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Jewish identity in America can no longer rely on culture or ethnicity to sustain it. Synagogue affiliation rates are on a steady decline and American Jews, particularly younger Jews, have lost the historic value of affiliation. Something else is needed to reclaim the collective wisdom of lived theology (Jewishness). Synagogue members have created an "insider´s" language that is both foreign and alienating to Jews outside the established community. It´s time for a change.

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Rabbi Aaron Spiegel, is a director for the Center for Congregations where he has consulted with congregations since 1997. He is also president of the Synagogue Studies Institute, Inc. Aaron has a D.Min. in Congregational Studies from Hartford Seminary and is the former CEO and board chair of Synagogue 3000.

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