TruthBook Religious News Blog

The financial crisis and demographic shifts are reshaping the Jewish community in ways we could hardly have imagined a generation ago. Historian and Brandeis University professor Jonathan Sarna, author of A Time for Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew , sheds light on what history can teach us about Jewish revival in uncertain times.

What happened the last time the Jewish community faced a financial crisis of this magnitude?

After the last frightening economic downturn, following the 1929 stock-market crash, American Jewry turned inward, paying little heed to what was going on abroad, particularly in Germany. As the American Jewish Year Book gently put it in 1931: “The Jews of the United States did not during the past year watch the situation of their overseas co-religionists with the same concentration as in the preceding twelve months.” We were, as a result, less prepared than we should have been to help the Jews of Europe after Hitler rose to power in 1933.

In addition, Jewish education was widely abandoned in the late 1920s and 1930s. The number of students enrolled in New York City’s Jewish schools dropped by 22% between 1928 and 1935, and in Chicago enrollment plunged 16% in the six months from December 1930 to June 1931. We paid a big price for these declines: Those young Jews never made up for what they lost. We need to be careful nowadays to avoid sacrificing Jewish education to economic expediency.

Were there any positive repercussions of the Great Depression?

Yes, Jews turned primarily to one another during the 1930s, relying on ties of faith and kinship to carry them through the hard times. Traditions of self-help and mutual aid overcame religious, ideological, and generational differences. These values have been forgotten in some circles during the more recent years of plenty, but they bear remembering: All Jews are family, and thus responsible for helping one another.

Also, the government took more responsibility for social services. Jews were initially reticent about accepting this welfare, but it ultimately transformed postwar Jewish life. Money freed up from social services was devoted to Israel and Jewish education. The New Deal also modeled for Jews the benefits of centralization at both the national and local levels.

How are today’s economic woes reshaping American Jewish life?

A new era of belt-tightening is threatening a number of bold initiatives fueled by the great rise of Jewish wealth in the ’80s and the ’90s. Compounding the problem is the fact that while different sectors of the American Jewish community are busy explaining to all who will listen why their particular area of Jewish service has to be preserved at all costs, no one has put forth serious ideas about how to cut the Jewish communal budget by one-third when Jewish foundations, even excluding the Bernard Madoff losses, are approximately one-third poorer than they were this time last year. Over the next few years we will see which organizations in Jewish life have kept strong balance sheets, budgeted prudently, and built broad-scale support, and which have not. At a time when individual needs are rising and communal means are falling, the Jewish community will have to engage in a kind of organizational triage. My guess is that many Jewish educational institutions, several Jewish museums, and some other Jewish organizations will not survive.

This is just a small snippet of a lengthy article which asks many more thoughtful questions regarding Judaism and the economic crisis. Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: America, crisis, economics, Judaism, The Depression, The New Deal

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Friday, May 08, 2009

Majority of American Adults Believe Strong Faith and Individual Initiative Are Key to Weathering Economic Storm

New Nationwide Survey Reveals Personal Actions Are More Effective than Government Stimulus

HUNTINGTON, Ind., May 4 /Christian Newswire/ --

As our nation's economic crisis persists and families are brought to the brink with layoffs and foreclosures, more than two-thirds (70%) of U.S. adults believe that strong faith is one of the most important elements in helping a person persevere through the current downturn, and most (61%) believe their personal actions play a more vital role in helping to turn around the economy than the government stimulus plan.

These are just some of the results from a new, nationwide survey conducted during the height of the economic stimulus debate by Harris Interactive® on behalf of Our Sunday Visitor, one of country's largest Catholic publishing companies.

"A great frustration during a time of national crisis can be the sense of impotence, the inability of the individual to make a difference. And yet, looking beyond today's latest installment of dire news, most Americans believe they know what it takes to weather this crisis and that we can even benefit from it, one choice at a time," said Fr. Joseph Langford, author of the new book, Mother Teresa's Secret Fire. "In times like these, it's instructive to recall the message of Mother Teresa, who showed the world that the individual, clinging to the Creator, can endure enormous change and actually become a luminous force during the darkest of times."

Even after her death in 1997, Mother Teresa has continued to be a symbol of the human heart transformed by God's love--and a heart that transformed others. Secret Fire shows us how we all have the same opportunity to be touched and transformed by God, and empowered to share that gift with those around us, making our ordinary lives an extraordinary legacy of goodness.

This article contains an explanation of Mother Teresa's "Secret Fire," as well as more details of the survey. Please click on "external source" to access the complete article.

Labels: crisis, economics, faith, goodness, Harris Interactive, Mother Theresa, Our Sunday Visitor

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Monday, March 17, 2008

Oprah, self-help book author connect with millions online

By Jodi Rave
03/16/08

"This book is about you. It will change your state of consciousness, or it will be meaningless." — Eckhart Tolle, author of "A New Earth"

On Monday, I’ll meet with my reading group to discuss Oprah Winfrey’s latest book-club choice, a spiritual self-help guide that led one televangelist to call Winfrey “the most dangerous woman in the world.”

“A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” is on the New York Time’s bestseller list. Oprah is helping propel the spiritual enlightenment book to dizzying heights, thanks to an unprecedented online promotion that includes a 10-week interactive Webcast discussion with her, the book’s author and an international audience.

“This is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done,” Oprah said in the first discussion.

“I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but I am most proud of the fact that all of you have joined us in this global community to talk about what I believe is one of the most important subjects and — presented by one of the most important books of our time.”

As of Thursday, Oprah.com claimed more than 2 million people in 139 countries had “experienced” one of her New Earth Internet seminars.

The book’s primary focus encourages “a shift in consciousness,” or an awakening by the reader. The Web site encourages readers to discuss “A New Earth” in book clubs. Finding nothing in Missoula, the site allowed me to create one.

Here’s a bit of what we learned from the first Tolle-Oprah discussion:

Oprah: “This is not about trying to tell you how to believe. And how do you advise people to reconcile this with their religious beliefs?”

Tolle: “Well, religion can be an open doorway into spirituality and religion can be a closed door. It prevents you from going deeper. So I love reading the New Testament and I also read the Old Testament. Sometimes there’s some incredible jewels in there.

“There’s a depth to it. And it reflects your own depth when you read it. So there’s no conflict between this teaching, which is purely spiritual, and any religion. The important thing is that religion doesn’t become an ideology. And the moment you say ‘only my belief’ or ‘our belief’ is true, and you deny other people’s beliefs, then you’ve adopted an ideology. And then religion becomes a closed door.”

Oprah: “Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.”

At that point, the host took a video call from a viewer who asked: “Why is this happening now?” Why were some 700,000 watching a show encouraging an awakening of spiritual consciousness?

Tolle: “It’s happening now because we’re reaching a crisis point. Very essential things don’t happen until there’s an absolute need for them to happen. If you look at the history of the 20th century, that gives you a taste of what it will be if there is no major shift.”

Conservative estimates conclude that more than 100 million humans were killed by other humans in the 20th century, Tolle said. “It’s unbelievable insanity when you look at that history.”

“And so if there’s no shift in consciousness, we will go downhill very quickly, because we’re already in the process of destroying the planet. But there will also be continuous conflict, collective conflict, and eventually then humanity would collapse.”

Oprah: “So you think we’re at a crisis point, no?”

Tolle: “Crisis point, yes.”

Tolle’s message shouldn’t be so startling to anyone who keeps up with the daily news.

Our local reading is gearing up for our Monday discussion of Chapter 3. And I’m looking forward to being part of a conversation with “the most dangerous woman in the world.”

Labels: A New Earth, crisis, Eckhart Tolle, Oprah Winfrey, religion, shift, spirituality