Reengineering the Jewish Nucleus

Two fundamental misfortunes befell the Jewish people as a direct result of the destruction of the Second Temple and the subsequent exile: the codification and writing of the oral law into the form of the Mishna, and the establishment of the synagogue as the nuclear core of a Jewish community. The former resulted in the fossilization of a vibrant oral tradition meant to live and breathe with the Jewish community it supports. The latter led to artifical imbalance in an exquisitely structured religion, a disharmony between teacher and priest, between man and woman, and between community and G-d. Much of the Jewish effort in the last couple hundred years, primarily in the Ashkenazi community, has focused on mitigating the former tragedy, trying with mixed success to find a satisfactory compromise between the ancient traditions that define us and the modern world we define. This proposal, on the other hand, seeks to address the second misfortune, a task that should be no less daunting or important.