By Rabbi Dr. Moshe Dror,
It would seem reasonable indeed that since the Net Generation thrives on “innovation”, and most of the Jewish members of this Net Generation are so computer literate and cyber savvy—that there would be some experimentation in asking what might it mean to even think about Jewish Liturgy –prayer in Cyberia for the developing Jewish virtual communities.
There are some Jewish organizations who are dedicated to upgrading and assisting the usual bricks and mortar synagogues to be more effective and responsive to their members.
STAR (Synagogues: Transformation, and Renewal-www.starsynagogue.org) deals with congregational innovation and leadership developments. Rabbi Hayim Herring (The Director of STAR) appears once again on Newsweek magazine-50 Influential Rabbis.
Synagogue 3000( S3K; www.synagogue3000.org) has just released a study suggesting that younger Jews are more spiritually inclined than their parents were and that they are not finding this spirituality in their local congregations. Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman of the Hebrew Union College and Sociologist, Dr. Steven Cohen suggest that these youth are seeking some kind of transcendent purpose for the Jewish People
The “great forces of modernity: technology, democracy, choice, and freedom” are all strengthening the religious and spiritual journeys of youth in America write John Micklethwalt and Adrian Wooldridge in their new book “God Is Back”. This is much the same terminology that Tapscott uses.
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