An independent minyan is a lay-led Jewish worship and study community that has developed independently of established denominational and synagogue structures within the organized Jewish community. Some began in the late 1990s and most since the year 2000,Speech by Elie Kaunfer, Nov. 9, 2009, at the Alliance for Continuing Rabbinic Education (ACRE). though some are several decades older. These new groups often combine a commitment to halakha/Jewish law with egalitarianism, and strive to create worship services where traditional prayer can become "spiritual experiences".
Minyan (מנין) is the prayer quorum traditionally required for a full Jewish prayer service.
Nomenclature
Some sources refer to the "independent minyan movement", drawing a parallel between the increasing number of independent minyanim and the past creation of established Jewish denominations (known as "movements"). Others reject the "movement" terminology and refer instead to the "independent minyan phenomenon" or simply to "independent minyanim" without a collective noun, because independent minyanim are not affiliated with a set of central organizations, and do not share a religious ideology.Jewschool, December 14, 2008, "Independent Minyan Conference closing plenary"
Others still refer to the "independent minyan movement", understanding "movement" not in the sense of Jewish religious movements, but in the sense of social movements (such as the civil rights movement, or more closely parallel, the havurah movement); or a community/cultural movement, such as the Jewish Community Center movement.[ "About JCC Association," which includes a description of the "JCC Movement" dating back to 1854, with the opening of the first Young Men's Hebrew Association. Others reject this sense of "movement" as well, because the connotation of "movement" among some members of the American Jewish community is too strongly related to its use regarding "denominations" (a fact that has led to confusion in the case of the havurah movement), and because independent minyanim arise for a number of different reasons, so that not all can be attributed to the same "movement".
Some (see "2007 Spiritual Communities Study", below) have argued for incorporating the independent minyan model as a subcategory of a broader "Jewish Emergent" phenomenon (named after a parallel movement in the Christian church). "Jewish emergent" encompasses both the independent minyan movement"Turned off by Traditional Services, Young Jews Form New Prayer Groups." Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 12, 2006. and so-called "rabbi-led emergent" communities, such as IKAR and Kavana.
Independent minyan phenomenon
Scholars of religion are looking very closely at the development of these lay-led congregations, most of which are held in locations other than synagogues, although some use synagogue space while maintaining separate leadership and organizational structures. Some synagogue and Jewish community leaders take a negative position on this development, seeing the new groups as a threat to conventional synagogue and Jewish community organization."Challenging Tradition, Young Jews Worship on Their Terms," New York Times, Nov 28, 2007.
On the other hand, there are those who view the trend as extremely positive, and one that will ultimately lead to new approaches to religion and spirituality within the modern Jewish community: a "triumphant story of day-school education and egalitarianism."Jack Wertheimer, "Vital Signs: A Minyan Grows in Washington, D.C.," Jewish Ideas Daily, April 29, 2010. Jack Wertheimer, a Professor of Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America has written that:
Characteristics In 2009, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, executive director of Mechon Hadar and a rosh yeshiva (Rabbinic dean) of Yeshivat Hadar, defined the "independent minyan" as a congregation meeting three requirements: (1) volunteer-led and organized with no paid clergy; (2) no denomination/movement affiliation; and (3) founded in the previous 10 years. Kaunfer adds the goal of "spiritual prayer" to this list, noting that he himself often experienced worship services more as a "community experience" than as a "spiritual one".
Kaunfer notes that Kehilat Hadar began in New York as a result of a number of young Jews who were "looking for new ways to connect to the substance of their religion and tradition"—but instead of becoming "just a local minyan", "it became a model of grassroots religious community that spread dramatically across the United States and Israel. That model of community came to be known as an "independent minyan". An article on Kol Zimrah, another independent minyan on New York's Upper West Side, called many of the new independent minyans "part of what some have called a Jewish spiritual renaissance, with its emphasis on personal spirituality and connection with the divine."Jay Michaelson, "A Prayer Group of Their Own: Kol Zimrah and Other Do-It-Yourself Minyans Unite the Independent Minded," The Forward, Nov 14, 2003.
Kaunfer emphasizes that the word "independent" means that many of these groups developed independently in terms of volunteers coming together to create and lead it, but—in agreement with Wertheimer's assessment of these minyanim—they are not nor do they seek to be independent of the larger Jewish community in terms of their vision or self-identity. "Quite the contrary," he says, "they see themselves filling a need not being met by existing institutions, but operating within the larger Jewish map, not outside or against it."
In his view, the phenomenon represented by the increasingly large number of independent minyans (Hebrew: minyanim) on both the national and international scene carries an important message for Jewish community leaders:
Among American Jews, there is a significant demand for meaningful, engaged Jewish life. There is a temptation to assume that Jews – especially young adults – are only interested in surface level engagement with Jewish culture: jokes, bagels, singles events. Anything challenging, deep or smacking of religion might scare people away. This is simply not the case. Jews are in search of meaning and engagement, and they are interested in the wisdom of their own heritage. They may not find that engagement in existing institutions, but that does not mean they aren't looking for it. They are looking for more than a class; they want to build real community. They want substance, and they want the skills to own their Jewish lives.
Experts like Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, agree, noting that the values that participants are bringing to these groups can add a new vision to the community:
It is an interesting mix between the egalitarian, pluralistic, inclusive values coming from the left and the values of learning and of observance coming from the right. They are making a new synthesis of these traditional and modern values that we haven't seen before.Jackquelin L. Salmon, "New Judaism," Washington Post, June 6, 2009.
Ari Kelman, a professor of American studies at the University of California at Davis, predicts that, "They are going to have a huge impact, because we are living in a moment where denominations are really not very successful, particularly with these 20- and 30-somethings."
2007 Spiritual Communities Study
In 2007, Hebrew Union College sociologist Steven Cohen conducted a survey on behalf of the S3K Synagogue Studies Institute and Mechon Hadar.Sue Fishkoff, "First Study of Independent minyans: Young Jews Praying on Own Terms," JTA, Nov 30, 2007. Based on 1354 responses to an online questionnaire, the study, co-authored by Shawn Landres, Elie Kaunfer, and Michelle Shain, found that social networking, not institutional structures, was the primary way that information about independent minyans spread. Additional findings included the fact that participants that the majority of participants had some day school education, or experience in Jewish summer camps, or college organizations like Hillel; 40% grew up in the Conservative movement; most were unmarried, and under 40; one third were male, and two thirds female; and most were "comfortable in Hebrew". More than half of the respondents had spent more than four months in Israel. Additionally, most attended services at least once a month, and two thirds prayed with more than one congregation.
In terms of affiliation with one of the religious movements within Judaism, the study found that:
While the study's findings are subject to interpretation, it is clear that the majority of participants in independent minyanim have benefited from the institutions and programs of the organized Jewish community, but are now seeking to add something new:
You can see the growth of independent minyanim as proof of the failure, or of the success, of the established U.S. Jewish community's efforts to keep the next generation involved. Those efforts include the expansion of Jewish day schools, of the on-campus Hillel movement for Jewish students, and of programs in Israel for young Jews. Independent minyan members, much more than other American Jews, are alumni of all these programs. The 2007 study showed that over half had spent four months or more in Israel for a single visit—far above the proportion for the wider Jewish community. Yet they haven't found their place in the established synagogues. They're likely to say they are "nondenominational"—a term usually, and mistakenly, taken as meaning that someone is drifting away from Judaism. Instead, they've created a traditional Judaism with an anarchic accent, in which participants expect rabbis to teach them but not to lead their services or be religious in their place.Gershom Goremberg, "A Fresh Take on the Jewish Faith: A new community of American Judaism is embracing religious traditionalism and social liberalism," The American Prospect, March 12, 2010.
It is also clear that participants in the minyans support the idea of Jewish community, in the United States and abroad, but think for themselves. So, for example, the study showed that the majority felt "very emotionally attached to Israel", but only the minority answered yes to the question of whether they are "always" proud of Israel.
Tradition and egalitarianism
Many independent minyanim seek approaches within traditional Jewish law as foundation for egalitarianism, and an expanded role of women both in the worship service and in the leadership structure. Jerusalem's Kehilat Shira Hadasha is credited as being the first Jewish congregation to implement an opinion by Modern Orthodox Rabbi Mendel Shapiro, whose "Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis",Mendel Shapiro, "Qeri’at ha-Torah by Women: A Halakhic Analysis," Edah 1:2, 2001. cites and explains some precedents for allowing women to read from the Torah. (Some minyanim, like the Leader Minyan, also in Jerusalem, had a similar practice since the 1990s, before Rabbi Shapiro's opinion was released.)
Another Modern Orthodox rabbi whose writings are frequently cited by minyanim like Shira Hadasha is Daniel Sperber. Like Shapiro, Sperber argues in "Congregational Dignity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading" that many past opinions recognized that there was religious legal support for the increased participation of women, but that this participation was not allowed because it was considered in societal/sociological terms to be an "affront to the congregation" (Hebrew: kevod ha-tsibur). Based on changes in society—at least within the context of the communities that make up some specific minyanim—rabbis like Shapiro and Sperber support such participation as no longer being an affront to the participants. Furthermore, Sperber argues that human dignity (Hebrew: kevod ha beriyot) should be recognized as the value that should drive changes in the participation of women in services.The Edah Journal, 1:2, 2001.