Shma: A New Initiative: The Sh'ma Salon

Encounter the Seeds of Knowledge and Community
Be informed about a major issue facing Israel's future. Order bulk copies of this issue on Israel's settlements for your synagogue, school, or JCC discussion group.

Download Entire Sh'ma Salon Catalogue of Issues (PDF File)

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Letter From the Editor about Sh'ma Salons

The Mission of aSh'ma Salon: Creating Inclusive Conversations

TheSh'ma Salon is an informal, moderated small-group discussion on specific issues facing contemporary Jews.

TheSh'ma Salon brings light to dark places by advancing the understanding of complicated issues.
TheSh'ma Salon creates a dialogue built on mutual respect and intellectual excitement about our differences.

TheSh'ma Salon offers opportunities to teach and be taught, listen and be listened to, inspire and be inspired. TheSh'ma Salon provides a mini-think tank, a creative laboratory of ideas.

Let us be a light unto the nations and unto ourselves. To order Sh'ma Salon, Click here

Sh'ma Salon Discussion Guides
Each month, aSh'ma Discussion Guide allows Salon Coordinators, and Group Leaders to build respectful and thought-provoking conversations. Each issue ofSh'ma brings together myriad voices and experiences in a sacred conversation, providing readers and Salon participants with opportunities to explore a topic of Jewish interest from a variety of perspectives. Samples of discussion guides for Sh'ma Salon topics are below.
European Anti-Semitism33/595 Anti-semitism seems again to be a feature of European life — not merely on the distant fringes of East Germany or in post-Soviet Russia, but in France, England, and elsewhere. Some see it, in fact, as one of the central facets of a new Euroidentity. Is this reading of the contemporary situation accurate? Is it overblown? How European-wide a phenomenon is it? How should we respond?

Teaching Children Schools are a sacred space that hold — for parents, teachers, and the wider community — almost infinite possibility in shaping our children. How do we build schools — from early childhood through high school — that dynamically and innovatively invigorate the educational culture and experience?

Ten Jewish Sensibilities 34/606 This issue offers outline ten Jewish sensibilities, grounded in Jewish ethics and values, that offer an innovative system for understanding how Judaism defines our lives. Are these sensibilities durable? How will they be transmitted? Can they be framed— like halakha — as a communal norm? Will they hold Jews close enough to Judaism or do they represent a quasi-religious set of behaviors that are neither legal prescriptions nor ethical teachings? Do these sensibilities suggest that Judaism is acculturating so profoundly that it is adopting an America value system and calling it Jewish?

Decision-Making and Consensus in Jewish Communities 34/604 “Consensus as a decision-making formula has served the Jewish communal system throughout much of the 20th century,” writes contributor Steven Windmueller. For myriad reasons explored in the following pages, this is now changing. But what new models exist for decisionmaking now that Jewish organizational life is less cohesive and now that there are different, increasingly distinct Jewish communities in the United States and elsewhere? “We are one” is no longer used, but what then are we?

Death and Meaning 34/603 Yizkor, the memorial prayer recited on Yom Kippur as well as on other holy days, helps us to recall and honor the memories of our dead. Judaism has much to teach about death, dying, and the meaning of life. This expanded issue of Sh’ma, specially placed this year on thousands of Yom Kippur synagogue seats, offers new voices and insights on the ancient traditions surrounding burial. It suggests that our finite lives be full, that we approach each new year with anticipation and awe. We wish you a shana tova, a sweet and healthy year.

How do we Market Judaism? 34/607 We face choices daily — sometimes barraged with appeals, incentives, and invitations to join, donate, and participate. Are Jewish organizations marketing strategically and wisely, in line with Jewish values, to draw in newcomers? Or does marketing demean and diminish the very values we are teaching?
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