East Bay Jewish Community Study - Jewish Federation of the ...

“Jew-ish” in the East Bay
Another possible outreach target is more ―marginally affiliated‖ Jewish residents. As the focus
groups revealed, there are Jewish residents that participate in some activity and desire more
involvement, but are not members of a synagogue or Jewish organization. Here, we call these
individuals ―Jew-ish.‖ We define them as people who always, usually, or sometimes attend High
Holiday services and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people, but lack formal
membership in a synagogue. This group represents 16 percent of the Jewish population in the
East Bay.
Almost half (45 percent) of ―Jew-ish‖ residents feel a lot or somewhat like a part of the Jewish
community, but 41 percent want to be more involved; far and away, this is the largest potential
outreach opportunity of any subgroup. They feel strongly about the importance of religion in
family life. Large numbers always attend Passover Seder and always light the Chanukah
candles, but when it comes to more active expressions of religious observance, such as staying
home on the High Holidays, the number drops to only 33 percent. Unsurprisingly, a plurality of
―Jew-ish‖ residents self-identify as Reform.
―Jew-ish‖ residents are well established Bay area residents, with 60 percent living in the area for
at least ten years, and an additional 7 percent saying that they were born in the region. A
plurality, have only lived in their current residence for fewer than five years, but more intend to
stay in the area for the next several years. Most live in the Oakland-Berkeley Corridor, and half
prefer events in the East Bay area, though 34 percent do not have a geographic preference.
Figure 81: “Jew-ish” Feel Strongly About Holidays, Traditions but Not Very
Attached to Regular Rituals
I am going to read you a list of things that some people do. For each one, please tell how often you generally do it - always,
usually, sometimes, or never (Percent of ‘Jew-ish’ who say ‘always’)
60
50
55
52
40
30
33
28
20
20
15
10
7
0
Participate in
a Passover
Seder
Light
Chanukah
candles
Stay at home
on the
Jewish High
Holidays
Attend
services on
the High
Holidays
Have a
Christmas
tree
Light candles
on Friday
night
Keep Kosher
or Kosherstyle
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