Fifty percent of affiliated
American Jews are baby
boomers, like these
participants at the
Jewish Federations of
North America General
^hoto cou rtes J 1
Assembly in New Orleans.
Whither Jewish Baby Boomers.
Sue Fishkoff
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
New Orleans
A
s America's 77 million baby
boomers retire, they will place
an unprecedented burden on the
Jewish community's infrastructure. They
will need more services, and many will
want to become involved in a community
that isn't making room for them.
The Jewish federation system in partic-
ular needs to meet the challenge now —
as the oldest boomers turn 65 next year
— or face losing the wealthiest and most
highly educated generation in American
Jewish history.
Those are two salient results of a study
presented at the General Assembly of the
Jewish Federations of North America in
November titled "Baby Boomers, Public
Service and Minority Communities: A
Case Study of the Jewish Community in
the United States:'
The report, a joint effort by New York
University's Berman Jewish Policy Archive
and the university's Research Center for
Leadership in Action, analyzed a national
survey of more than 6,500 Jewish baby
boomers — those born between 1946 and
1964 — in 34 U.S. communities.
Jewish baby boomers expect to work
after retirement age, want that work to be
meaningful and want it to help others, but
22
November 25 • 2010
are not necessarily committed to working
within the Jewish community, the report
found. Boomers represent 50 percent of
affiliated Jews in the United States — a
major loss if they disappear.
"Even affiliated and involved Jews will
look elsewhere if the meaning they seek
is not available within the Jewish commu-
nity," said David Elcott, the Taub professor
of public service at NYU's graduate school
and author of the report.
While most Jewish boomers plan to work
or volunteer in an "encore" career after retir-
ing, the survey showed that 35 percent aren't
sure what kind of work they want to do,
and 42 percent expect to get paid for it. The
Jewish community is used to relying on its
older population to volunteer, Elcott said.
Not only that, but just over a third of
boomers surveyed said they "want to help
other Jews" in their encore career, and just
14 percent look at the new career as a way
of expressing their Jewish identity.
Nearly 86 percent of those hoping to
perform public service work would like to
work through a Jewish organization, the
survey showed, but that does not mean
they are committed to helping Jews, Elcott
noted. They could just as well be building
homes in New Orleans or doing literacy
training in inner cities.
If Jewish organizations cannot provide
meaningful outlets, Elcott cautioned,
Jewish baby boomers will look elsewhere.
"This is the first generation for whom it
will be as natural to work with the YMCA
as with a Jewish organization:' he said.
"We are not prepared for that. We're pre-
pared for it from our 30-year-olds, but not
from this middle generation."
The federation system and other Jewish
communal structures have been putting
much of their funding and emphasis into
programs for Jewish youth and children,
with some attention to the very elderly.
But for the most part, they have ignored or
taken for granted the needs of the genera-
tion in its mid-40s to early 60s.
Some federations are beginning to reach
out to boomers in a concerted way.
JBoomers, a grassroots nonprofit cre-
ated to advocate for boomers within the
Jewish community, launched Nov. 21.
Linda Blumberg,
planning director for
the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit,
told the G.A. audience
that her federation and
Jewish Family Service
are seeing increased
Linda
numbers of boomers
Blumberg
seeking their help.
American Jews over
age 50 are losing their jobs and coming to
the federation for help paying mortgages,
accessing health care and training for jobs
in new sectors, she said. Blumberg noted
that many were former donors who are no
longer able or willing to give — at least not
at previous levels.
The Detroit federation has created a
number of programs to help these adults.
Women to Work provides job training
for women who have never been in the
workforce but whose husbands are now
unemployed. Prime Time helps those over
50 prepare for a second career and acquire
necessary computer skills as well as estate
planning and medical care.
"Federations are certainly interested
in increasing their donor base; and are
looking for ways to engage baby boomers
as volunteers, too:' Blumberg said, not-
ing that a number of boomers have been
recruited to serve on committees, plan
these initiatives and even provide the pro-
bono professional services that their col-
leagues now need to access, from medical
care to legal advice.
It is well known that federations are
trying to engage and train young leaders,
but this year for the first time, the Detroit
federation started a leadership training
program for boomers to bring them into
the federation system as planners and
other agency personnel.
"We are looking for opportunities that
speak to them, where they can give back
to the community and make a difference
Blumberg said. "Federations around the
country haven't really developed a com-
prehensive approach" to the problem.
"If we lose this generation': she said, "we
lose their children and grandchildren"
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