Rabbi Daniel Brenner Hollers

A few weeks ago I posted a profile on Rabbi Daniel Brenner, the director of Birthright Israel Next, and in it I asked a handful of questions about Jewish daily life, faith, and community.

Today he emailed to share his wise and generous response! Read his whole post to get a sense of how he addresses my trenchant bafflement-induced interview questions.

When I think about loving God, I think about loving the big, tragic, beautiful mess that we are all caught up in.
I think that in community, you go beyond your self a little bit more, and can open your heart up to other people, and that is the only way that you can really love God when it comes down to it – because praying towards a wall is not what it is all about in my opinion. It might help you do a better job at opening your heart when in dialogue with a person, but it isn’t the act that ultimately matters.

By the way, perhaps you have seen Birthright Israel Next’s full page ad in Heeb’s Germany issue: an ‘essay’ written in the first person about becoming a Birthright Israel NEXT Fellow that is so pitch perfect you can play guess the next word mad libs with your friends.

Also, for German-language readers of Heeb, there is a Maxim Biller story printed in German in Nazi-era typeface. His piece won the Best Fake Holocaust Memoir Contest, that instead of being awarded to one of my snarky and clever friends went to the subject of my Ivy league friend’s undergrad thesis.

Who runs Birthright Israel NEXT?

Rabbi Daniel Brenner

[his blog, a profile at Auburn Theological Seminary with list of publications list of pieces on religion magazine, Killing the Buddha, ranked top 50 influential rabbis on Newsweek compiled by some CEOs, his youtube channel, an interview on a random blog, article on his twin sons playing rock music, his essay called "Future of Foreskins," a poem called Eretz Yisrael]

I met Rabbi Daniel Brenner at an event at BAM for NEXT Shabbat hosts. I identified myself as a repeat host and told him the program made my life better. He was young, really friendly, someone who would introduce you to his friends and provide interesting conversation at a party he’s hosting with free drinks and apps. He told me where I should spend Purim in Brooklyn and replied quickly to my emails.

He is responsible for B.I.N.– the email blitzes, website redesigns, & staffing major American cities with Jewish community organizers. And probably for this genius page called ASK THE RABBI on the new New York Shabbat Next host center, where you simply email any question to ‘the rabbi.’

neither Brenner nor Woody. It's Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff

Brenner clearly knows how to take a joke, and how to cut through the monotony of youthful Jewish apathy + attrition. Having seen him speak at that event, I think he’s a good match, energetically and ideologically, for the task at hand: How do you de-assimilate Jews?

Birthright Israel is composed of 3 parts: Birthright Israel (headed by Gidi Mark, preceded by Shimshon Shoshani, Birthright Israel Foundation (Bob Aronson), and Birthright Israel NEXT (Rabbi Daniel Brenner).

If you could interview Rabbi Brenner, what would you ask him?
Here are some of my Qs for the Rabbi, which for now are not about the ins and outs of Birthright Israel, the organization.

• Does “being Jewish” mean having a daily practice? Do you do things each day to “be” Jewish like praying before eating, after going to the bathroom, performing mitzvot, etc. or can you just “be” Jewish without doing anything particularly Jewish?
• Do you feel grateful that you are Jewish? Like, is your daily life better because you are Jewish? Or is it just a part of you, like being born male, brown-haired, etc.?
• How much does your childhood Jewishness affect your Jewishness later in life?
• Do you ever grow tired of thinking about the Jewish community?
• Do you want Birthright alumni/young Jews to believe in God? Do you think those who don’t now will come to believe in God after being part of a Jewish community?
• Is it important to you to be Jewish? Why? Because you were born Jewish and/or because Jewish wisdom is important for the world? For you as an individual?
• My goals in life are to be happy+successful. How can you or other Jewish leaders/organizations help me achieve my goals?
• Are you working on a book? What’s the best thing you’ve read lately?
• Briefly, what is the best part of being alive?

Who runs American Judaism?

Shabbat Shalom Poster. Didactic and Well Wishing

I went looking for vintage ware in St Louis at Retro 101 (2303 Cherokee St.) with Jordan and he found this for me!  I didn’t buy it because I thought it would make my apartment look like Heeb. And it cost $40 (in case you have one and want to sell it).  The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (founded in 1873) distributed this poster in 1971.

There are two camps of Jewish-Americans: people affiliated with Jewish organizations and those who aren’t.  Or, the segment  that was once affiliated (having a Bar Mitzvah, going to camp, etc.) and now live outside the orbit of Jewish organizations. There are also over 200,000 people who have gone to Israel on Birthright, which might be the most organized Jewish experience they ever had. Btw fyi:

In 2003, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations was officially renamed the Union for Reform Judaism. The former name was dropped because it reflected Wise’s unrealized expectation that the whole of American Jewry would eventually affiliate with the Reform movement, and also because it failed to acknowledge the Reform-affiliated congregations outside the United States. Today, the organization is often referred to simply as “the Union.” As of 2005, some 900 synagogues were affiliated with it.

In the U.S. there are an estimated 1.1 million Reform Jews out of about 5 million total Jews. The URJ says that the 900 congregations affiliated with it all stand for the same core values.

• A God-centered Judaism that combines respect for Jewish law and Jewish tradition with a progressive religious outlook designed to remain relevant and meaningful to contemporary North American Jews
• A commitment to Torah (lifelong Jewish learning), Avodah (worship of God through prayer and observance), and G’milut Hasadim (the pursuit of justice, peace, and deeds of loving kindness) – expressed in lifelong study of the sacred Jewish texts, creativity and spirituality in worship, and social action fulfilling the vision of the Prophets
• A commitment to klal Yisrael, the entirety of the Jewish people, with special focus on the people and the state of Israel, and on world Jewry, particularly on the needs of Progressive congregations everywhere
• A community-focused religion that honors the personal autonomy of the individual and the institutional autonomy of the congregation, within a framework of egalitarianism and inclusiveness

Consistent with these goals should be a program to sell/give holiday related posters designed to remain relevant and meaningful to contemporary North American Jews. The poster below spread like wildfire in trendy kitchens, bathrooms, and design blogs last year. What if it said Shabbat Shalom on the bottom in Hebrew?

A poster such as this with URJ 2009 in fine print would enable someone like me to be affiliated with the umbrella organization without going to synagogue. And when would I? Friday nights I celebrate Shabbat at home with a festive dinner party ranging from 2-20 attendees, like the 1971 poster suggests. I guess I would be interested in a book club that met in a library or chapel of a Brooklyn synagogue…

Sometimes it’s lonely to identify as Jewish without a synagogue or organization-centered community to identify with. There is also no Jewish inspired art in my apartment (except for Shabbat candlesticks that spend the week on a Buddha alter).

Does anyone make or have a Shabbat Shalom poster? Have you been to someone’s house and seen a poster such as this? Was it hung with the tongue-in-cheek twee sincerity of K.C.&C.O.? Or with the seriousness of a framed Chagall poster?

Do you need a synagogue to be or feel really Jewish? Does the synagogue have to be affiliated with the URJ? Does religion and community feel more relevant and real when it is represented in a graphic poster?