Jan 18, 7:54 PM EST
Dissatisfied Jews, Christians Share Ideas
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- Every time Rabbi Dov Gartenberg led the Sabbath service at Congregation Beth Shalom, he would see bored faces among the worshippers and wonder how long he could hold their interest.
"I could say, 'That person's going to leave in 30 minutes and that person's going to leave in 45 minutes.' And I was right," he said. "I was powerless to stop it. I felt like I was in chains."
Frustrated, Gartenberg quit his congregation
two years ago and opened a nonprofit for Christians who set out on a similar path a decade ago and sparked a mini-revolution in the process.
Over two days, representatives from nearly
30 emergent Jewish and Christian worship groups talked about
abandoning traditional worship in search of a more personal
connection with God that they said they can't find in temple or
church. They also shared their vision with more traditional Jewish
leaders who hope this new "emergent Judaism" might help bring young
"We told them, 'You guys are maybe five to 10 years ahead of us,
and we want to know what you did right and what you did wrong,'" he
said.
Speakers at the conference said both faiths are struggling to
stay relevant - particularly to young people - in a culture that is
increasingly fast-paced and global.
Admonishments to believe in God and attend services regularly aren't enough to help people make sense of today's world, said Wade Clark Roof, a professor of religion and society at University of California, Santa Barbara.
"There's a very general sense of wanting to find ways to embody faith - to live it," said Roof, who spoke at the conference. "There's a very deep quest within the culture for that and you find it broadly based."
Evangelical Christians and now focus on "walking the path of Jesus" and doing humanitarian work while remaining apolitical.
There have also been signs in recent years
of American
Others, such as Gartenberg, founded organizations that host
online blogs and podcasts and offer Sabbath feasts in members'
dining rooms.
This "gets a rabbi into people's homes, which is completely
novel," said Gartenberg, who founded Panim Hadashot, which is Hebrew
for "New Faces of Judaism," in Seattle. "It's creating an experience
that's deeply spiritual. It not just like going to a synagogue."
Feelings of spiritual alienation were particularly pronounced
among young Jews, too, have criticized those who have split off from
synagogues, saying they are ignoring thousands of years of religious
tradition.
Still, other Jewish groups feel they have something to learn from
the Christian movement, including how to feel comfortable speaking
about personal faith in a public sphere. "Contemporary Jews aren't
interested in the Holocaust and are not supportive of Israel. We
just want to show our love in a different way."
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On the Net:
Synagogue 3000: http://www.synagogue3000.org
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