A hallmark of the Hippie movement was "The Whole Earth Catalog". It showed how to be self-reliant in building your own furniture, home repair, growing crops, etc. It also had lists of places where tools could be bought, and skills learned. The Havurah movement had, until 1973, been somewhat anonymous, and received little publicity. What little reporting there was, was almost always negative. All that changed with the publication of "The First Jewish Catalog". Put together by young people who had studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), it was a how-to book for being Jewish. The major life cycle events; prayer, holidays, Shabbat, Kashrut...were all there, presented in an easy-to-read manner, carefully .avoiding denominational differences. Things that had long been the province of Jewish professionals, were now open to the public. For example, there were instructions on how to blow the shofar, or perform your own wedding. The basic halachic requirements were spelled out, as well as what the mitzvah means. Myth and folklore are put aside in favor of actual historical and theological facts. Cute illustrations are provided, and the style is chatty, not erudite. For the first time in modern history, a Jew without extensive Talmudic knowledge could know what to do, and what it means. Although there is a chapter on "resources" (i.e., sympathetic rabbis), it is mostly do-it-yourself". (Ironically, I am listed in the first edition as the Chabad representative for Columbus, Ohio), It became an instant best seller. People were calling it "The American Shulchan Aruch" (Code of Jewish Law). One of the authors told me that had they known that it would become that, they would have gone into greater detail. I think that it is good that they didn't do that, as it would certainly have been less "reader friendly". Also, many of the topics were "for now" topics, that would have meant nothing in a few years. (Such as anti-Vietnam war activities). Although a counter-culture book, it changed the establishment. Many synagogues began using it as a textbook both for Hebrew School and adult education. Congregants could come to their rabbis, for the first time with real Jewish information and knowledge, and ask "hey, why don't WE do this?" 1973 was still a decade before Jewish Feminism became a major factor, so there is little on this and other topics that would soon become great battlegrounds. Although later events made the book fairly obsolete, a fundamental shift took place in American Judaism. Aloof rabbis largely disappeared from the seen. Rabbis who were open to a participatory Judaism were now in demand. Many aspects of Traditional Judaism that had become the province of only the ultra-Orthodox, now became part of the lives of even non-orthodox Jews. The much-maligned Havurah movement now became a model for the Jewish community. In a sense, synagogues became Havurot. Some synagogues even instituted Havurot WITHIN the synagogue; not communes, but small groups of twenty or thirty people, of similar interests, who would study and pray together. Some synagogues went to a system of three or four simultaneous services in different parts of the building, accommodating different styles of worship...and community. The subsequent development of the Havurah, and the additional movement it gave birth to, will be my next topic.
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