Study Finds 'Man Crisis' in Liberal Jewish Circles

Tyrael · #1 21st-May-2008

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Study Finds 'Man Crisis' in Liberal Jewish Circles

by Gil Ronen

(IsraelNN.com) A new study carried out at Brandeis University finds that as the liberal Jewish community empowers its women, its men appear to be losing interest in their Jewishness.

According to a report in JTA, which publishes parts of the study, "outside the Orthodox world, men are becoming less and less engaged in every aspect of Jewish life, from the home to the synagogue to communal organizations. Numerous studies show that fewer boys than girls go to non-Orthodox youth groups, religious schools or summer camps, fewer go into the rabbinate and cantorate, and fewer serve on synagogue or federation committees.

This comes as women and girls in the liberal movements are benefiting from a host of programs and initiatives aimed at increasing their Jewish involvement, from gender-neutral prayer books to the popular Jewish identity-building program for teenage girls, 'Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing.'"

Sociologist Sylvia Barack Fishman authored the study, which is called “The Growing Gender Imbalance in American Jewish Life” and will be available online June 1 at www.brandeis.edu/hbi.

Tough news for feminists

Using hundreds of interviews she conducted for the American Jewish Committee and data from the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Study, Fishman and her student co-author Daniel Parmer describe an American Jewish life "increasingly populated by women." Female dominance is especially apparent within the Reform movement, where the numbers of boys in post bar-mitzvah religious schools, youth groups and summer camps are declining, more than half of the recently ordained rabbis are women, and all this year’s entering cantorial students are female.

While noting that feminist scholars have a hard time accepting the idea of a “boy crisis” in liberal Judaism, Fishman is not apologetic: “As soon as you say that women dominate certain aspects of Jewish life, it sounds as if you’re saying, 'Let’s go back to the way things were.' That’s not the point of my research, but we need to look at what’s happening and be honest about it,” she told JTA.

Her report also suggests that as Jewish men outside the Orthodox fold become increasingly estranged from religious and communal life, they are more likely to marry non-Jewish women. She concludes that "the boy crisis in liberal Judaism is leading to a continuity crisis that will not be resolved until liberal Judaism finds a way to engage its boys and men."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/126139

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It's the same thing that has happened in liberal denominations of Christianity. What's driving the men away, IMO, is not so much the underlying theological issues as it is the saccharine, dumbed-down, wishy-washy -- i.e., feminized -- nature of the worship and practice these congregations offer. Men don't want a God who is a best friend or a therapist; they want a God who is a god, who inspires awe as well as devotion, and they want a demanding and well-defined set of rules for what God requires of us. In their religion, like in other areas of their lives, men like clear standards, intellectual rigor, and a challenge. Today, by and large, it is conservative rather than liberal denominations where you find these things (though there are some exceptions, such as the Quakers).

Skeptos

Billy · #2 21st-May-2008

I've heard abouat this Jewish crisis for years.

On christianity I believe feminized women have gained total say over the messages which are allowed and the direction the church takes. Men often get tired of hearing messages of how to please their perfect wives who can never be criticised.

I saw the womens conference list of objectives of one major denomination demanding more say and more jobs in the churches. More stories on wonderful women in the bible, (shoud we rewrite the book for them?) More control of finances and on and on.

Feminism is alive and well in the mainstream conservative religions. Yep they will run the men off as they gain more control and more jobs in the churches. Never fails, it's always the same demand for destruction. But you know it's just feels so right to the women to be in control and headed for disaster which they never notice.

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Male-Rights-Network · #3 21st-May-2008

Modern, liberal Judaism is feminism.

Billy · #4 21st-May-2008

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Originally Posted by Male-Rights-Network

Modern, liberal Judaism is feminism.

I dont know much about liberal Judasm but I do know that Zionism and feminism go hand in hand.

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Male-Rights-Network · #5 21st-May-2008

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I dont know much about liberal Judasm but I do know that Zionism and feminism go hand in hand.

Absolutely true. They have the same end goals and means to achieve them: One World Government, Socialism, Communism, Political Correctness, etc. I'm no Jewish scholar but I wonder if the feminism and Zionism that seems to be so well accepted in the mainstream Jewish community is compatible with Orthodox teachings? I doubt it somehow.

bobx23456 · #6 21st-May-2008

The same kind of female feminist takeover is going on in many religions from paganism to Hinduism, from Buddhism to Christianity. Men are being pushed out by rabid femiNazi who are demanding that the religion become an extension of feminism. Even Islam is finding that it's not exempt from feminist infiltration.

Stories like this should remind us that men of all faiths face similar problems with rebid feminists taking over our religious institutions. All men of all faiths need to work together to restore the rights of men.

Blessings

Bob

AKUUS · #7 21st-May-2008

1 Corinthians 14:34
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."

NOW WE KNOW WHAT PAUL WAS WARNING US ABOUT.

Male-Rights-Network · #8 21st-May-2008

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The same kind of female feminist takeover is going on in many religions from paganism

I dare say paganism always had greater inherent feministic tendancies. As you know I've argued that feminism is causing a reversion to pagan religion and culture.

**bachelor tom** · #9 21st-May-2008

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Originally Posted by Male-Rights-Network

I dare say paganism always had greater inherent feministic tendancies. As you know I've argued that feminism is causing a reversion to pagan religion and culture.

I think bob would give you an argument on this - can you explain what you mean by "pagan religion and culture"?

Male-Rights-Network · #10 21st-May-2008

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I think bob would give you an argument on this - can you explain what you mean by "pagan religion and culture"?

Things such as environmentalism/naturism, egalitarianism, nudism, polytheism and Goddesses. These were all much more common in pagan societies compared to Patriarchal ones informed by the likes of Christianity.