Klal Yisrael: Moving Beyond Binary Descriptions

One recurring learning from our research at the Jim Joseph Foundation is that Jewish people are complex and covered by a broad spectrum of identities. In our Jewish communal outlook, we sometimes default to thinking of our people in binaries when we assess Jewish institutional and organizational affiliation. Our professional community often refers to young Jews in North America as being connected vs. disconnected, engaged vs. unengaged, involved vs. uninvolved and so on. Communal professionals and stakeholders tend to utilize these simplistic categorizations to make sense of those who are “participants” in Jewish life, and those who are not — who is in, and who is out. While this shorthand approach may serve us in some contexts, we run the risk of undermining our basic idea of Klal Yisrael (the Jewish People) by relying on hierarchical labels like these.

As the Jim Joseph Foundation team delves deeper into understanding the nuances of the broad and diverse spectrum of our people (for example, this framework for how people learn), it is clear that oversimplification is unhelpful. At best, these binaries fail to capture and honor the rich complexities of individuals’ Jewish experiences, motivations and desires. At worst, it is a damaging obstacle to understanding ourselves as a people, and our work as educators and progenitors of Jewish community.

Our team is adopting a shift to more nuanced language that builds on prior research and focuses on the many diverse and divergent ways Jewish people orient themselves to their Jewishness and to formal Jewish community. This approach represents a break from binary frameworks that unintentionally or intentionally place a value judgment on individuals based on their backgrounds, Jewish journeys, participation and mixed identities.

Exact percentages vary slightly, but recent studies (including this, this and this) indicate a 30/70 split among young non-Orthodox Jews: Approximately 30% actively participate in and are served by established Jewish organizations and infrastructures, while the other approximately 70% are part of a majority Jewish population who do not connect to, and may even reject, mainstream Jewish life. Yet, we also know from these studies that this latter population is overwhelmingly proud to be Jewish. This inspiring opportunity becomes obscured by labels that divide our audience into just two very distinct categories.

Stacie Cherner is the Director of Research and Learning at the Jim Joseph Foundation.

read the full piece in eJewish Philanthropy.