The detailed report on these measures is not the purpose of the given notes. I took part in meeting as the teacher of a seminar of the directors of JCC, the theme of my lecture was "New methods of teaching of the Jewish tradition ". Nevertheless, I still had strong impression from joint work as significant event in life of the Jewish community of Kazakhstan. Probably, this is beginning of the very important process having the large importance for the future of our community - process of dialogue of generations. Last day of meeting the main editor of "Davar" Isaac Dvorkin called the participants to continue dialogue on pages of our newspaper - and let's continue.

I would like at the beginning to state the sad fact: the result of joint dialogue as it is formally is absent. That is last day during a round table it was not possible to develop any joint application, despite of efforts of the parties. The youth enthusiasm has come across on pragmatism of the directors, steady desire to receive any momentary benefit from energy of young, I would tell - on attempt "to pour young wine in old bottles". The directors clearly showed, that they think not so much of benefit of the Jewish community, as much of benefit of their organizations, act, first of all, as Jewish functionary. Thus they persistently consider that the interests of the community and JCC are identical. Whether it is so? As the bell for them it is possible to consider statement of the guy from Ust-Kamenogorsk, which has declared, that "at our city we have no Jewish community". So: There is JCC, and no community! Whether it is not a paradox?

The Jewish community, in my opinion, does not come either to mass of the people having the Jewish origin, or to set of organizations naming Jewish. The people and organizations are somewhat, text, and community is a context, that stands behind the text. It is the sum of steady human communications outgoing from Jewry as of a phenomenon. In Hebrew such community is called as "eda", in contrast to situational, in external way of an arising generality - kagala. If the man does not feel the Jewish context in activity of the appropriate people and organizations, then he will consider that any Jewish community does not exist. And it is possible - and it is the saddest - for him does not exist also values of the Jewish dialogue …

How not to allow that? To communicate. To search for common. To make the projects. To study tradition. To search for sense in a history. Actually, at all times the Jewish community and lived with it.

At last meeting the youth offered the projects, the directors tried to react. But the projects of young people entirely fell outside the limits of interest of management. However, in my opinion, remained within the limits of interest of the Jewish community. The projects are raw? That, any project in the beginning is always raw. So the youth has done the first step in community construction. The dialogue of generations needs to be continued to the directors.

How as much as possible to facilitate and simultaneously to deepen the given dialogue? There is a concept "the Jewish memory ", perfectly considered in the book of I. Yerushalaim "Zahor". He gives definition of the Jewish memory as to that reality, in which we exist. But the process of transfer of this memory should be precisely built; it is process of dialogue, training, study of tradition. It is not clear, why the youth and the directors were engaged in the Jewish tradition separately, together it would be much more cheerful. True, in any case it is necessary still to manage to teach this specific subject in the given audience. To teach the Jewish tradition decidedly as true in last instance established once and for always, for our audience, in my opinion, is a mistake. For us, secular assimilated people, the Jewish tradition is a problem.

And to teach it is necessary as a problem, i.e. being constantly addressed to today's realities, intently trying to tie up traditional understanding with modern vision, aspiring to find out new semantic layers. Such work can carry away both youth, and directors. And the Jewish dialogue on this way will give result as a high-grade Jewish community.

If absolutely shortly to touch the contents of my lecture, it is possible to turn everything to three main theses. Firstly, in conditions of modern Diaspora for the Jewish self-identification major becomes concept of the Jewish civilization. Secondly, the concrete definition of concept of a civilization conduces to necessity of consideration of the Jewish history, search "of semantic units" of this history, and first of all development of such method of its periodization, which will allow to consider ALL Jewish history as uniform process. Thirdly, the author offers a method of such periodization, which considers the Jewish history as a sequence of 360-year's epoch, each of which has some completeness and, quite probably, appropriate religious sens.

Alexandr Abramovitch