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Cultural Judaism in HDNA: Not Theoretical Anymore

By Jamie Beran, Merkezet Ma’apilim
B’Tnua, Spring 2007

Cultural Judaism has been quite the hot topic around the movement for the past couple of years. After
much debate and controversy, adding a word here and taking one out there, it seems we have moved past
the question of “Do we want to define Habonim Dror Judaism as Cultural Judaism” to “thumbs up to
Cultural Judaism…but can we please stop talking about it and start practicing it?”

To those who have been asking the latter, the answer is emphatically, “Yes!” Not only can we start
practicing it, but we are practicing it - in Kenim all over North America. In many ways, the Ken is our
most effective forum to explore Cultural Judaism in a meaningful, hands-on way. Granted, Kenim have
always been somewhat structured around the Jewish calendar. I remember a few Chanukah Parties
growing up in the not-so-existent South Jersey Ken. This year however, according to the many Eizor
Calendars on my office wall, there is a wide, thoughtful array of Chagim being celebrated across North
America in a Culturally Jewish Habonim Dror way.

There were Rosh Hashana peulot, Sukkah building adventures, and Chanukah parties galore. There have
been varied Tu B’Shvat Seders, and Purim parties are around the corner. There will be Passover Seders
for the whole family, and commemorations of Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut. And
just when you think it’s over, we’ll celebrate Lag Ba’Omer. There were also Thanksgiving and Martin
Luther King Day Tikkun Olam projects, which put a culturally Jewish twist on American Holidays. Finally,
there are a steady slew of Shabbat Dinners and Havdallah celebrations, which fill the gaps between
Chagim. Our desire to enhance our cultural Judaism and our exponentially growing Ken activity turn out
to be a match made in Habo heaven - there’s really no better built-in peula method than a Chag that’s
been celebrated for thousands of years!

To take a closer look at this trend, take Tu B’Shvat as an example. This holiday is an HDNA Ken’s dream,
complete with a Seder of delicious fruit and a message of renewal and environmental awareness. Yet
even so, our Kenim interpreted it in many ways. In Vancouver, Ken Achva had a hands-on experience in
nature at Snow Tu B’Shvat, where they had a Seder followed by snow tubing. The Detroit Ken went
through a Tu B’Shvat role-play where they imagined a tree-less world, and walked through what it would
look like, facemasks and all. After this eye-opening experience, Ken Afikim ate dessert and pledged to
recycle, conserve, and protect the rain forest. Ma’apilim in New York had a chocolate-filled Fondue
B’Shvat Seder in the Central Office, where they discussed the meaning behind the four types of fruit
by using them as a metaphor for human interaction. [Translation: they acted out scenes from The
Godfather and laughed at Jon Psotka]. The DC Eizor invited parents to join in their interactive Tu
B’Shvat Potluck Seder, where groups presented the Seder through song, dance, poetry and skits. Finally
in Toronto, the Ken hosted a joint Seder with fellow Labor Zionists Hashomer Hatzair, where the two
youth movements bonded over making Chia Pets!

As illustrated, we are exploring and experimenting with Cultural Judaism all over the movement, and our
Ken Leadership is bringing lots of exciting ideas to the table. After all, Tu B’Shvat is only one example of
the Movement’s many innovative expressions of Cultural Judaism. As someone who got little out of my
own Hebrew School holiday experiences, I envy the chanichim of today. Celebrating Chagim provides our
chanichim with Jewish, Habonim Dror experiences that expose them to traditions in a meaningful, fun
way that might even be relevant to their every day lives. We have come a long and exciting way from the
days when Judaism was a scary word in the movement, and we have a long and exciting way to go to see
how where Cultural Judaism will take us.