By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
As Rabbi Daniel Weiner would tell it, when he arrived in Seattle three and a half years ago the head rabbi of Temple De Hirsch Sinai could find almost nothing in the way of programming for young adults in the community.
I dont think there was a lot of it before I came here, Rabbi Weiner said, but I think its something thats become more and more of an issue.
Since his arrival, the situation has changed exponentially, according to the rabbi. In as recently as the past two months, there have been a number of moves to increase outreach. And while some of those changes can be attributed to Rabbi Weiners own Reform congregation in Capitol Hill, more than a thousand single and childless-but-married adults in their 20s and early 30s have found a point of entry into the areas Jewish community: Jconnect.
The University of Washington Hillel-based program has been around in various incarnations for several years, but it has become much more visible in the past 15 months.
Much of that visibility can be attributed to Jconnect director Josh Miller, who has been using the skills he learned in his Northwestern University MBA program to work in the organized Jewish world.
Its a big job, said Miller, whos mission is to bring young Jewish adults into a warm, welcoming community that is offering lots of different options for how to express their Jewish selves and meet Jewish people.
Jennifer Bolson, 23, was one of those people. She grew up in the Seattle area, returned after college, and found herself unable to find the Jewish connection she had grown up with.
I went to the Jewish Day School, I was part of Temple Bnai Torah, I was on the regional board of my youth group, Bolson said. When I left college and came back to Seattle, I kind of struggled [to find] where I fit in the community.
With a hectic work schedule that requires constant travel, she might have more trouble finding a Jewish community, but it has not stopped her from trying.
This past summer, she joined Miller and five other Jconnect members at the Professional Leaders Conference in Los Angeles, a program set up by several well-known Jewish philanthropists to address Bolsons problem: where Jews in her generation can find a community.
Im thrilled that theyre reaching out, Bolson said. What a lot of us expressed at the conference was a feeling that no one was asking us why we werent showing up anymore.
Bolson said she enjoys her temple, but it reflects her past and not her present. Many of the Jewish people she spends time with are people she met at her conference who she sees while traveling for work.
She said that to find the critical mass necessary for the vibrant Jewish community she seeks she may end up leaving Seattle again.
AishSeattle, the local branch of AishHaTorah, is not concerned about lack of a vibrant Jewish community, however.
I havent had less than 10 people at my table for a long time, said Aishs executive director, Rabbi Chaim Levine. Between himself and the local groups two other rabbis, well have anywhere between 30-50 people for Shabbat dinners.
Its the direct connection to local Jews that is of utmost importance to his organization, said Rabbi Levine. He knows he has done his job when participants use Aish as a bridge to making the Jewish community, whether here or in Israel, a much better place, he said.
Aish focuses on learning and enhancing Judaism from what Levine calls a traditional perspective.
People tell us the reason they feel excited about Aish is they know when they come to something they feel like its meaningful being Jewish, he said.
For young adults, Aish Rabbi Avi Fine has put together several programs, including the launch of Shabbat 100, which Levine said brings together 70-100 young Jews to homes in Seward Park for prayer, socializing and a cocktail hour. He also seeks out unique venues, such as a houseboat on Lake Union for an upcoming Hanukkah party, to hold such events. Levine and his wife also hold classes to help newlyweds connect to each other and to Judaism.
Though it is the traditional aspect of Aish that is a draw to many of its participants, there are others who find themselves turned off by what they have called its unbending adherence to Jewish law including who is defined as a Jew. Levine said he was unaware of such dismissals of his programs.
We feel like we reflect the true nature of the Jewish community, Levine said. We dont claim to be representing anything but our own perspective. Its more about being Jewish that comes first.
Inclusion in the Jewish community comes first for Aaron Schwamberg, the new director of the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. The program for adults aged 25-45 laid dormant for some months while the Federation sought to fill the position, but Schwamberg said he has specific goals for the organization.
The community needs to have new leaders, and we need to be able to create leadership at Federation, said Schwamberg.
When he began his job this summer, he said he thought about wiping out social programming entirely, but decided against it. Instead, he said he wants to do it so people feel welcome and included.
As an arm of the Federation, raising money is a large part of YLDs mission, but Schwamberg said that educating people about where the money goes is important as well.
Because of this new vision, much of the more social programming will be left to Jconnect, which has been able to absorb young Jews who might have otherwise felt a gap in their social lives.
We just hit 800 participants on Friday night [November 12] thats a huge community, said Miller, 30. He has been tracking names and e-mail addresses of attendees to all of his approximately 15 activities each month.
With an estimated 5,500 to 7,500 young Jewish adults in and around Seattle, Jconnect reaches about 15 percent of the population.
I think thats incredible, said Miller. I think its higher than the average affiliation rate.
Affiliation is a problem that nearly all synagogues have dealt with over the decades. Many congregations find that people wont join until they have families and want a place to send their children to Hebrew school.
Yet some synagogues are now finding that people dont want to wait for children they have a spiritual hunger that begs to be filled, and theyre looking for a place that makes them feel welcome and comfortable. That likely explains the immediate success of the Reform congregation Kol HaNeshamah, which began in West Seattle 18 months ago and drew in people of all ages, and has since turned a large number of its young adult High Holiday attendees into members.
Roland Roth, education director at Congregation Beth Shalom, one of the Seattle areas two Conservative congregations, said he and membership chair Michele Yanow saw a place where their congregation could fill a niche, so in October they began the Third Friday Shabbat service.
We just wanted to do our part, said Roth, 29. Last Friday night we had 50 people.
Roth credited Jconnects Miller with helping to get people in the door, but he also said that with the large crowds that weve had, its permanent.
He stressed that the comfort and welcoming atmosphere of the synagogue are very important.
I welcome everybody, I introduce myself, and I talk about the liberating joy of Shabbat, he said.
With all of these new activities popping up in recent months, Seattle has been quite busy. Outside of the city limits, however, is another story. Though Aish conducts study groups as well as one-on-one sessions for Microsoft employees, there is precious little else happening on the Eastside. When Beth Shalom began Third Friday, Roth said he sent a notice to the Jews@Microsoft bulletin, which resulted in several synagogue-goers crossing Lake Washington to attend.
With one exception, synagogues have not addressed reaching out to a suburban population with at least a few alienated young Jewish adults.
Theres definitely a hunger for a spiritual home, said Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum of Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, and definitely a fear of stepping into a congregation and not feeling welcome.
When Nussbaum was hired to be Herzls Assistant Rabbi in August, the Mercer Island synagogue signaled that it wanted to focus some energy into bringing in and cultivating new and current younger members, who tend to be less visible than the older members, said Rabbi Nussbaum. Participation has been sporadic among the younger crowd because of the lack of people their own age.
What Im trying to do is push back that age of affiliation and say it doesnt have to be about the children, Rabbi Nussbaum said about the effort. So far were at the organizational meeting stage, but weve got some plans for spring.
Her challenge will be to create community out of a generation that doesnt feel as much of a need or obligation to link with large communal organizations.
Rabbi Weiner at Temple De Hirsch Sinai said he believes his congregation has hit on some ways to get the younger crowd in the door. One is through a monthly musical Shabbat service that is the accessible, popular versions of songs and prayers that are more engaging, he said. People dance and sing and do stuff throughout the congregation.
Another is to post notices of visiting scholars and interesting programs in coffeehouses and bookstores around the temples neighborhood.
I want this synagogue to be a major Jewish cultural center on Capitol Hill and in the Central District, he added.
Though it appears that things look bright for Seattle as its younger generation embraces adulthood, there is still work to be done. Jconnect, for instance, tops out at age 32. For single or married couples without children above that age, there is little to do in an organized, Jewish social setting.
Jconnect must also fight its reputation as a place for men looking for dates, though Jennifer Bolson said that Jconnects Miller has been working to counter that impression.
Miller and YLDs Schwamberg have both expressed interest in starting programming for the 33-40 age group, but the community is not ready at this point, said Schwamberg, meaning we would have to come up with a couple hundred thousand dollars.
Some people have complained about the YLD program as well: that as a fundraising organization, the cost of some of its events is too high for lower-income members of the community. Schwamberg said that as he reshapes his program, that may occasionally still be an issue, but some programs will have sliding scale fees and the leadership training will not allow cost to be a barrier.
Schwamberg says he sees a lot of potential for Seattle. I think its the most enlightened Jewish community. We can work together, he said. Its something that would not happen in every community, and Ive lived in a lot of communities.