ESSAY
WHO GETS TO BELONG? ON GENERATIONAL CHANGE, TIKTOK TALMUD, AND A VERY JEWISH TRADITION OF REINVENTION
BY MIRIAM ANZOVIN
BELONGING. Throughout Jewish history, be- longing to the Jewish community—be that here in the diaspora or in Eretz Yis- ra’el — has always been the enduring strength of our people. It manifests in how we show up for each other in times of joy, and how we give strength to each oth- er when the pendulum swings to times of fear and danger. We find ourselves in one of those latter moments now. It is — and this is an understatement — a chal- lenging time to be Jewish in a world which is vocally, vehemently, and violently conveying to us how little it believes we belong on the face of this earth. Jewish responses to this moment often reflect a generational divide. Often, those with longstanding history with, investment in, and loyalty to the commu- nity tend to be protective of status quo expressions of that community. What I see in my own demographic of millennial Jews, and in our younger Gen-Z siblings in Moses, is many Jews distancing themselves from being Jewish al- together. Others are taking the diametric opposite approach and diving head- first into finding new ways to embrace their identities.
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG LEVY
44 AUTUMN 2025
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