DECEMBER 23 • 2021 | 9

among other areas. 
A recent report, “Jewish Chicago: Who 
We Are: A 2020 Population Study,
” rein-
forces this movement toward privatized 
Judaism. 
It states, “Jewish life extends beyond 
organizational boundaries to activities that 
take place in the home, with friends and 
online. Examples of individual activities 
include discussing Jewish topics with fam-
ily or friends; reading Jewish publications; 
eating Jewish foods; and participating in 
Jewish-focused culture and entertainment 
such as movies, TV
, books or music. 
Almost all Jewish adults (91%) discussed 
a Jewish topic in the past year with family 
or friends, and just under one third (31%) 
discussed a Jewish topic frequently. Almost 
as many Jewish adults (88%) ate Jewish 
food in the past year. More than 82% of 
Jewish adults engaged in Jewish-focused 
culture. Just under three quarters of Jewish 
adults (73%) read at least one Jewish pub-
lication. 
Individuals in the personal engagement 
group tend not to be members of Jewish 
organizations or attend Jewish organiza-
tion-sponsored programs but did engage in 
Jewish personal activities. Eighty-two per-
cent of those in the ‘personal engagement’ 
group discussed a Jewish topic with friends 
or family, 74% ate a Jewish food, 59% 
engaged in Jewish culture, and 41% read at 
least one Jewish publication.
”

THE GENERATIONAL FACTOR
The current structural shifts taking place 
within Jewish life are driven by two primary 
factors: New generations of American Jews 
and the availability of new funding streams. 
The direction of philanthropic funds has 
always made clear the priorities of the 
individual. Millennials, too, are joining 
these alternative models of Jewish social 
expression, and new philanthropic invest-
ments are being directed toward supporting 
this appetite of choice. Due in part to their 
comfort and accessibility with technology, 
younger Jews are able to practice this type 
of privatized Judaism with ease. With the 
absence of in-person gatherings during 
COVID-19, these behaviors and practices 
have only accelerated. A new Jewish ecol-
ogy of websites, organizations and move-
ments has emerged, as a result, in response 
to the changing generational landscape.
Much is about distinctive generational 
behaviors and practices, suggesting a funda-
mental shift now in the Jewish community.

THE COLLECTIVE VS. THE PERSONAL
The boom in online engagement during 
COVID-19 was not the impetus for this 
privatized Judaism moment; however, it 
added significant momentum. Without our 
physical communal connections, we were 
forced to rely and reflect on our individual, 
personal relationship with Jewish life and 
our respective Jewish identities. The ques-

tion is where does that leave us as we head 
into a post-pandemic world? 
We affirm that Judaism is about people-
hood. 
As Jews, our rituals, observances and 
identities are impacted by an abundance of 
factors, life stages, geography, social circles, 
individual interests and opportunities for 
engagement. The COVID-19 pandemic, 
similar to other large cultural and historical 
events, has shifted the way these elements 
affect and influence our individual and 
collective Jewish lives. In this moment 
where the sovereign-self continues to influ-
ence and shape many of the choices we 
are making around cultural and religious 
preferences, we are identifying a number of 
individuals and families who are opting to 
create personalized, autonomous selections. 
The layer of virtual vs. in-person experience 
brings even more complexity to how our 
communal expectations and individual 
aspirations remain in tension.
As our existential situation altered, the 
average engaged Jew now faces a familiar 
choice — apathy or intention. For those of 
us who choose intention, it means being 
honest with ourselves. What are we doing 
out of obligation? What brings us personal 
meaning? What brings us joy? And where 
and how do we find connection?
This then leads us to our next challenge 
— how has our sense of belonging in the 
Jewish community altered? What does it 
mean at this time to be “with” other Jews? 
How do we blend these online, individual-
ized opportunities for engagement with a 
sense of in-person connection? Could our 
paradigm for Jewish connection and thus 
identity be changing? 
How do we encourage the greater good 
in a polarized society at a time where there 
exists a heightened focus on every-person-
for-themselves mantra? We believe that 
this will require all of us to understand the 
better angels and worse demons of human 
nature. 

Erin Tarica, LCSW, MAJCS is the former director of 

the Jewish Care Program of the Jewish Federation of 

New Mexico, and Steven Windmueller, Ph.D. is an 

emeritus professor of Jewish communal studies at the 

Jack H. Skirball Campus of Hebrew Union College-

Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles. This essay first 

appeared on ejewishphilanthropy.com on Dec. 9.

Remote 
Shiva is a 
platform 
for virtual 
shivahs.

