Our conversation, as usual, begins with getting to know our guest.  We talk with Rabbi Estrin about how he ended up as a military chaplain and whether he had to go through basic training.  We also discuss his path towards the rabbinate and his current work with Chabad, and Elie graciously explains what that organization is all about.

We then dive into the historical origins of Chanukah, going back some 2200 years and the efforts of the Greeks to Hellenize Judaism, or assimilate it into Greek pagan culture.  Elie reviews some of the main historical figures in the story and the lead up to a guerrilla war against the Greeks.  Upon retaking the Temple Mount, Judah Maccabee had his band of followers cleanse and rededicate the altar, which required burning oil for eight days.  Although they only had enough pure olive oil to burn for one day, the supply miraculously lasted for the full eight days giving rise to the tradition of lighting a menorah.  Tony learns that Chanukah stands for “rededication” and Elie also explains the reason we see different spellings of the holiday (e.g., Hanukkah).  He also brings up some recent archaeological finds in Israel that are of importance to the history of Chanukah.  Rabbi Estrin re-emphasizes the importance of the holiday for religious freedom — the right to practice one’s faith according to one’s conscience freely, particularly in a realm where you are a religious minority — and its importance for remembering and celebrating Jewish identity.

Following our discussion of the events 2200 years ago, Elie explains where Chanukah fits into the grand scheme of Jewish holidays.  Although we often hear of “High Holy Days,” Rabbi Estrin notes that there really are no “minor” holidays in the Jewish calendar and each celebration has its own particular and important meaning.  He reviews the difference between rabbinic holidays and biblical holidays.  We then explore a number of the traditions associated with Chanukah, beginning with the lighting of the menorah.  Elie notes that there has been some historical debate whether Jews are to light one candle on the first day of the holiday and progress to eight, or whether one starts with eight candles lit and roll down to one.  The former tradition has tended to predominate as a means of representing how light increasingly pushes back darkness.  We also discuss what can constitute a menorah, and Elie tells Tony that whatever is available is fine and points out Jews have been incredibly creative in always finding ways to celebrate even under the harshest of conditions such as the Holocaust and Soviet persecution.  This emphasizes the resilience of the Jewish people and the seriousness with which they take their faith.  Our conversation also covers a number of other traditions such as the dreidel, gelt (and giving of presents), and the various foods associated with Chanukah.  The emphasis on fried foods and dairy leads Tony to conclude that this might be one of the most delicious holidays ever.

We conclude with conversation about how Jews celebrate Chanukah in various settings, including America.  Rabbi Estrin, who works closely with college students through Chabad, recognizes that it is often difficult to retain one’s religious identity when in the minority and Chanukah becomes an important time for Jews to reconnect with their faith.  We talk about the issues of assimilation and cultural/religious identity that we have discussed on previous podcasts (see below) with Elie noting that it is a constant challenge to convince folks that being Jewish is not just about being dependent on a synagogue, but is something that must be lived daily in one’s life and that you need to build upon your faith one piece at a time, a message that is applicable to individuals within all faiths.  Recorded: November 13, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Chabad at the University of Washington.

Rabbi Elie Estrin on Twitter.

RELATED PODCASTS

Daniel Libenson on Present and Future Judaism.

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of Being Jewish in America.

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor.

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.

Jeff Levin on Judaism and Health.

Rajdeep Singh on American Sikhs and Religious Liberty.

]]> http://www.researchonreligion.org/historical-topics/elie-estrin-on-the-history-and-traditions-of-chanukah/feed 0 http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/daniel-libenson-on-present-and-future-judaism http://www.researchonreligion.org/practioneers/daniel-libenson-on-present-and-future-judaism#comments Sun, 19 Apr 2015 08:00:58 +0000 http://www.researchonreligion.org/?p=3812 What are the challenges facing contemporary Jews in America?  Following on Carmel Chiswick’s interview last week, we invite Daniel Libenson — director of jUChicago and founder/president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future — discusses his perceptions of the landscape facing American Jews and how he has been engaged in organizations such as Hillel and the rationale behinds the ones he now directs.  As a “thinker-practitioner,” we get an inside look into how somebody is leveraging research being conducted in academic circles, including by Daniel himself, to adapt to a changing environment.

Our conversation begins with a discussion of challenges facing contemporary Jews in America.  Dan notes that Judaism is not only seen as a religion, but as an ethnicity.  And even though there has been an increase in the number of “secular Jews” religiously, there remains a great deal of pride in heritage among this group, which he notes provides a great opportunity for engaging Jews who may have been falling away from their spiritual roots.  We talk about some of the demographic categories that were mentioned in last week’s interview with Carmel Chiswick.  Dan works closely with college students and understands the difficulty of “young adult singles” as they enter a period of their lives that is often devoid of Jewish rituals.  He also spends some time discussing how Jews have always had to respond to changing circumstances, and discusses the emergence of a “controversial re-imagination of Israel” in the form of secular Zionism over the past century and a half.  He notes that young people today are trying to grapple with these changes, and likens the challenges and adaptations he sees going on currently to the business concept of “disruptive innovation.”

We then turn attention to his work with young Jews on college campuses, first looking at Hillel.  He explains the historical background of Hillel as a place designed to make Jews feel comfortable in a culturally Christian college setting dating back to the 1940s.  Over time, Hillel has tried to appeal to Jews who are intensely religious, occasionally involved in the faith, and those who have no conscious need for Jewish ritual activities but nonetheless want to feel connected to their ethnic heritage.  Balancing the needs and wants of these three communities can be difficult.  It is in this context that we talk about his work with jUChicago, which seeks to meet many of the more secular Jews in spaces they feel comfortable and yet still make them feel part of a larger community.  Unlike Hillel that has a building where college students come to assemble, jUChicago is designed with no real central location (other than some administrative space) and will engage students for dinners in their apartments, social events in the city, or wherever the participants desire to be met.  This flexibility is a key feature of the organization that adapts to student needs, a process Dan calls “design thinking.”   During this discussion, Tony also learns about the “small letter” culture spurred on by Apple media products, and a little bit about Chabad.

The final portion of the podcast picks up on the theme of where American Jews are heading in the 21st century and the creation of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future.  While based on college campus, this organization is aimed at engaging the Jewish community throughout the entire life cycle.  The goal of the institute is three fold.  First, it is designed as a think tank to study Jewish needs and strategies in the coming decades.  Second, there is an emphasis on training religious and lay leaders in ways that continue to foster Jewish human capital.  And finally, the institute seeks to facilitate the networking and funding of Jewish leaders who they train.  Tony asks Dan about his thoughts on where Judaism is heading and he connects back to his earlier thoughts on how Judaism has changed historically.  While conveying an anecdote about how a Jewish sociologist thought that Judaism might not be recognizable a century from now, Dan did not think that was necessarily a bad thing given his optimistic belief in how humans adapt to new environments, yet preserve lineages to the past.  Recorded: April 8, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Daniel Libenson’s bio at the Institute for the Next Jewish Future.

jUChicago.

Hillel International.

The Jewish Innovator’s Dilemma, an ELItalk by Daniel Libenson.

The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identify for the Next Century, by Alan Dershowitz.

RELATED PODCASTS

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of Being Jewish in America.

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor.

Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America.

Jeff Levin on Judaism and Health.

Mark Glickman on the Cairo Genizah.

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.

How has American Judaism changed over the course of the past two centuries?  Using an economic approach that focuses on the importance of wage rates and time costs, Prof. Carmel Chiswick — University of Illinois, Chicago and the George Washington University — examines how the socio-economic context of the 19th century had a major impact on how immigrant Jews practiced their religion in America.  Prof. Chiswick explains that higher wage rates and the subsequent higher opportunity cost of time led to a shortening of Jewish services, less emphasis on traditional religious education, a preference for secular higher education, and the need to import rabbis, cantors and other religious specialists from Europe.  We trace how this influenced the growth of Reform and Conservative Judaism.  The conversation then turns attention to the role of education in Jewish progress.  While there is some degree of trade-off between religious and secular education, we later examine how traditional religious education (especially study of the Talmud) can act as a complement to secular studies.  Other topics explored include the issue of inter-marriage, the relaxation of dietary restrictions, Chabad, and how the creation of modern Israel had a big impact on American Jews.  We finish by speculating about the future of American Jewry and its impact on Judaism worldwide.  Recorded: April 26, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Carmel Chiswick’s website at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Carmel Chiswisk’s website at the George Washington University.

The Economics of American Judaism by Carmel U. Chiswick.

The following links are not directly related to the content of the podcast, but were mentioned at the beginning of the episode.  They represent folks who have helped direct traffic to our podcast series in recent months.  A big thanks to them!

LDS Living.

The Western Tradition blog.

Michael McBride’s The Religious Marketplace.

Brad R.E. Wright’s blog.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Internet Imagineering (Neil Luft and crew).

RELATED LINKS

Carmel Chiswick’s website at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Carmel Chiswisk’s website at the George Washington University.

The Economics of American Judaism by Carmel U. Chiswick.

The following links are not directly related to the content of the podcast, but were mentioned at the beginning of the episode.  They represent folks who have helped direct traffic to our podcast series in recent months.  A big thanks to them!

LDS Living.

The Western Tradition blog.

Michael McBride’s The Religious Marketplace.

Brad R.E. Wright’s blog.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Internet Imagineering (Neil Luft and crew).