Finding a Spiritual Home: How a New Generation of Jews Can Transform the American Synagogue

In this illuminating look at Judaism′s future, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz offers a penetrating analysis of the American Jewish community, challenging American synagogues to respond to a generation of seekers and satisfy the spiritual hunger of the "new American Jew." This groundbreaking book not only reveals the possibilities of this new, vital spiritual culture, but also offers strategies for transforming any congregation into a place that the Jews of today can truly call home.

Like countless others of their generation, many post–war American Jews have abandoned the religion of their birth to search for a spiritual home in other traditions. Some find their way back to the faith of their heritage, but why do so many find that the synagogue has not met their needs?

In this illuminating look at Judaism′s future, Rabbi Sidney Schwarz offers a penetrating analysis of the American Jewish community, challenging American synagogues to respond to a generation of seekers and satisfy the spiritual hunger of the "new American Jew." This groundbreaking book not only reveals the possibilities of this new, vital spiritual culture, but also offers strategies for transforming any congregation into a place that the Jews of today can truly call home.

Arguing for the creation of a new model–the synagogue community–Schwarz profiles four innovative synagogues (one from each of the major movements in American Judaism) that have had extraordinary success with this new approach to congregational life. Schwarz presents ways to replicate their success and transform our understanding of the synagogue and its potential for American Jews.

Highlighting specific strategies to transform existing congregations or to create new ones, Finding a Spiritual Home is an eloquent and powerful call to spiritual seekers to explore the riches of the Jewish tradition. With compelling accounts of Jews who "came home" to Judaism, this book conveys a message of hope for every Jew who is longing for connection, transcendence, and purpose in Judaism–every Jew who seeks a spiritual home.

A added bonus in the book is a discussion guide for book clubs and study groups.

Photo by Ben Forman

Sidney Schwarz is the founder and president of The Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values, an educational foundation dedicated to renewal of American Jewish life through Judaic study, social justice, and civic activism. He is the founding rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, MD and the author of two books and numerous articles on contemporary Jewish life.

[back jacket]
Finding a Spiritual Home
"A generation of American Jews, desperate to find greater meaning and spirituality in their lives, is unable to satisfy their needs in synagogues. Instead, they search elsewhere. We are losing some of the most sensitive spiritual souls of this generation."
Sidney Schwarz

"An extraordinary book. A clarion call for spiritual leadership in a post–ethnic age."
Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman, Hebrew Union College, New York; co–founder, Synagogue 2000: Institute for the Synagogue of the Twenty–First Century

"Schwarz, an outstanding community builder and creative figure in American Jewry, has written a thoughtful, insightful treatment of the synagogue, its limits and its real potential to sustain a new generation of Jews. If you care about the future of Jewry, you want to read this book."
Rabbi Irving Greenberg, president, Jewish Life Network; author, The Jewish Way

"With stories both of individuals and synagogues, Sidney Schwarz shows that old religious structures can indeed become alive with new spiritual meaning, sensitive to generational change. His is an encouraging, beautifully–written account of congregations in positive transition–at once inspiring and instructive."
Wade Clark Roof, author, A Generation of Seekers: The Spiritual Journeys of the Baby Boom Generation and Spiritual Marketplace

"Finding a Spiritual Home is one of the most thoughtful and provocative books I have ever encountered. This is the right book at the right time."
Jonathan Woocher, executive vice president, Jewish Education Service of North America; author, Sacred Survival: The Civil Religion of American Jews

". . . A must–read. Schwarz′s account of several new–paradigm synagogues working on the cutting edge of Jewish spirituality is richly detailed and the personal stories of seekers and their paths into Judaism are compelling."
Ron Wolfson, University of Judaism; co–founder, Synagogue 2000: Institute for the Synagogue of the Twenty–First Century