Bemoaning the future of the American Jewry has become a rite-of-passage. One cannot, it seems, be a serious Jewish thinker, without predicting the next would-be calamity that will undermine the Jewish people. Optimism is rogue, and pessimism is vogue. While I do not reject the gravity of particular trends, this paradigm simply does not work for me. The incessant lamenting of our volatility seem to ultimately promulgate apathy, and perpetuate the very instability it seeks to remedy. Imagine, for a moment, an optimistic Judaism; one that quietly deals with real threats, while loudly celebrating the beautiful fruits of our collective labor.

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