There’s a tendency in the Jewish world to look for big solutions to big problems. One of those problems is the disheartening fact that most Jews today are simply not that interested in Judaism.
This problem isn’t made up — it’s real. We live in a world where the options are so abundant that Judaism is seen as a choice, not an obligation. This is radically different from the world I grew up in, where every Jew in the Jewish neighborhoods of Casablanca would go to synagogue on Shabbat and follow the major rituals. Judaism wasn’t a choice — it was a way of life.
Here in America, in the land where we overdose on choices, Judaism has to compete for people’s time, and, more often than not, it loses. Why would someone go to a prayer house on Saturday mornings when they can take a beautiful hike in the canyon or have coffee with an old friend or go to a gym or yoga class? If the great American question is, “What will make me happiest?” is it that surprising that Judaism so often loses?