|
Tuesday, 06 October 2009 12:03 |
The research presented in this report was driven by a policy question of great consequence for the American Jewish community: Are today's young Jewish adults of the American Jewish community of tomorrow? This question, in turn, generated a second question, which forms the basis of this research: Is today's generation of young American Jews distinctive? The researchers focused on this question because, if this generation is not distinctive, the first question becomes uninteresting. If this generation is distinctive, and one can begin to understand in what ways, one may get a glimpse of what might be in store.
This article, co-authored by our guest speaker, Tobin Belzer, focuses on the findings related to Jewish congregations and their young adult congregants. Congregations that are successfully attracting young adults are far from uniform. The synagogues chosen for this research-in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago-fall along the spectrum of Jewish religious movements, from Reform to Modern Orthodox. The thriving young adult communities within each of these very different Jewish settings demonstrate that there is no single formula, but rather numerous opportunities, for successfully engaging young adults.
Although written 20 years, this article by Dr.David Ruderman makes a compelling argument for Continuing Rabbinic Education that is just as relevant today.
|
Young Jewish Adults in the United States Today (