04/23/2026
The 3 B's and 2 A's
Central to the classic Reconstructionist world view is a three-part algorithm, known as the Three B's - Belonging, Behaving, and Believing. It maintains that Jewish engagement starts with wanting to belong to the Jewish people or community. Acting on wanting to belong leads to behaving like the group you want to be a part of, i,e, Judaism. Lastly, belonging and behaving will shape one's beliefs. I always thought the B of Believing had to do with theology, but my colleagues insisted that I was wrong because people aren't interested in God talk. In a sense they were right. It is not about Believing in a deity: It's about Believing Judaism has intrinsic value to your life and the world.
In any case, for a long time I bought into this formula. I wanted to make the communities where I worked attractive and inviting so people would want to belong to them. If I could do that, I would be well on my way to getting them to engage/behave in Jewish ways, like to show up for congregational events and services. But over the years I've come to the conclusion that focusing on belonging doesn't work. What I've come to realize is that first a person must believe that Judaism has intrinsic value and something unique and worthwhile to offer. Then a person will want to live/behave Jewishly and then, finally, they will want to belong to the Jewish people.
The problem Judaism faces today, aside from antisemitism, is that fewer and fewer Jews believe it offers them anything. While Reconstructionist leaders, myself included, were focused on the three B's thinking this was the way energize Jewish life. We failed to take into account the two A's, antisemitism and apathy. We, Jewish leaders, believed the old maxim that a little antisemitism would motivate people to get involved with their local Jewish community. But we didn't expect antisemitism to become so wide spread and violent. Instead of being motivated to seek out Jewish community, many people born into Jewish families became too afraid to be publicly identified as Jews. Unfortunately this fear of antisemitism provided additional support to the apathy many were already feeling.
For Judaism to have a future, people first need to decide whether they believe it is worth sustaining. This is true globally as well as locally. If people believe Judaism is worth sustaining, then they will be motivated to celebrate Jewish holidays, engage with rituals, study Jewish text, history, literature and even liturgy. Before people will rebuild Jewish life here and around the world, they must first come to Believe that there is intrinsic value to Judaism. Behaving and Belonging will then naturally follow. HAC
