Spotlight on CLAL
Welcome to Spotlight on CLAL. Here you will find stories about what is
happening at CLAL and about the work that CLAL is doing across North America. Sometimes we
will focus on a program, or a special event, or upon a CLAL faculty member's work and
interests. Bookmark this page if you want to get to know us better.
To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archives, click here.
Reisman Award for Article of the Year
Presented to CLAL Rabbi Tsvi Blanchard by Lead Journal of Jewish Communal
Service
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
On June 12, Rabbi Tsvi
Blanchard, a Ph.D. psychologist who is the Director of Organizational
Development at CLAL–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership,
will receive the 2003 Bernard Reisman Journal of Jewish Communal Service
Article of the Year Award for “How to Think About Being Jewish in the 21st
Century: A New Model of Jewish Identity Construction,” published in the fall
of 2002. The Journal, recognized as the voice in the field of Jewish
communal service, grants the award each year to the “most important,
informative, and innovative submission.”
“It is gratifying to be
honored not only by my peers and by the central address for Jewish communal
professionals, but for taking the risk of creating a new model,” said Rabbi
Blanchard.
In his article, Rabbi
Blanchard discussed how the existing models of Jewish identity, shaped by
the experiences of Jews as a minority immigrant group, do not consider the
tremendous freedom and openness of American society, which is based on
individual choice. No longer bound by fear, Jews today can create their own
identity, thereby necessitating new models of identity construction founded
on choice.
“At CLAL, we’ve been working on contemporary Jewish identity formation for
the last several years,” said Rabbi Blanchard. “As a leadership training
institute and think tank, CLAL is always looking for new models as part of
our revitalization of communities. For Jewish life to remain invigorated in
the 21st century, we need to step out of the box. That is what this article
sets out to do.“
“Many of the models of
Jewish identity that we inherited came from Eastern Europe pre-20th
century,” Rabbi Blanchard stated. “But from the outset, Jewish migration to
America demanded creating new paradigms appropriate to the new world. We
still need to start that conversation. There is nothing more important to
the Jewish people now than to consider new constructs of Jewish identity
based on the reality of American life.”
Some of Rabbi
Blanchard’s proposals include:
1) Spend less time creating standards for
existing categories we deem Jewish, and more time increasing the range
of expression of any given category, as well as adding new categories.
2) Begin to teach how to create and
maintain a Jewish identity throughout the lifecycle.
3) Connect Jewish identity construction
with other significant life choices.
Dr. John Ruskay, Chair
of the Publications Committee of the Jewish Communal Service Association,
will present the award at the UJA-Federation of New York. The tribute
acknowledges the work of Bernard Reisman, a longstanding colleague and
former Chair of the Committee for 20 years. The Journal of Jewish
Communal Service has been published for 80 years.
CLAL-The
National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership is a leadership training
institute, think tank and resource center. A leader in religious pluralism,
CLAL links Jewish wisdom with innovative scholarship to deepen civic and
spiritual participation in modern American life. CLAL’s interdisciplinary
programs explore religious and national identity.
CLAL’s publications and materials
combine Jewish intellectual traditions with cutting-edge scholarship
to help transform North American Jewish communities.
The Jewish Communal
Service Association develops, nurtures, and supports Jewish communal
leadership as a valued profession. Working across disciplines, it assists
local, national and international efforts to enhance professional knowledge,
research, education and networking, including promoting and sustaining
professional standards for the field.
To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archives, click here.
To receive the Spotlight on CLAL column by email on a regular basis, complete the box
below: