Does the Jewish Community of Greater Boston have a future, or do inter-marriage and declining synagogue attendance foreshadow the disintegration of Judaism as a religion? The latter suggestion may sound over-the-top, but so is the data.
In the first of a series of such seminars, Combined Jewish Philanthropies was at Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead last week to offer numbers and analysis, with regional breakdowns, connected to its “2015 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study.” Similar presentations are planned for South of Boston and Metro West.
Leading the presentation was CJP Executive VP Gil Preuss, who offered a slideshow to get the audience of nuts and bolts community actors focused on the remarkable trends over recent years. That the percentage of Boston Jews who identify as being either Reform or Conservative has dropped by 30 points – from 74% to 44% – over the past decade – is a standout. Another is that only 37% of Boston-area Jews are members of a congregation (down 5% in a decade) – and on the North Shore, that number is only 32%.
What that drop in identification may signify is open for debate, but it nevertheless highlights an attitudinal sea-change that has impact on more than just synagogues. It is a shift that makes planning for the future – and surviving it – a tall order for the affected organizations.
Other noteworthy statistics reveal that a quarter of those surveyed in Greater Boston feel very connected to the local Jewish community, while about 30% feel very connected to Israel and 32% feel that same connection to the worldwide Jewish community. Remarkably, CJP’s data indicates that two thirds of Jews in the Boston region have traveled to Israel at least once, 23% more than the rest of the country. Perhaps as religion becomes less a part of Jewish identity that empty space is being filled by a strong emotional connection to Israel.
While it may be easy to view these shifts as representing a disintegration of the Jewish community, the numbers point to a natural evolution that reflects larger cultural changes. Trends such as these may be grounds for anxiety or even panic as those with investments in the old way of doing things (as in synagogues) are forced to adjust to the new ways faster than their cash flows allow, but for those on the other side of the equation, business is booming.
Lappin Foundation, headquartered in Salem, discovered that the fully subsidized community teen Israel experience is key to engaging Jewish teens and to enhancing their Jewish identities and their connection to Israel. The Foundation’s Youth to Israel Adventure (Y2I) sends about 60% of the identified pool of North Shore Jewish teens to Israel every year, as compared to less than 10% nationally of American Jewish teens, not including the Orthodox.
Y2I gives teens a sense of identity and purpose early in their lives, and their Jewish heritage is strengthened by the tangible manifestation of Jewish Peoplehood that Israel represents. While the Jewish community agonizes over how to engage and maintain connections with the next generation of Jews, Y2I is proof-positive of the impact the community teen Israel experience has on enhancing Jewish identity and strengthening connections to the local Jewish community and to Israel.
While some traditional Jewish institutions are struggling to find their footing during a time of rapid cultural changes, other institutions are providing young people a strong connection to their Jewish identities, and they’re doing it through Israel. Lappin Foundation, because it provides fully funded trips to Israel for high school age teens, is leading the way with Y2I.
