I want to be an individual, just like all my friends...

As Max brought up earlier this week, our reading, "Jewish Education in the Age of Google," sounded quite dated, in its speculation of a future where, "Someday soon - if not already - children, and some adults, will be carrying devices that operate as cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, PlayStations or XBoxes, Wifi internet devices, DVD players, and TV receivers all in one."

Of course, we know that not only has this technology been realized, it has given way to secondary industry built upon the level of communication and sharing of data it provides.  A level of individualization that probably wasn't even conceived a decade ago.  Someone may have been able to understand the preponderance of services like Amazon Now, which allows me to shop at lunch and have the electronic, productivity, or food items that I order be at my door by the time I come home.  What was probably impossible to predict were other secondary "on-demand" services.  Uber and Lyft for ride-sharing.  Zipcar for hourly car rentals.  Luxe for valet parking anywhere.  Soothe for massage.  Wag for dog walking.  Wherever you are, at pretty much the time you want it.

So what does this mean for Judaism?  This level of on-demand individualization and customization is more difficult to realize in a thing built upon thousands of years of tradition and community, but it is still possible.  Though I haven't seen an app for an on-demand minyan yet (though if anyone has seed money, I smell a startup), there is a whole different business paradigm that is coming into prominence that seems to be more of a parallel to the trajectory of Jewish communities in the US: the online "boutique" commerce sector.

Rather than going for mass-market appeal and storefront space, these companies are using different models to produce a single product or service to be sold direct-to-consumer.  Their marketing focuses more on high detail of the construction and manufacture of mattresses, linens, clothes, to capture a high percentage of a more narrow market, usually aimed at middle-class millennials, and almost entirely relying on ads on the internet or podcasts.

Part of the marketing relies on appealing to a sense of individuality, cutting-edge sensibility, and yes, even a "sexy" factor.  Of course, there is nothing inherently new about Jewish communities, just as there is nothing inherently new about, say, a mattress, but through a combination of a single new element and high-gloss marketing, we have successful companies with sexy names like Casper, Purple, and Helix.

And so, we have it too, with Jewish communities.  In the last decade, there has been an emergence of non-affiliated minyanim in largely urban areas with similarly sexy, non-standard names (and websites) like The Kitchen in San Francisco, Lab/Shul in New York, and our very own IKAR here in LA.  Part of the appeal of these communities is, arguably, their ability to better meet the needs of a more narrow market based on local culture than needing to balance it with the demands of a larger, national level organization like the URJ, USCJ, or OU.  Similar to the businesses who maximize quality for cost by efficiency in manufacture and delivery, these Jewish communities are able to shift money for services and individualization by eliminating things like institutional dues, or even the overhead associated with a brick-and-mortar physical location.

However, this begs the question, at least for a Jewish community model, if this level of individualization is sustainable over the long term.  What do they do when demands of its membership turn toward more traditional attributes?  IKAR is right now considering raising money and support for a permanent location.  Several of these communities have even formed a coalition for mutual support called the Jewish Emergent Network (whose website looks strikingly similar to the mattress companies above).  What does this mean for the future of these unique, individual institutions, especially as they will need to confront the questions of generational issues and the services that traditional synagogues provide to meet these needs such as childhood education?

And so, what is the likelihood that this Jewish Emergent Network will eventually find itself asking the question of whether or not to become a full-fledged institution to support it's individual members?  I'm sure the next 10 years will tell us.