‘Emerging’ Jews, Like Christians, Forge a More Accessible Faith

RNS’s Catherine O’Donnell looks at the emergence of “small, carefully organized” Jewish spiritual communities, in this week’s full-text article, linked above.

Quote:

“Religious and community leaders across faiths are witnessing the seeming absence of an entire age cohort from organized religious life,” according to a report Synagogue 3000 issued this spring. “The majority of individuals in their 20s and early 30s have no congregational affiliations; their affiliation rate is lower than that of any other age group.”

Emerging Jewish groups “are reinventing the synagogue, affecting expectations about how they operate, and what it means to be a member,” said [Shawn] Landres, [research director for Synagogue 3000]. “They’re challenging assumptions about what sacred community is.”