My summers are for reading. This summer's list begins with:

• How to Read the Bible, by Marc Zvi Brettler
• Prayer: A History, by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
• The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness, by Jerome Groopman
• Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad, by Efraim Halevy
• Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised? Gender and Covenant in Judaism, by Shaye J.D. Cohen

Each of the last few summers, I have also read a book on Islam--including works by Bernard Lewis, Karen Armstrong and Irshad Manji. This summer I am considering Samuel P. Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

Among my favorite summer moments are long afternoons away from the telephone, with a book. (Another summer favorite is following the White Sox--first place at this writing.) The last several summers, I have been lucky enough to enjoy such moments on the shores of White Bear Lake in Minnesota, as a guest of the Great Loudini and Nancy Melamed. The summer is for reading because the year allows so little extended time for it.

Even as I look forward to the summer, I continue to puzzle through the "big questions" that preoccupy me: The question of a loss of a Jewish narrative, the challenge and role of Israel in our lives. On the latter, I recently attended an Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) meeting for Washington-area rabbis. The ARZA speaker from the New York office gave a brief history of the organization since its founding in the 1970s. In its earliest years, ARZA's chief challenge was to lobby on behalf of rights for Reform Jews in Israel and to help build the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism. In those years, in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, the loyalty and commitment of North American Jews could be taken for granted. ARZA, while remaining committed to its early mission, now has to engage in a second battle: to create a new generation of North American Zionists. This challenge is not easy. It is a challenge that I have discussed in this column and that our congregation has discussed in many settings over the past several years. How do we create an American Judaism that reflects a love for and connection to the Land of Israel and a commitment to and awe for the miracle that is the State of Israel? As I always say, commitment does not mean unequivocal support for every policy of every government.

In my thinking, these questions are simply a reformulation of the ever-looming questions of identity formation and narrative. Our experience as Jews in America is radically different from anything in Jewish history. We have no sense of galut (exile). There is no sense of inferiority being directed against us from the outside world. There is no need here to repeat what you already know. This is simply another way of saying that the traditional narratives are broken for us and our challenge--greater than programs and activities--is to create or reclaim a narrative that gives us a sense of purpose. Despite what I call the loss of a narrative, parents still want a bar/bat mitzvah for their children, people still crowd in on the High Holy Days--there is something out there. We have yet to create the picture and tell the story.

If you contemplate any of these questions over the summer, I would love to know your thoughts. Write me at IAMJEWISH@ templemicah.org.