We will be the seventh denomination in Judaism, the first one founded in the 21st century.

We believe that there are two “models” of Judaism currrently existing, a traditionalist model and an inclusivist model. We have chosen the inclusivist model,  and wish to modify it for the twenty-first century.

The Traditional Model Of Judaism

The  traditional model of Judaism was that of a separatist religious civilization, in which intermarriage was avoided and contacts with the people and ideas of other civilizations were limited.

A clear example of this model is found in the book of Ezra in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), where Ezra, the religious leader of Jerusalem, orders intermarried Jewish men to abandon their pagan wives and half-Jewish children and send them away.

The governor of Jerusalem, Nehemiah, is depicted, in that same era, in the book of Nehemiah, as having had intermarried Jewish men flogged and harshly rebuking them for letting Jewish women intermarry with pagans.

There was an expectation in the traditional model of Judaism that all Jews would some day make aliyah (immigrate to Israel), and that Diaspora (outside of Israel) Jewish communities were in “exile.”

In the old model of Judaism, Israel was considered to be the center of Judaism. The religious version of this model looked forward to a messianic king of the House of David,  or a messianic age, expected to appear at the end of time.

Some of the traditional Jewish liturgy invoked an era in which all Jews were brought back to Israel, to acclaim a messianic king, and build a Third Temple.

A secular version of the traditional model of Judaism, Zionism, called on all Jews to make aliyah to Israel, and become citizens of the secular Israeli state. The founders of Zionism in the late 19th century expected that the majority of Jews would leave the Diaspora for Israel after the state of Israel was established.

Yet despite Israel’s creation in 1948, many Jewish communities remain in the Diaspora.

An Inclusivist Model of Judaism

We are interested in a second, inclusivist model of Judaism, one which existed historically in various eras and countries, often hidden behind the public endorsements of the traditional model.

This alternative model was not officially sanctioned, and has  tended to sporadically drop out of the history books.

In the second model, encounters by Jews with other civilizations were considered fruitful and healthy, enriching Jewish spirituality and secular culture.  Spouses and converts brought into Judaism from other cultures were valued and cherished.

An example of this model is the book of Ruth in the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), where the Jews are depicted as warmly welcoming the Moabite pagan widow of a Jewish man, encouraging her to remarry to a Jewish man, adopt Jewish spiritual beliefs, and raise a Jewish family with him.

The book of Esther shows a Jewish woman intermarried with a Persian king, who loves her.  Esther uses that relationship to save her fellow Jews from a vindictive persecutor.

To this day, the traditional Jewish liturgy has prayers for the welfare of righteous converts (Jews by Choice), reflecting this inclusivist model of Judaism.

In the inclusivist model of Judaism, Jews desiring to make individual spiritual pilgrimages to Israel and perhaps settle there,  were supported financially by their local Jewish communities  in carrying out this wish.

Jews also sent regular charity funding and other assistance to groups of Jews living in Israel, and this tzedakah (charity) was given a high priority.

But many Jews remained in the Diaspora, and built flourishing communities in numerous countries, adding rich spiritual and cultural heritages to Judaism.

Israel was considered to be the historic “cradle” of Jewish civilization, and its Jews were to be tended and cared for by Diaspora Jews, but most Diaspora Jews never seriously expected to live there.

We wish to create a new Inclusivist Judaism that follows the second model, an “Inclusivist Judaism 2.0.”

We hope to carry with us much of value in the traditional model of Judaism from from its immense treasuries of liturgy, history, music, and many other subjects, while building a new version of the second, inclusivist model of Judaism.

The Spiritual/Secular Divide

We also view the distinction between “religious” Jews and “secular” Jews as an artificial pre-21st century construct, not always applicable in the current era.

It results in “spiritual” or “religious” Jews frequently being cut off from valuable Jewish secular art, literature, and music, and “secular” or “cultural” Jews being deprived of precious Jewish meditation techniques, spirituality, and ancient Jewish text study.

We would like to bridge some of this gap as we evolve.

Why Inclusivist Judaism “Coalition”?

We know that there are other Jewish teachers and organizations that share some of our goals for Judaism. We hope to invite them to join us as loosely afffiliated partners, so we may publicize their work.

We do not expect that our partner organizations will agree with us on all topics.  But on subjects where we have shared views, we hope to provide mutual assistance.

Our Future

We believe that our “style” of Jewish spirituality and culture will slowly emerge from interactions among our members, and our borrowings from Judaism’s rich past.

We are a network of like-minded folks, who are working on growing Inclusivist Judaism into the seventh denomination of Judaism.

We welcome your feedback. Help us design our group! Please leave a message on our “Messages” page.

(We have disabled the “Comments” feature on this page, and ask that all comments be left on our “Messages” page.)

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