Record Details
Book cover

God is in the crowd : twenty-first-century Judaism

Keinan, Tal. (Author).

A book for anyone who cares about the fate of Judaism--through a personal story, Keinan makes a highly original argument about the importance of keeping Judaism alive through innovative means, including Crowd Wisdom. Tal Keinan was born to a secular Jewish family in Miami, learning little about Judaism. It was, oddly enough, during high school at Exeter that he began to become curious about the religion and identity he knew so little about. A trip to Israel led to his joining the Israeli Defense Forces, where he became the only non-Israeli-born citizen to attain the rank of an elite air force pilot. As a man who sacrificed his life for his people, he began to ask himself if what he was fighting for was worth it--and if it was, as he believed, what could be done about the undeniable fact that Judaism is dwindling in numbers, to a degree that in generations to come this ancient faith and people might vanish forever? This book is an attempt to address that fact in a practical way. Through his riveting personal story, which is woven throughout the book, he shares with us what he believes is worth fighting for. Then he turns to Crowd Wisdom to determine what distinguishes Judaism from other religions--what, in fact, is the difference that is worth preserving. He offers a number of highly original and practical ideas for moving forward, including the creation of a monetary fund that will invest in the future of Judaism.

Book  - 2018
305.892 Kei
1 copy / 0 on hold

Available Copies by Location

Location
Victoria Available
  • ISBN: 9780771048401
  • Physical Description xi, 338 pages ; 22 cm
  • Publisher [Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified], 2018.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index.

Additional Information

Syndetic Solutions - Summary for ISBN Number 9780771048401
God Is in the Crowd : Twenty-First-Century Judaism
God Is in the Crowd : Twenty-First-Century Judaism
by Keinan, Tal
Rate this title:
vote data
Click an element below to view details:

Summary

God Is in the Crowd : Twenty-First-Century Judaism


A bold proposal for discovering relevance in Judaism and ensuring its survival, from a pioneering social activist, business leader, and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force. God Is in the Crowd is an original and provocative blueprint for Judaism in the twenty-first century. Presented through the lens of Tal Keinan's unusual personal story, it a sobering analysis of the threat to Jewish continuity. As the Jewish people has become concentrated in just two hubs--America and Israel--it has lost the subtle code of governance that endowed Judaism with dynamism and relevance in the age of Diaspora. This code, as Keinan explains, is derived from Francis Galton's "wisdom of crowds," in which a group's collective intelligence, memory, and even spirituality can be dramatically different from, and often stronger than, that of any individual member's. He argues that without this code, this ancient people--and the civilization that it spawned--will soon be extinct. Finally, Keinan puts forward a bold and original plan to rewrite the Jewish code, proposing a new model for Judaism and for community in general. Keinan was born to a secular Jewish family in Florida. His interest in Judaism was ignited by a Christian minister at his New England prep school and led him down the unlikely path to enlistment in the Israel Air Force. Using his own dramatic experiences as a backdrop, and applying lessons from his life as a business leader and social activist, Keinan takes the reader on a riveting adventure, weaving between past, present, and future, and fusing narrative with theory to demonstrate Judaism's value to humanity and chart its path into the future.