Finding a Spiritual Home : How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue

The Jewish community has lost some of the most sensitive spiritual souls of this generation. They are Jews who were looking for God and found spiritual homes outside of Judaism. Their journeys traversed the Jewish community, but nothing there beckoned them. The creation of synagogue-communities in which the voices of seekers can be heard and their questions can be asked will challenge many loyalist Jews. It will upset and enrage them. But it would also enrich them.
―from Chapter 18

In this fresh look at the spiritual possibilities of American Jewish life, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz presents the framework for a new synagogue model―the synagogue community―and its promise to transform our understanding of the synagogue and its potential for modern Judaism.

Schwarz profiles four innovative synagogues―one from each of the major movements of Judaism―that have had extraordinary success with their approach to congregational life and presents practical ways to replicate their success.

Includes a discussion guide for study groups and book clubs as well as a new afterword by the author describing developments in synagogue change projects since the book was first published.

Rabbi Sidney Schwarz is a social entrepreneur, an author and a political activist. He founded and led PANIM: The Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values for twenty-one years. He is also the founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Maryland, where he continues to teach and lead services. Currently, he serves as a senior fellow at Clal―The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership where he is involved in a program that trains rabbis to be visionary spiritual leaders. He is the author of Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future; Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue and Judaism and Justice: The Jewish Passion to Repair the World.

Rabbi Sidney Schwarz is available to speak on the following topics:

• Jewish Megatrends: Charting the Course of the American Jewish Future
• Tribal vs. Covenantal Identity: Jews and the American Public Square
• Finding a Spiritual Home: Redefining the Religious Enterprise
• Reaching the Jewish Community of the 21st Century: Educating for Jewish Citizenship
• Between Conscience and Solidarity
• Can Social Justice Save the Jewish Soul?