say that about,
for instance, Reform. And, to what extent is it desirable to fit in with
the secular world? After all, Judaism (in all sects) teaches us not to
strive to be like everyone else, but to meet our own standard instead.
On the other hand, we do have to reconcile the realities of technology,
how society functions, discoveries in science, etc., and it seems to me
that many branches of Judaism do this very well. But communicating all this
in such a way that someone sees it as bringing meaning to his/her life is
another matter altogether and is quite the challenge we face in keeping many
Jews interested in Judaism.

Stephen Jascourt   stvjas@meteor.wisc.edu