In this episode of Truths: Jewish Wisdom for Today, Rabbi Dr. Levi Brackman explores contemporary American Judaism with Mark Oppenheimer, Ph.D. (Mark believes only medical doctors should be called "Doctor"). They start the conversation with Levi asking Mark about the perceived shift from a more spiritual, "enchanted" religious world to a "disenchanted" one with less active religious traditions. 

They discuss the challenges Judaism faces in America's religious free market due to Judaism's high barriers to entry, such as language barriers and complex customs as well as the lack of proselytizing.

Mark notes the current trends within American Judaism, including decreasing synagogue attendance, increasing intermarriage rates among non-Orthodox Jews, and declining birth rates even among Orthodox communities, and expresses uncertainty about the future of non-Orthodox Judaism. 

While maintaining that a potential shift towards a predominantly Orthodox Jewish world would change the landscape of global Judaism (not necessarily negatively), Mark encourages reimagining Judaism as a global family and critiques American Jewish denominationalism, and instead suggests emphasizing the central role of the Torah in Jewish tradition. He warns against oversimplifying Judaism to elements like cuisine or film, arguing this could exclude specific Jewish communities. The Torah, he asserts, is the unifying factor that can bring all Jews together.

Mark highlights the profound influence of the Jewish tradition on the world and the importance of Jews as custodians of Jewish texts and traditions. He advocates for the relevance and importance of viewing Judaism as a family and the profound task of preserving the literary tradition embodied in the Torah.

Support the show

Levi Brackman is a rabbi, Ph.D. in psychology, best-selling author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success, and founder of Invown, a platform for real estate fundraising and investing.