Generation Gap

I just read a fascinating post describing our (yeah, I'm including myself in the Millennials for this one) generation and what we want out of our Judaism. To sum it up it says that we don't fit the old mold of a Jewish community - that we can be Jewish and have varying beliefs - in the words of my old boss, Sara Fischer - multiple communities under one umbrella.

I went to shul for the first day of Rosh Hashanna up in New York at Congregation Habonim and listened to a fascinating sermon. The rabbi spoke of the idea that act of giving tzedakah is a mitzvah. Now, most of us understand the vernacular of these terms to be about "doing good deeds." In other words, something we are suppossed to do, but don't have to. The rabbi spoke about the fact that the literal translation of a mitzvah is a commandment - something that we must do (explained very well here).

I hope I haven't lost you, because these two points are related. Maybe our generation needs that sense of commitment - we need those strings attached. We need to know that we are commanded of us to give back to the community. If we do not understand this as an explicit obligation then how will things ever change? Your community is calling - how will you answer?