The Pew Research Center conducted an exhaustive study in 2020 on the state of Jewish life in the U.S. Unsurprisingly, it found that the majority of Jews perceive a rise in antisemitism. But its most interesting finding involved young Jews: “[A]bout a quarter of U.S. Jewish adults (27%) do not identify with the Jewish religion: They consider themselves to be Jewish ethnically, culturally or by family background.” Put another way, the youngest U.S. Jews are characterized by a large group “who see themselves as Jewish for cultural, ethnic or family reasons but do not identify with Judaism – as a religion – at all.”
The report also found that synagogue attendance was lower among young Jews. “[T]he two branches of Judaism that long predominated in the U.S. [Reform and Conservative] have less of a hold on young Jews than on their elders.” While on its face these findings may seem concerning, they reveal an important fact: Young Jews engage with their Judaism differently, and perhaps more creatively than do older generations, and the greater Jewish community is only just beginning to understand and adapt to this.
However, one finding from the report should give the community cause for concern: that “young U.S. Jews are less emotionally attached to Israel than older ones.” This too is revealing. Young Jews, while finding new, creative ways to engage with being Jewish, have disconnected the Jewish state from their Jewish identity. Whether they disagree with the policies put forth by the long reign of the Netanyahu government or are swept up in the fashionable anti-Israel narratives that have college campuses and liberal institutions in their grip, this poses a serious problem for the long-term survival of both the Jewish state and the global Jewish community.
Adam Milstein, a prominent Jewish “venture philanthropist” who has been active in the non-profit world for decades, explained how this affects Jewish charitable giving in an article for The Jerusalem Post. In short, “younger Jewish philanthropists do not share the same charitable priorities that their parents did.” Through his decades of activism, Milstein has seen firsthand how not just charitable priorities, but cultural priorities have changed among younger Jews. The Adam and Gila Milstein Family Foundation, which he co-founded with Gila his wife in 2000, supports numerous initiatives that strengthen American values, combat bigotry and hatred in all forms, and support the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Organizations like Birthright Israel and Masa Israel Journey engage directly with young Jews, helping them forge a Jewish identity and a closer connection to the state of Israel.
But given the disturbing anti-Israel protests that swept college campuses this spring and the young anti-Zionist Jews who played a key part in it, there is clearly much work to be done. While Milstein salutes the myriad efforts underway to engage Jewish college students in Jewish life, he believes these efforts need to start much earlier so young adults are prepared for the vitriolic anti-Israel narratives they will encounter in college: “In an effort to shield young people from unpleasantness and negativity, our institutions have chosen to shield teens from the true face of the Jewish people’s enemies. This has left them completely unprepared to respond when they encounter Jew-hatred on campus or in the workplace. The result is that when many young Jews come face-to-face with antisemitism, they simply walk away, stay passive, or even find justifications in the anti-Jewish claims that are made.”
How do we counteract this? The answer is to “find ways to enable our next generation to understand the deepening problems our community is facing and take early steps on their own leadership journeys to confront these challenges.” Young Jews are getting more and more creative in how they engage with their Jewish identities, so efforts to bring them into the philanthropic fold need to get more creative as well. The community must “develop programs that will interest, engage, prepare and educate young Jews about standing up for Israel and the Jewish people and challenging antisemitism through philanthropy while they are still in high school.”
Milstein’s vision is to “develop a ‘Venture Philanthropist Club’ for Jewish high school students in Los Angeles, which will hopefully become a model adopted nationwide.” Milstein describes strategic venture philanthropy as “a holistic investment of one’s personal time, resources, knowledge, and efforts.” This after-school extracurricular program will teach students not just about the challenges facing the community, but how to engage in strategic venture philanthropy and choose which pro-Israel organizations they think are doing the most important work. “[T]he program will provide them with seed funding to support existing pro-Israel organizations that speak to them, as well as new philanthropic ventures.”
This hands-on approach is meant to empower young people to invest more of themselves into projects they’re passionate about or projects of their own, giving them “real-world experience to drive more impact.” The hope is that this will lead them to prioritize standing up for Israel and the Jewish people once they get to college, where anti-Israel movements like BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) put considerable pressure on Jewish students. With a strong command of the dangerous narratives, they’ll come up prepared, students will be able to navigate the treacherous landscape on campus as well as in the workforce, where liberal cultural institutions like journalism, publishing, entertainment, and even parts of government have taken on an anti-Israel bent.
Inspiring teens to become impactful Jewish leaders is vital to the survival of the community as a whole. Milstein notes that “[o]ur adversaries have learned to cultivate ever younger cohorts of activists” which is why we need to “develop the potential in our high school students.” We must invest in the empowerment of the younger generation in order to ensure pro-Israel activism stays strong into the future. Milstein’s strategic venture philanthropy is one of the most promising paths toward effective teen empowerment, and the community would benefit greatly by implementing it on a nation-wide scale.