Reconstructionism emphasizes that Judaism is a full civilization, not just a religion.   We have languages, literatures, arts, music, and folkways, in addition to religious texts and practices.  It’s easy enough to see what this means in the context of secular Jewish life in Israel, and even in the context of historically isolated Jewish communities prior to Emancipation.  But what role do these secular aspects of Jewish civilization play in the lives of Diaspora Jews today?   The klezmer revival provides an interesting case-study for this question. Starting about 25 years ago in Berkeley, Eastern European Jewish European dance music was re-branded as “klezmer music” and revitalized.   Why, at this historical moment, did klezmer catch on?   What does the success of the klezmer revival say about contemporary Jewish identity, peoplehood, and our sense of belonging?