“Until Jewish communities see it as a global village issue, education won’t be affordable.”

— Dr. Elliot Malamet

What happens when you ask a room full of Jewish people to finish the following sentence: “The thing that is challenging about being Jewish…”?

Chances are, you’ll receive insightful answers that make you think.

Living Jewishly did just that, and this episode is the second of a three-part series exploring the discussion that followed.

Is it too expensive to be Jewish? Have we unintentionally created too-high a cost of entry for living a Jewish lifestyle?

Many of the larger and more robust Jewish communities are found within cities that have high costs of living. But even apart from that, the cost of belonging to a synagogue or opting for Jewish education can be a hardship for many young Jewish families.

The truth is that while Jewish mega-donors (people who donate upwards of $10 million for a single gift) give very generously to institutional causes, including museums, art galleries, and hospitals, Jewish education is not the priority it once was.

How do Rabbi Yossi Sapirman and Dr. Elliot Malamet believe we can create an affordable, accessible and inclusive Jewish lifestyle? Listen to the episode to find out.

“It’s really a conversation about priorities.”

— Rabbi Yossi Sapirman

This‌ ‌episode discusses:‌ ‌

• Whether politics belong in the sanctuary and whether Rabbis should address them during prayer
• Why engaging in Jewish community life is so expensive — and how to radically decrease these costs
• How Jewish governance and certifications are holding the community back from creating new spaces