Cross Country Kibitizing| Narratives of North American Jewish Intentional Communities

• Main Author: Vander Stoep, Beth A.
• Language: EN
• Published: Northern Arizona University 2019
• Subjects: Sustainability|Judaic studies
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=13426708

<p> My thesis is focused on the formation of Jewish Intentional Communities (JICs) in the United States. What is a Jewish Intentional Community (JIC)? I define a Jewish Intentional Community as a group of households that come together to form a cooperative housing and or shared economic structure. The form of capital exchanged may be labor, land, wisdom, tradition-al knowledge, skills, and or finances. </p><p> In this paper I use Grounded Theory to encounter the specific reasons why American Jews choose to live in JICs. JIC is a loose term. As the reader will find in many cases it means a co-housing-kibbutz development, in other cases it's an economic development, a havurah type socially focused development, or in more cases than not, some combination of all. </p><p> Kavanah means intentionality. The sages suggest that there is nothing done that is Jewish that is without kavanah, thus community is always an intentional act. Thus, it is well worth not-ing that the idea of a Jewish Intentional Community in Diaspora is nothing short of an ancient concept. Stories within Tanakh speak of making community in exile. In the days before the Inquisition, Sephardic Jews excelled in business, scholarship, and medicine. Prior to the Shoah, Yiddish culture was thriving. In the United States Yiddish Theater is considered a major contributor in contemporary comedy. This thesis delves into the history of the movement, it's influences, and specifically why millennial Jews in America are drawn this way of doing Jewish community.</p><p>