Aaron Katler: Judaism Unbound Episode 201 - Marathons and Sprints
Aaron Katler, CEO of UpStart, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation that looks at ideas of Jewish change, creativity, and urgency through the metaphor of “marathons” and “sprints.” [1]
(0:01 - 13:36): To begin the episode, Aaron Katler tells the origin story of UpStart — or perhaps more accurately, its two origin stories (one initial founding, and a later merger of 4 different organizations into the UpStart that exists today). [2] With Dan and Lex, he looks at the concept of UpStart’s accelerator, along with its evolution over time. [3] He names the urgency of our present moment, in which the rate of Jewish innovation/creativity is not yet keeping pace with broader processes of societal change, and talks about how Upstart seeks to play a role in addressing that problem.
(13:37 - 29:58): Katler looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Jewish changemakers who are, on the one hand, from “within the system” (the existing world of Jewish institutions) and those whose background is firmly outside of that institutional ecosystem. He introduces UpStart’s Collaboratory [4] and looks both at its successes in asking expansive questions about Jewish life and the ways it could better find answers to some of those questions moving forward. Katler turns to a few key verbs — “sustain” and “sunset” (we know “sunset” is normally a noun — but here it’s a verb!). [5] He and the co-hosts look at how organizations could think about “sustainability” and “viability” differently, through a lens that understands that no organization endures forever. Building on this, Dan brings up the paradigm of a relay race, where we might conceptualize organizations handing off various Jewish “jobs” from one to the next (instead of one organization taking on the job on its own, such that its demise constitutes a failure to take on that job any longer).
(29:59 - 47:17): Taking a crack at the topic of theories-of-change, Katler maps out the geography of his organization, centered in five hubs but actively incorporating organizations that are located outside of those hubs as well. Dan asks how the “geography” of digital Judaism — which is harder to define, and evolving rapidly — plays into this conversation thread. [6] Katler gives his take on an ongoing theme in Judaism Unbound — the distinctions, and tensions, between forms of “change-from-within” work and “change-from-the-outside — and he closes the episode by exploring what we can learn from his son’s summary of UpStart’s work: “helping people create Jewish stuff that doesn’t suck.”
[1] Check out Aaron Katler’s full bio here, and learn more about UpStart at UpstartLab.org. Learn more about UpStart’s ideas and approach by exploring these articles and other pieces: here, here, here, and here. You can also listen into Judaism Unbound’s first-ever live recording, which featured UpStart, by checking out Bonus Episode: UpStart Unbound.
[2] For an article that takes a look at the merger of four institutions into UpStart, in 2017, click here.
[3] Learn more about UpStart’s programs for entrepreneurs, institutional change-agents, and the wider field here; learn about the the Venture Accelerator and Entrepreneur Sprint, which aim to “elevate the Jewish community’s boldest entrepreneurs and their groundbreaking ventures to their next stage of growth,” and which are accepting applications beginning on January 8, 2020, here. Learn how you can apply to those programs here. RSVP for a January 15th, 2020 UpStart webinar, which will provide more information about the process, here.
[4] Learn more about UpStart’s annual Collaboratory at this link. Check out the trailer and full film “Why Judaism Matters” put together for the Collaboratory by UpStart Board member Harry Nathan Gottlieb with a panel that included past Judaism Unbound guests Sarah Hurwitz, Sara Luria, and Amichai Lau-Lavie.
[5] For another episode in which Dan and Lex ask some questions about Jewish communal organizations and “sustainability,” see Episode 184: Disorganized Religion.
[6] Take a deep dive into digital Judaism by listening in to Episode 98: The Future of Torah - Brett Lockspeiser.