Dr. Cohen says he comes from a non-observant Orthodox home (their Sabbath ended around noon). Though somewhat observant of Jewish law, he is no longer Orthodox. But he was the scholar in residence at a local Orthodox shul this past weekend.
In each of his three speeches, he mentions that only 8% of American Jews his age (he’s a young vigorous and sharp 57) are Orthodox but that 23% of American Jews under 18 are Orthodox. This means that within 30 years, the Orthodox will make up about half of identifying American Jews and their organizations.
Dr. Cohen says that Reform, Reconstructionist, and Conservative Judaism are all valid expressions of Jewishness. He described Philip Roth novels as "richly Jewish."
Then what is Jesus Christ? Super-richly-Jewish?
Steven is an awkward public speaker. He’ll deliver shattering points and then return to mumbling.
Cohen presided over a Jewish house at Columbia circa 1972 and among its 28 members were Joseph Telushkin and Leon Wieseltier.
Friday night, Cohen got a response from left-wing Conservative rabbi Sharon Brous (of Ikar) and Saturday afternoon he got one from a professor at Hebrew Union College (Reform).
Giving platforms to these non-Orthodox intellectuals in Orthodox auspices is unusual and occasioned numerous complaints from the keepers of the faith (though everybody who showed up to the talks seemed stimulated by them).
A friend asked me what I thought of the program. As I started to voice a complaint, he said, "You always have something critical to say."
With Cohen and company, it was not easy. They were so interesting I had a helluva time thinking up nasty things to blog about them.
Cohen said that 88% of Jewish families (both spouses are Jewish, and they have kids) belong to synagogues and that intermarried Jews don’t do much Jewishly and perpetuate even less.
A great predictor of future Jewish involvement is zip code. If you live around Jews and eat, drink and, when appropriate, have sex with them, you’re more likely to perpetuate Jewish life.
Cohen said don’t send your kids to UCLA or Berkeley or Stanford, no matter how good their Hillel programs and no matter if there are kosher eateries on or near campus. Send your kids to a university in the North-East where there’s concentrated and vibrant Jewish life.
Cohen said that about 50% of Jews are intermarried, that 60% of Jews who are living with somebody outside of marriage are living with a non-Jew and that if you count by the last person a Jew has had sex with, the figure goes to about 70% goyim. (It was the Sabbath and I couldn’t take notes but for some reason the sex stuff stayed on my brain, rattled around and tormented me for hours later.)
