32
AcAdemic SympoSium:
C
ollaboration is so much harder
than we think it is. And most
of us think we are doing it, and
we are not.
The first question I want to ask you is:
Are we built on sand or are we built on
concrete? I’ll begin with a story that I
first read in a book that Rabbi Harold
Kushner wrote.
He talks about watching two kids on
a beach as they build a really intricate
sand castle. It has towers and moats
and it’s quite beautiful and quite
elaborate. But as soon as they finish
it and they stand up to admire it, a
huge wave comes by and washes the
sand castle off the beach. And Rabbi
Kushner’s reaction was “Oh, that’s
devastating.” However, the kids got
excited because they got to build the
sand castle again. They jumped up and
down and found a new spot on the
beach and began digging with the same
enthusiasm. Rabbi Kushner was taken
by these two children’s response. What
he realized is that while institutions are
going to come and go, the relationships
between those kids was enduring. They
may not even remember the sand castle
on the beach, but they would always
remember each other and the joy they
took in building together.
So I’ll ask the question again: What
about Jewish life is built on sand? And
what is built on concrete? I will say for
sure that Judaism is built on concrete.
Let’s just start there. Are our institutions,
the buildings themselves built on sand
or on concrete?
I’d like to make the case for change.
Since I teach leadership pretty much
every day of my life, one of the ques-
tions that people always ask me is to
define leadership. I will give you two
definitions. The first is that leadership
is inevitably about change.
I’ve lived with the Pew Study, for
which I served on the advisory
committee, for about two years and
have carefully studied the findings.
There is a lot of good news. While I
am not going to say there is bad news,
there is news that makes me anxious.
I really am an optimist. And yet no one
can deny that looking at these results
the glass can be viewed as half empty.
So, I’d like to look quickly at these
numbers again.
Good news: 94% of Jews surveyed are
proud to be Jewish. Not sure what that
means, but it is good news. 35% of
U.S. Jews identify with our Reform
Movement. A third of all Jews in this
country say they’re Reform without
really knowing what that means.
That is remarkable. That is opportunity.
Interesting news: 22% of U.S. Jews are
what we are now calling JNRs. They have
their own name: Jews of No Religion.
These are not Jews of another
generation who were Bundists or
Yiddishists. These are Jews of No
Religion. It’s not like Jews in Israel.
These are Jews who say they are Jews
but have no religion. For example, at
a wedding that took place last Shabbat,
two adults who met when they were
children at day school married each
other. Jew married Jew on a Saturday
afternoon with no rabbi.
They are Jews. It just doesn’t matter
to them that they are marrying on a
C
oLLaboration
:
a
re
W
e
b
UiLt
for
i
t
?
Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson ’85, President, The Wexner Foundation
watch thE vIdEO:
huc.edu/inauguration/abrahamson