Jewish Emergent Network

{{short description|Network of Jewish congregations in the United States}} {{use mdy dates|date=February 2024}} {{Infobox organization | name = Jewish Emergent Network | full_name = | native_name =  | native_name_lang =  | logo = | logo_size = | logo_alt = | logo_caption = | image = | image_size = | image_alt =  | caption = | map =  | map_size =  | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 =  | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | nickname = | pronunciation = | pronounce_ref = | pronounce_comment = | named_after = | predecessor = | merged_into =  | successor = | formation = {{start date and age|2016|01}} | founder =  | founding_location = | dissolved =  | merger =  | type = Network of [[Non-denominational Judaism|independent]] [[Judaism|Jewish]] congregations  | tax_id =  | registration_id =  | status =  | purpose = Religion | professional_title =  | headquarters = | location = United States | coordinates =  | origins = | region_served =  | products =  | services = | methods =  | fields =  | num_members = Seven (7) | num_members_year = 2024 | language =  | owner =  | secretary_general =  | leader_title = Director | leader_name = Justin Rosen Smolen | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | leader_title5 = | leader_name5 = | board_of_directors = | key_people = | main_organ =  | parent_organization =  | subsidiaries = | secessions = | affiliations = | ror_id =  | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = | revenue_year = | disbursements = | expenses = | expenses_year = | endowment = | endowment_year = | funding =  | num_staff = | num_staff_year = | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = | num_students = | num_students_year = | awards = | website = {{URL|jewishemergentnetwork.org}} | remarks = | former_name =  | footnotes = | bodystyle = }} The '''Jewish Emergent Network''' is a network of seven independent [[Judaism|Jewish]] congregations in the United States. Founded in January 2016,<ref>{{cite news |author=Chernikoff, Helen |url=https://www.jta.org/2016/01/12/ny/non-traditional-synagogue-network-launches-with-fellowship-2 |title=Non-Traditional Synagogue Network Launches, With Fellowship |work=[[Jewish Telegraph Agency]] |date=January 12, 2016 |access-date=February 11, 2024 }}</ref> the network shares a "devotion to revitalizing the field of Jewish engagement, a commitment to approaches both traditionally rooted and creative, and a demonstrated success in attracting unaffiliated and disengaged Jews to a rich and meaningful Jewish practice."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jewish Emergent Network |url=http://www.jewishemergentnetwork.org/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610222023/http://jewishemergentnetwork.org/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |access-date=2020-06-27 |website=Jewish Emergent Network |language=en}}{{self-published inline|date=February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Dreyfus, Hannah |url=https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/election-aftermath-tests-alternative-synagogues/#0GL8iDAkPFhcAug0.99 |title=Election aftermath tests alternative synagogues |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=December 7, 2016 }}</ref>

The various members of the Network have a wide range of religious perspectives, but share a commitment to reaching populations that are not addressed by traditional American synagogues and fighting "demographic free fall."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-08 |title=Thriving indie Jewish communities join forces to create rabbinic fellowship |url=https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/182249/ |access-date=2020-09-22 |website=Jewish Journal |language=en-US}}</ref> The Network currently includes [[IKAR (Jewish congregation)|IKAR]] in Los Angeles, [[Kavana Cooperative|Kavana]] in Seattle, [[The Kitchen (Jewish community)|The Kitchen]] in San Francisco, [[Mishkan Chicago|Mishkan]] in Chicago, [[Sixth & I Historic Synagogue|Sixth & I]] in Washington, D.C., and [[Lab/Shul]] and [[Romemu]] in New York.

== Background and critical response == The organization takes its name, "Jewish emergent," from a series of articles by [[Shawn Landres]], who developed the term by studying three types of non-traditional Jewish communities: lay-led [[independent minyan]]im, "start-up" congregations that were still led by clergy, and "para[[shul]]s" (a Jewish spiritual community where religious worship activity is not the primary religious activity).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://shma.com/emergence-unbound/ |title=Emergence unbound |work=Sh'ma : A Journal of Jewish Ideas |date=October 2, 2012 |access-date= |page= }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bjpa.org/search-results/publication/2828%7C |access-date=2020-09-22 |title=Emergent Jewish Communities and their participants: Preliminary Findings from the 2007 National Spiritual Communities Study |work=Berman Jewish Policy Archive |date= }}</ref> Most of its member congregations describe themselves as re-inventing traditional aspects of [[Judaism]] to be relevant to the needs of their participants in the 21st century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=May 2017 |title=Rebooting Judaism Do the Innovative Communities of the Jewish Emergent Network Hold a Key to the Jewish Future?|url=https://info.nmajh.org/uploadedFiles/_Common/Beacon%20Magazine%20Rebooting%20Judaism%20May%202017.pdf |access-date=26 October 2020 |website=National Museum of American Jewish History }}</ref> Some commentators, however, have noted that, despite this, the Network and similar independent Jewish communities have begun to re-institute many of the features more commonly found in traditional [[American Jews|American Jewish]] communities, such as membership and acquiring permanent spaces for worship and community services.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-28 |title=They tried to take Judaism out of synagogue spaces. Now they're coming back to them. |url=https://www.jta.org/2018/06/28/united-states/tried-take-judaism-synagogue-spaces-now-theyre-coming-back |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref> Others, such as historian of American Judaism [[Jonathan Sarna]], argue that the Network's approach is in line with American traditions of reinventing Judaism, such as American [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregations or the independent [[Chavurah|havurah]] movement in the 1970s.<ref name=":0" />

== Current Activities == The organization holds an annual conference entitled "(Re)VISION Conference." From 2016-2020, it funded a fellowship for a total of 14 junior rabbis to be placed in multi-year fellowships at each of its member institutions.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-07-10 |title=Jewish Emergent Network Rabbinic Fellowship to Sunset |url=https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/jewish-emergent-network-rabbinic-fellowship-to-sunset/ |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=eJewish Philanthropy |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the early phase of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the Network engaged in several approaches to online Jewish holiday observance, including an all-night Torah study program for [[Shavuot]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jewishjournal.com/judaism/holidays/316357/stay-up-during-shavuot-attending-the-dawn-festival/ |title=Stay Up During Shavuot By Attending the Overnight DAWN Festival |work=Jewish Journal |date=May 27, 2020 |access-date= |author= }}</ref> and an online program for repentance and reflection during the month of [[Elul]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Edelstein, Jason |url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/1024450/jewish-emergent-network-yavilah-mccoydimensions.html |title=Jewish Emergent Network & Yavilah McCoy/Dimensions Launch Elul Project |work=ModernGhana.com |date=August 21, 2020 |access-date= }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://www.jewishemergentnetwork.org/}}

[[Category:Jewish Emergent Network|*]] [[Category:Jewish organizations established in 2016]] [[Category:2016 establishments in the United States]] [[Category:Non-denominational Judaism]]