For almost a decade the “emergent” movement has been a peculiar subculture on the borders of evangelical Christianity. Members of the movement—or “conversation” as they prefer to call it—tend to be known more for their cultural choices (Likes: tattoos, cussing, Sufjan Stevens, Obama; Dislikes: orthodoxy, megachurches, CCM, certainty, their evangelical parents) than for their theology.
Now it appears Judaism is getting its over version of the emergents:
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai about 3,300 years ago, he couldn’t have seen these Jews coming.
A blogger writes about how one of Judaism’s holiest days ended, for her, in a strip club, while elsewhere a guy strolls into a tattoo parlor requesting a Star of David. Two women exchange wedding vows in a Jewish ceremony, and hipsters toss back bottles of HE’BREW, The Chosen Beer. A full-time software developer prepares to lead a group in Jewish prayer, as a PhD candidate in Jewish thought pens a letter criticizing Israel’s policies.
Meet the “New Jews,” as some call them: pockets of post-baby boomers — or more accurately Generation X and Millennial (Gen Y) Jews — who are making one of the world’s oldest known monotheistic faiths and its culture work for them and others in a time when, more than ever, affiliation is a choice.
“I could wake up tomorrow and say, ‘I don’t want to be Jewish.’ There would be no social, political or economic consequences,” said Shawn Landres, the 37-year-old co-founder of Jumpstart, a Los Angeles-area organization that pushes forward out-of-the-box ideas in the Jewish world. “It’s true for the first time in thousands of years that we can build the identities we want.”
Many of those at the forefront of innovative Jewish construction are rabbis, religious educators, people who know their stuff. But they’re not interested in foisting labels on people — like the denominational terms Reform, Conservative or Orthodox — nor do they want to perpetuate the pressures that come with fitting into religious, political and social molds.
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