The New Jewish Leaders: Reshaping the American Jewish Landscape

2 From Jewish People to Jewish Purpose

Establishment Jewish Life—In Decline? S ince 1990 or before, the landscape of organized life has been creaking and shifting. Since well before the economic downturn of 2008–2010, signs have been accumulating, generally pointing in the same direction and toward the same conclusion: The fabled “establishment Jewish communal system”—the vast continental network of long-established Jewish communal agencies and institutions—is in decline. A decade after the turn of the twenty-first century, these organizations’ members, donors, and resources (all of which can be measured) are diminishing ; so too are their passion, energy, and moral purpose (more ephemeral and less quantifiable attributes, for sure). Almost all the older, veteran agencies seem reduced in scope, influence, and resources, especially when seen against the post–Six Day War period, which lasted through the 1980s. To take some specifics: Jewish federations, the financial heart of this system , have seen their donors slowly shrink in numbers and gradually advance in age. While federations regularly proclaim new “record” levels of giving, the purchasing value of dollars contributed to the annual campaigns has drifted downward over the years. The federation system provides Israeli charities, once the moral heart of its fundraising, with only about one third the inflation-adjusted dollars that it did in the 1980s. Federation leaders point to their growing endowment funds as guarantors of their continued significance, especially after the wave of megadonors (such as Bernstein, Joseph, Wexner, Schusterman, Steinhardt, Grinspoon, Bronfman, and Bronfman ) and their foundations (possibly a one-generation phenomenon) pass from the scene. But staking one’s claims for continued vitality to the legacy of endowments suggests an implicit concession that younger donors are both less numerous and less generous than their grandparents. steven m. cohen 2 From Jewish People to Jewish Purpose Establishment Leaders and Their Nonestablishment Successors 46 steven m. cohen In the denominational domain, with the exception of Orthodoxy, the available evidence points to weakened movements and shrinking membership in the congregations that constitute them. The Conservative membership base has been shrinking, marked by rapidly falling numbers of congregants (and their rising ages), closing or merging congregations, fewer participants in Conservative youth movements, and fewer students in Conservative schools, both day and supplementary. To take one example: In Philadelphia, those identifying as Conservative drops from 38 percent among those sixtytwo and older to 18 percent among those under forty (Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, 2009). Underscoring the significance of these findings for Conservative Judaism, Philadelphia has functioned as a virtual Conservative institutional capital for much of the twentieth century. Until recently, the Reform movement seemed somewhat healthier, but the economic downturn exposed evidence of weak commitment on the part of its membership base. Thousands of congregants failed to renew their membership , resulting in drastic declines in the central Reform denominational body. The apparent numerical stability in congregants rests on what may be shifting sand. Reform household numbers certainly have been holding steady, albeit with increases in mixed married families. This trend translates into far fewer Reform Jewish individuals. By definition, an in-married couple consists of two adult Jews; a mixed married couple means only one Jewishly identifying adult. With more and more Reform households consisting of mixed married families (perhaps half of newly enrolled members in the last decade), fewer Jewish adults belong to Reform congregations today than in the 1980s and 1990s. Moreover, the mixed married families, as compared with their in-married counterparts, depart sooner—often just after their youngest child undergoes the requisite Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremony. The increasing proportion of mixed married Jews in Reform congregations directly implies both shorter connection and lower average levels of commitment and involvement. Jewish Community Centers (JCCs) have been a mainstay of Jewish life in North America for the greater portion of the twentieth century. Providing preschools, day camps, fitness facilities, cultural services, and more, JCCs today embrace more members than any denominational movement, constituting another vital component of the Jewish institutional establishment in North America. How fares the JCC movement? Notwithstanding scattered closings and reports of financial strain, they seem to be holding their own. But not unlike the Conservative movement (whose members constitute the plurality of JCC members), JCC constituencies are also aging gradually, as JCCs have made little headway in attracting young adults as members or From Jewish People to Jewish Purpose 47 users. JCCs remain attractive to parents of young children, at a time when Jews are...