I NOTEBOOK lom1immm"'°'
Let's Stop Worrying
About The Unaffiliated
GARY ROSENBLATT
Editor
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At the risk
of sounding blas-
phemous, I sug-
gest that we in
the American
Jewish commun-
ity, spend too
much time wor-
rying about attracting unaf-
filiated Jews. Perhaps it's
time to ignore them and
spend that energy on improv-
ing our product.
Ironically, that's the best
chance we have of appealing
to these Jews we fear we are
losing.
Consider: for years now,
the primary concern of syn-
agogues, federations and
men's and women's organ-
izations has centered on
what we can do to attract the
majority of American Jews
who do not belong to any of
the above institutions.
Of course, it is only
natural to try to draw such a
large, demographically im-
portant segment of our
population, many of whom
are young adults and mar-
rieds, particularly when
there is great concern about
our diminishing numbers.
But we haven't been very
successful and, more impor-
tantly, by concentrating so
heavily on the unaffiliated,
we may be short-changing
those who are affiliated.
We have diluted our pro-
grams, searched for the least
common denominator or de-
emphasized the Jewish com-
ponent of a theme in the
mistaken belief that this
would attract The Unaf-
filated.
We think of these people as
marginal Jews who must be
approached, and snared,
with great • caution, never
letting on that what we are
"selling" is a religion,
heritage and history unique
to the world.
So our Jewish community
centers stress handball
rather than Halachah, our
supplementary schools focus
on Jewish experiences (bak-
ing challah, lighting
candles) rather than
historical texts (too boring),
and our synagogues em-
phasize fellowship more
than scholarship or spiri-
tuality.
No wonder The Unaf-
filiated are staying away in
record numbers. What they
see presented is a watered-
down form of Judaism, when
perhaps they would be more
interested in authenticity
and depth.
We in the Jewish news-
paper business are certainly
guilty of this thinking, as
well. How many times have
we at our newspaper at-
tempted to think of story
ideas to attract readers,
scratching our brains to
come up with angles that
would appeal and not be,
God forbid, "too Jewish."
But the flip side of the
equation is the unanswered
question: why should these
people choose to read about
secular topics in our paper
when they can read about
them in the daily paper or a
variety of magazines?
Maybe, we decided, we
should stick to writing about
issues of particular concern
to Jews, and the Jewish
community. And when and if
these unaffiliated people
become interested in what
we are writing about, they'll
start reading us.
But in the meantime, we
in the organized Jewish
world would be better off
We would be better
off concentrating
on improving the
quality of our
Jewish content
rather than diluting
it.
concentrating on improving
the quality of our Jewish
content rather than diluting
it in the false hopes of at-
tracting marginal Jews
through marginal Jewish
programs.
There are numerous ex-
amples of unaffiliated Jews
responding positively to a
clear and well delivered
Jewish message of substance
and point of view. Rabbis,
Jewish thinkers and Israeli
leaders with something to
say often draw well among
thoughtful young Jews who
otherwise would not attend a
synagogue or community
lecture.
What they are seeking is
quality and depth, not glitz
and superficiality, however
well intentioned.
That is a positive sign, one
we must pursue, and the
issue to focus on is how
Judaism can relate to the
modern world. In other
words: why be Jewish?
Surveys indicate that the
point of entry, or re-entry,
into the Jewish community
for many young families is