Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Part call to action and part riveting personal story, God Is in the Crowd offers an original proposal for ensuring the survival of Judaism, from a pioneering social activist and Harvard MBA business leader who served as a fighter in the Israel Air Force Born to a secular Jewish family in Florida, Tal Keinan developed an early interest in Judaism, piqued by a Christian minister at Exeter. That interest took him down an unlikely path to becoming a fighter pilot in the Israel Air Force. After years of service, though, he began to question what he was fighting for. If Israeli society was based on Jewish ideals, what distinctive qualities in those ideals were worth the sacrifices he was making? Realizing he knew little about Judaism, Keinan then set out on a mission to educate himself. What he discovered was that Judaism is very much worth saving, but also that the number of Jews in the world is decreasing at an alarming rate. What could be done to reverse those numbers? Through the prism of his own dramatic personal story and the lessons he learned from his professional life, Keinan embarks on an investigation of the core values of Judaism in the twenty-first century. He argues forcefully that the science of Crowd Wisdom (aka swarm intelligence or collective intelligence) has played a key role in Jewish survival over the centuries, and looks to the relationship between American and Israeli Jews to enrich world Jewry in a post-Diaspora age. God Is in the Crowd presents an innovative plan in which the wisdom of the Jewish crowd is harnessed to endow Judaism with new purpose and save it from extinction.
Synopsis
An argument that Judaism needs out-of-the-box thinking to stay alive, from someone who get up in a secular Jewish family, went on to become the only non-Israeli-born pilot in the Israeli Air Force, and had a wake-up call to address the dwindling numbers of a religion--turning to Crowd Wisdom for a solution. Tal Keinen was born to a secular Jewish family in Miami. During high school at Exeter, he became curious about the religion and identity he knew so little about. A junior year abroad in Israel led to his joining the elite Israeli Air Force, where he became the only non-Israeli-born citizen to attain the rank of an Air Force pilot. As a man who daily sacrificed his life for his people, he began to ask himself if what he was fighting for was worth it--and if it was, as he believed it to be, what could be done about the undeniable fact that Judaism is dwindling in numbers, to a degree that in generations to come this ancient faith and people might vanish altogether. This book is an attempt to address that fact in a practical way, with his riveting personal story woven throughout. He turns to Crowd Wisdom to determine what distinguishes Judaism from other religions--what, in fact, is the difference that is worth preserving. He offers a number of highly original and practical ideas for moving forward, including the creation of a monetary fund that will invest in the future of Judaism.
Synopsis
A bold proposal for discovering relevance in Judaism and ensuring its survival, from a pioneering social activist, business leader, and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force God Is in the Crowd is an original and provocative blueprint for Judaism in the twenty-first century, told through the lens of Tal Keinan's unusual personal story. Keinan's analysis of the threat to Jewish continuity is sobering: As the Jewish People has become concentrated in just two hubs--America and Israel--it has lost the subtle code of governance that endowed Judaism with dynamism and relevance in the Diaspora. This code, as Keinan explains it, is a variation of Francis Galton's "wisdom of crowds," in which groups of people pool their knowledge to demonstrate collective intelligence. Keinan proposes that the Jewish code can be resurrected--through a virtual Diaspora rather than a physical one. He argues forcefully that if the code is not rewritten, this ancient people and civilization will soon be extinct.
Keinan was born to a secular Jewish family in Florida. His interest in Judaism was ignited by a Christian minister at his New England prep school. That interest led him down the unlikely path to enlistment in the Israeli Air Force. Using his own dramatic story as a backdrop, and applying lessons from his professional life, Keinan takes the reader on an adventure, weaving between present and past and fusing theory with practice to examine the subtle mechanics that power Judaism. In the process, he presents a compelling definition of Judaism's value, both to the Jews and to humanity. Finally, Keinan presents an innovative plan to harness the wisdom of the Jewish crowd to endow Judaism with new purpose.
Advance praise for God Is in the Crowd
"God Is in the Crowd blends social science, economics, religion, and national identity to help us see more clearly who we are as individuals, people, and a society."--Dan Ariely, author of Dollars and Sense and The Upside of Irrationality
"Tal Keinan has written an extraordinarily powerful work on Jewish identity in the twenty-first century. Enthralling, searching, profound, and compellingly written, it should be read by everyone concerned about the Jewish future."--Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth and author of Not in God's Name
Synopsis
"Enthralling, searching, profound, an extraordinarily powerful work on Jewish identity in the twenty-first century."--Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks A bold proposal for discovering relevance in Judaism and ensuring its survival, from a pioneering social activist, business leader, and fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force
God Is in the Crowd is an original and provocative blueprint for Judaism in the twenty-first century. Presented through the lens of Tal Keinan's unusual personal story, it a sobering analysis of the threat to Jewish continuity. As the Jewish people has become concentrated in just two hubs--America and Israel--it has lost the subtle code of governance that endowed Judaism with dynamism and relevance in the age of Diaspora. This code, as Keinan explains, is derived from Francis Galton's "wisdom of crowds," in which a group's collective intelligence, memory, and even spirituality can be dramatically different from, and often stronger than, that of any individual member's. He argues that without this code, this ancient people--and the civilization that it spawned--will soon be extinct. Finally, Keinan puts forward a bold and original plan to rewrite the Jewish code, proposing a new model for Judaism and for community in general.
Keinan was born to a secular Jewish family in Florida. His interest in Judaism was ignited by a Christian minister at his New England prep school and led him down the unlikely path to enlistment in the Israel Air Force. Using his own dramatic experiences as a backdrop, and applying lessons from his life as a business leader and social activist, Keinan takes the reader on a riveting adventure, weaving between past, present, and future, and fusing narrative with theory to demonstrate Judaism's value to humanity and chart its path into the future.
Advance praise for God Is in the Crowd
"Beautifully written, brilliantly argued, this is a unique contribution to the conversation and a must read for anyone concerned with Tribal continuity."--Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
"God Is in the Crowd blends social science, economics, religion, and national identity to help us see more clearly who we are as individuals, people, and a society."--Dan Ariely, author of The Upside of Irrationality
"American, Israeli, entrepreneur, fighter pilot, and investor: Keinan's diagnosis of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora is provided through the lens of a rich and gripping life story. Keinan's contribution is indispensable to the debate about the future of the Jewish people."--Dan Senor, co-author of Start-up Nation