Libenson encourages openness to new ways of practising Judaism

From a queer-centred yeshiva to an artist-driven synagogue and young adults turning their homes into Jewish gathering spaces, new models of Jewish life are challenging traditional ideas about what Judaism can, and should, look like. 

For Dan Libenson, president of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah and host of Judaism Unbound, one of the most listened-to Jewish podcasts, these experiments aren’t a break from tradition, but part of a much older story: Judaism has always been changing. 

Speaking at Limmud Johannesburg, Libenson said maybe we need to challenge our assumptions using the principle of Ipcha Mistabra (on the contrary). 

“We have a lot of assumptions about what Judaism is, how Judaism has to operate, that may be right, but may be wrong, and it’s valuable for us to imagine other possibilities simply to make sure that we’re really looking at reality,” he said. 

“There’s a notion that … Judaism is what it is. [That] our job is to preserve it. We don’t want to be the last link in the chain. Our job is to receive what we have been given and to give that same thing to the next generation, more or less. An alternative conception to that is that Judaism will be what it becomes. That Judaism is always changing, has always changed, and that we don’t have to be as focused on preservation. 

“So, I wonder if we had a notion of Judaism that recognised that it’s okay for it to change – that it always has – then the question becomes a harder one than simply asking what it is that we are preserving,” he said. “I’m not here to give you an answer, but I think that if we’re asking what we need to preserve versus what it’s okay to change, then we’re having a very different conversation in the Jewish community than we would otherwise be having.” 

Libenson posed ways to challenge assumptions. For example, many people believe that young Jews are standing on the edge of a cliff in terms of their Jewish connection, in danger of falling and being lost to the Jewish people forever. 

“If you believe that then all your effort has to go into stopping people from going over the cliff. If Jews are standing at the edge, the only responsible thing to do is prevent them from falling,” he said. “But what if they’re not standing at the edge of a cliff? What if Jews are actually just milling around in a valley? They may not be doing anything extraordinary, but they’re not in danger either. They’re actually fine.” 

The people in the valley might be looking for ways to connect to their Judaism, but don’t necessarily have ways that feel accessible to them. The community may need new, compelling forms of Jewish expression to engage them, said Libenson. 

“Being Jewish is sticky. People like being Jewish. What they’re looking for … [is] a reason to be more Jewish. And they’re not getting it. They’re not getting a reason because all the effort is being spent trying to keep them away from the cliff. And that’s not a compelling Judaism. That’s an emergency kind of Judaism. And that’s not exciting to people,” he said. 

Using the concept of disruptive innovation, he compared new models to early cellphone cameras, which were inferior to traditional cameras but offered something valuable to people who weren’t interested in conventional photography. Over time, they improved dramatically. 

Libenson gave examples such as Svara, a queer-centred yeshiva; an artist’s reinterpretation of Shabbat as a break from constant technological notifications; a project that regenders the biblical text to reveal new insights; and Lab/Shul, an experimental, artist-driven Jewish community. While these models may not appeal to everyone, and may initially seem less substantial than traditional forms of Judaism, they are compelling to people who might otherwise not participate at all. 

“If they’re just milling around in the valley, they’re available. A version of Judaism that may seem less appealing to us can actually be compelling to them. We might look at some of these examples and think, ‘That’s not for me’, but they are for someone.” 

By investing in and allowing these new approaches to develop, he said, they could evolve into increasingly meaningful and sophisticated forms of Judaism. 

“If these models stayed exactly as they are, we might see them as yeridat hadorot, the decline of the generations, with Judaism getting worse and worse. But they don’t stay that way. They get better over time, just as cellphone cameras did. If we’re willing to invest in and appreciate new forms of Judaism that appeal to people for whom the current model doesn’t, there’s a possibility that, over time, a better Judaism will emerge for those who are not currently participating,” he said.