Friday Ephemera (803)

This is very familiar to all of use, I believe:

[There’s a paywall on that, but you can conveniently create a free account to read one article]

It’s why, if you stand on Collins Avenue, you’ll hear a wide range of voices: Hebrew from a pair of Israeli tech bros; Spanish from a Sephardic minyan; the Yiddish of Satmar snowbirds in Surfside; and the unmistakable vocal fry of a newly transplanted New Yorker.

What has emerged is one of the most diverse, vibrant, and active Jewish ecosystems in the United States—a refuge for Jews seeking a different civic atmosphere and new opportunities, where public safety and communal identity aren’t niche preferences but shared assumptions. But not without some growing pains.

… this migration as a reaction to a breakdown of social cohesion. New York, she recalled, had already been unraveling: “Orthodox Jews were being hit every day in the street, and it wasn’t becoming a big story.”

https://jewishcurrents.org/searching-for-the-jewish-future-in-south-florida

For someone who trashes DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) for a living, he praised the diversity of the Miami Jewish community just as ardently as everyone else I talked to: “It’s just like a beautiful medley. It’s a tapestry of Jewish life.”

… As Jews, we have more in common than we have differences. Respect the settler as you do the survivor. Don’t let “politics” distract you from what’s important.

… Miami had the country’s lowest rates of [intermarriage], with just 16% .. compared to 61% nationally … “We are the most dynamic, the most diverse, and the most Zionistic Jewish community in the diaspora,”

… As Jewish communities around the country have seen their commitment to Israel ​​come into direct conflict with otherwise liberal politics, Miami may represent one way to resolve this contradiction—in Israel’s favor.

… ““In generation after generation, it never works out well for Jews who have worked against their own community. They’re never accepted by other groups like they think they will be,” he said. In this regard, he said, Miami’s relative lack of dissent is not just a “breath of fresh air” but a “sign of things to come for the rest of the country.”

Principles to admire and learn from…

(1) Your own group’s identity and survival is primary, non-negotiable, and something to be proud of and never apologize for. Diversity is worth seeking only once the prerequisite of group safety and survival is met, and only to the extent that it makes life more zestful and pleasant – and that’s pleasant according to your people’s sensibilities, not those of some alien community. Diversity as such is an amenity, not a moral imperative. No morality on earth requires you to show your commitment to a principle of diversity by destroying your own people’s future or making their lives dangerous and unpleasant.

(2) If anybody says that’s not a real commitment to diversity – you only want to be diverse with your kind of people, people who might bring different skills and life experiences, but with whom you ultimately share an underlying racial/religious identity and therefore an implicit trust and an anti-fragile long term commitment. Why aren’t you seeking the proximity of people who openly resent you, share no common interests with you, and have nothing useful to contribute? The answer is that would be stupid, who wants to live like that?