We seem to almost be a movement that has folded in on itself. For thousands of years, the shining light to the world was the jewish people. Justice, personal rights, regard for the less fortunate, universal education, protection of human life, land rights...these are all jewish, Torah values. And we, by lasting long enough to be finally listened to by the world, gifted these now universal rights to man.
The problem is, we don't know where to go next.
Religious Judaism has been flipped around to be a non-moving movement. It has developed a bunker mentality.
Conservative, reform, and further left factions of Judaism have abandoned the mechanisms of jewish innovation and identity, and are paying a ludicrous price in attrition to intermarriage as well as sheer apathy.
The level of understanding in Torah has plummeted - we do not have a vision of Torah, or IN Torah, to take part in modern development. And as such, we have been relegated to the sidelines in world debate. Even in our own country, the religious parties exist to maintain a status quo of pre-war yeshiva learning with state subsidy, instead of getting involved in the national directional debates (economy, "peace", army, etc.). And while yearning for religious practice increases in israel, as students are brought to Me'arat haMachpela to visit their grandparents, the religious sector continues to alienate those feelings with its bunkered insistence on black and white all or nothing laws and rules, religious and otherwise. As such, in israel and in the United States, the religious sectors act as some sort of analogue for Torah concepts, preserving them for future generations while simultaneously alienating the current one.
At its core, the question of what it means to be jewish has never been answered. To the religious, it is a religion. To the average Israeli, it is a cultural/historical legacy. To the average non-religious American, it is a belief system, an archaic and outdated moral code, and little else.
And those who stand for Torah MUST learn to engage the public, to engage reality, and to evolve and adapt Torah and themselves in a way that will not leave Torah an Amish-like museum curiosity. Already tours come through Me'ah Shearim - Boro Park is not far behind.
In summary, we either live on the cutting edge intersection if person, Torah, and G-d/Reality, or we are nothing more than a museum piece. At best.
