jewishdeepening – Jewish Deepening: From Alienation and Apathy to Opening and Connection

Read Our Inaugural Report

Jewish Deepening: From Alienation and Apathy to Opening and Connection

What is Jewish Deepening?

Jewish Deepening is an independent research and interview project that explores why some people’s Jewishness becomes more central to their sense of self over their lifespan, even if they once had little to no connection or identification with Judaism. We call these people, “Deepeners.” Our inaugural report, above, is based on findings from 23 interviews with Deepeners in 2020, and extensive research and conversations with experts in Jewish sociology, social psychology, and Jewish education. In it, we’ll begin to answer why people become and stay alienated from Judaism and what opens them up to Jewish Deepening.

Our report offers the following:

A novel framework for understanding Jewish Deepening

Compelling stories from the lives of Jewish Deepeners

A synthesis of these stories with research about Jewish alienation and belonging

Suggestions and approaches, especially to Jewish clergy and educators, for supporting and facilitating Jewish Deepening

Questions, comments, or feedback? Please email [email protected]

About The Author

Akiva Nelson is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College, a cantorial soloist, meditation practitioner, aspiring Jewish meditation teacher, and a Jewish Deepener himself. His deepening journey began in 2013 after having rejected Judaism and identifying as an atheist for many years. While studying at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in 2018 as a Dorot Fellow in Israel, he began talking with other students about his experience as a Deepener, and heard it reflected back at him when listening to their stories. He began to wonder how pervasive the phenomenon was and why it happened, leading him to initiate the Jewish Deepening project in 2020.

Akiva grew up in the Reform movement in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He graduated from Columbia University in 2012 with a dual degree in environmental science and history, focusing his efforts on climate science and environmental sustainability issues. After college, he worked in the renewable energy sector in Detroit, MI. His professional efforts forced him to grapple with existential despair at the scale of the climate crisis, leading him to seek wisdom to help him answer the many questions that arose related to identity, purpose, and burnout. While doing this seeking, he encountered a Judaism in Detroit infused with soul-stirring song, dance, justice, and contemplation, leading him to rethink his relationship with the ethno-religious tradition of his ancestors. Simultaneously, he also began exploring Zen Buddhism and Vipassana meditation.

In the years since, Akiva has worked professionally as a curriculum designer and adult educator, teaching about the changing American religious landscape, Judaism, and entrepreneurship to groups ranging from Jewish clergy and teens to recent college graduates and university-based scientists and engineers. He’s also been learning in and collaboratively building Jewish communities in Detroit, New York City, Jerusalem, and Boston.

Since starting rabbinical school, he has served for two years as the Rabbinic Intern at Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Newton, MA while moonlighting as a cantorial soloist and multi-denominational prayer leader. He also regularly leads meditation, and is pursuing certification as a Jewish meditation teacher through the Institute for Jewish Spirituality and Or HaLev. Much of his rabbinic work is focused on teaching classes and creating inclusive and accessible spaces where Jews and all people (especially those without formal Jewish educational backgrounds) can successfully navigate Jewish prayer, theology, and texts.