Chava Weissler
The Jewish Marketplace : Like other Americans, Jews live in a commodity culture, in which consumption is a main means of self-expression. The current interest in marketing Judaism is the attempt to find ways to key into the desires for personal enrichment, novelty, enjoyment, and aesthetic attractiveness that motivate consumer choices. … More »
Missing: The Vision and the Values
Andrew Silow-Carroll
Missing: The Vision and the Values: What is missing from Jewish communal marketing is a reflection of the bedrock vision of the institution—the core values and purposes that the institution hopes to share with its members. … More »
Advertising Judaism
David Nelson
Advertising Judaism: To preserve the vital organs of our communal life we must make them competitive in the overcrowded marketplace. The Jewish community should consider spending large sums of money on advertising. … More »
Marketing Undermines Judaism
Jay Michaelson
Marketing Undermines Judaism: To “market” Judaism contradicts exactly what makes Judaism worthwhile. Marketing asks us to sublimate yearning into consumerism; Judaism asks us to restrain our consumerism and open up to yearning. … More »
How America Prays
by Erica Brown Love Your Neighbor and Yourself, Elliot N. Dorff, (Philadephia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2002) $34.95, 366 pp To Do the Right and the Good, Elliot N. Dorff, (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2003) $34.95, 303 pp Creating an Ethical Jewish Life, Byron L. Sherwin, Seymour J. Cohen, (Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, … More »
Talking About Dying
By David A. Testsch AS A POGO COMIC STRIP once put it, “I don’t want eternal life — I want to live forever!” Death challenges our instinct that our lives have meaning, and most of us unconsciously react by avoiding thoughts about our eventual deaths. We have many reasons to want a “good death,” ideally … More »