Dis-Continuity

Is Jonah the last Jewish baby?  Can a minority ethnic/religious community survive declining birth rates, intermarriage, feminism, individualism and secularism?  In the Jewish community, it’s called “the continuity crisis,” and it is a cause of real anguish and a focus of massive philanthropic projects aimed at jump-starting identity and baby-making among young Jews.

The debate over this idea of continuity can get heated and threatens to widen the generational divide.  Critics contend that the crisis is a myth, that being Jewish is about ethics and freedom, not racialist and misogynist calls for Jewish women to have more Jewish babies.  Dis-Continuity takes a look at the debate and its meaning for Jewish identify, interwoven with archival materials including the Old Testament, Jewish folktales and Yiddish cinema.