Special thanks are due to the following people, who gave generously of their knowledge, insights, experience, and connections throughout the research and writing process (in alphabetical order): Dr. Janet Krasner Aronson, Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University; Melissa Balaban, Executive Director, IKAR (Los Angeles) and Chair of the Jewish Emergent Network; Dr. Tobin Belzer, Fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California; Jeffrey Cahn, Executive Director, Romemu (New York); Daniel Cedarbaum of the Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood and the Shirat Ha’Agam Minyan (Evanston, IL); Lisa Colton, President of Darim Online, and a member of Kavana Cooperative; Rachel Cort, Executive Director of Mishkan (Chicago); Hannah Cytron of Moishe House (Minneapolis); Rabbi Nate DeGroot, Associate Director and Spiritual and Program Director of Hazon Detroit; Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Senior Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute; Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman, Professor (emerita) of Contemporary Jewish Life at Brandeis University and Co-Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute; Rabbi Dr. Arthur Green, Professor and Rector of the rabbinic program at Hebrew College (Boston); Rabbi Jennifer Gubitz, Associate Rabbi at Temple Israel (Boston) and Director of the Riverway Project; Rabbi Jonathan Gross, author of Ai Vey!: Jewish Thoughts on Thinking Machines, which discusses the meeting point of religion and technology; Rabbi William Hamilton, Kehillath Israel (Brookline, MA); Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, Ohev Sholom – The National Synagogue (Washington, DC), and founder of Start-Up Shul; Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann, Mishkan (Chicago); Rabbi David Ingber, Romemu (New York); Rabbi Dr. Dan Judson, dean of the rabbinical school at Hebrew College and an expert on the financial aspects of American Jewish life; Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, President and CEO of the Hadar Institute (Mechon Hadar); Rabbi Noa Kushner, The Kitchen (San Francisco); Rabbi Vernon Kurtz, rabbi emeritus of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El (Highland Park, IL) and who serves in senior advisory positions in Jewish organizations, including as a board member of JPPI; Aharon Ariel Lavi, Founder and Director of Hakhel: The Jewish Intentional Communities Incubator in the Diaspora; Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, Founding Spiritual Leader of Lab/Shul NYC and creator of Storahtelling; Dan Libenson, Founder and President of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future and host of the Judaism Unbound Podcast; Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin, Temple Sinai (Oakland, CA); Aliza Mazor, Chief Building Officer at Upstart; Jessica Emerson McCormick, Director of the Jewish Emergent Network Rabbinic Fellowship; Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum, Kavana Cooperative (Seattle); Rabbi Jesse Paikin, JEN Rabbinic Fellow at Sixth & I (Washington, DC); Rabbi Scott Perlo, Associate Director of the 92nd St. Y’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life; Miriam Quintal, Segulah Minyan (Washington, DC); Rabbi Joshua Rabin, Senior Director of Synagogue Leadership and Director of Innovation at the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism; Prof. Uzi Rebhun, professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University; Shmuel Rosner, Senior Fellow, the Jewish People Policy Institute; Dr. John Ruskay, Senior Fellow, the Jewish People Policy Institute; Rabbi David Russo, young adult engagement at Anshei Emet Synagogue (Chicago); Raimy Rubin, Manager of Impact Measurement at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and Creative Director at CauseMatch; Prof. Jonathan D. Sarna, Professor of American Jewish History and Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, Prof. Leonard Saxe, Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and of the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University; Prof. Ira Sheskin, editor of the American Jewish Year Book and author of numerous Jewish community studies; Rabbi Jonathan Singer, Congregation Emanu-El (San Francisco); Chelsea Taxman and Rebecca Remis, members of the Ohel Minyan in western Massachusetts; Seth Torres, rabbinic assistant at Mishkan (Chicago); Rabbi Joshua Weinberg, Vice President of the URJ – Union for Reform Judaism – for Israel and Reform Zionism, Executive Director of ARZA.

A special thank you to the following individuals who helped guide me throughout the research process and/or reviewed drafts at different stages: Tobin Belzer, Len Saxe, Janet Krasner Aronson, Ira Sheskin, Elie Kaunfer, Sylvia Barack Fishman, and Jonathan Sarna.

And to my JPPI colleagues:

Dr. Shlomo Fischer, Prof. Steven Popper, Prof. Uzi Rebhun, Shmuel Rosner, Dr. John Ruskay, and Noah Slepkov. Special thanks to JPPI’s English-language editor Barry Geltman, who succeeded in turning piles of research and reflections into a coherent and readable work and provided an invaluable sounding board and brainstorm partner throughout the entire project. Special thanks to JPPI’s president (emeritus), Avinoam Bar-Yosef, for supporting the research project, to JPPI’s current president, Prof. Yedidia Stern, and the Institute’s vice president, Dr. Shuki Friedman, and to Ita Alcalay, JPPI’s projects coordinator, for her invaluable assistance throughout in pushing the project through.