tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8030144.post532118629217577972..comments2023-10-29T11:50:25.742+02:00Comments on My Obiter Dicta: Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die: Post Yom Kippur ReflectionsJeffrey R. Woolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11315625918870195028noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8030144.post-76820475141039930582011-10-23T05:44:34.549+02:002011-10-23T05:44:34.549+02:00"American Jews aren't observing Yom Kippu..."American Jews aren't observing Yom Kippur is, at best, a bad sampling strategy. The shuls in Boston were filled to the brim."<br /><br />Compare the total number of Jews who attended Orthodox schuls in the whole Metropolitan area-lets say a 30 mile radius of Boston in 1950 and today. I used the 30 mile to account for suburbanization and population migration-I will bet that there are far fewer today than there were 60-70 years ago. Are the schuls packed in that you have fewer large schuls than decades ago.<br /><br />mycroftAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8030144.post-73935070766033585362011-10-09T19:19:57.030+02:002011-10-09T19:19:57.030+02:00i more or less agree with your point about the jew...i more or less agree with your point about the jews in the us.<br /><br />but the orthodox in the us -- and the more observant the truer this seems to be -- have no immediate tangible need for israel, and their numbers and sustainability are eminently demonstrable. paradoxical perhaps, but i believe it to be so.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8030144.post-49833434033461676022011-10-09T15:05:06.695+02:002011-10-09T15:05:06.695+02:001) I'm glad to hear that the shuls in Boston w...1) I'm glad to hear that the shuls in Boston were full. The truth is that the Times, a couple of years ago, had a long article about the rapid decline in observance of Yom Kippur, so I was really using that as a point of departure.<br /><br />2) I was not referring to MO as the balm for America's ills, but of Israel's ills. In turn, a strengthened Israel will be a source of strength for American Jewry. OTOH. I"d be less than honest if I said that I think the Diaspora has a long term sustainability.Jeffrey R. Woolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11315625918870195028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8030144.post-38626565667954086532011-10-09T14:57:15.945+02:002011-10-09T14:57:15.945+02:00Jeff,
I'm glad you had a good Yom Kippur exper...Jeff,<br />I'm glad you had a good Yom Kippur experience. However, to assume that, based on Facebook, American Jews aren't observing Yom Kippur is, at best, a bad sampling strategy. The shuls in Boston were filled to the brim. Also, I don't see how Modern Orthodox Judaism in Israel is going to "save" American Jews. In any event, I think your dire predictions for us are ill-founded. American Judaism is responding creatively to challenges, and is doing pretty well, in my opinion.adenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084488953399687768noreply@blogger.com