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

Unaffiliated Jews in the East Bay
There are a substantial number — 29 percent — of unaffiliated Jews living in the East Bay, but
there is very little chance of spurring more involvement among them. Here, unaffiliated Jews
are defined as residents not belonging to a synagogue and who describe themselves as not at
all involved in the Jewish community. Although by definition, they are not all involved in the
Jewish community, only 13 percent say they want to be more involved, and the vast majority (79
percent) would keep their level of involvement the same.
When asked where they would prefer to attend events, a slight plurality (30 percent) says that
location does not matter to them when considering event attendance. Twenty-six percent,
though, say that they do not want to attend Jewish events regardless of where they take place.
Almost three-quarters never attend services at a synagogue. Only 5 percent of the unaffiliated
belong to Jewish organizations, and of those who do belong, very few have held leadership
positions. Despite the fact that family and home based traditions typically are quite common
even among non-observant Jews, 96 percent of the unaffiliated rarely or never attend High
Holiday services, 74 percent rarely or never light Chanukah candles, and 82 percent rarely or
never participate or hold a Passover Seder.
Figure 87: Unaffiliated Rarely Participate in Jewish Activities
100
90
80
70
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 unaffiliated who say ‘sometimes/never’)
96 96 95
90
82
74
60
50
48
40
30
20
10
0
Light candles
on Friday
night
Attend
services on
the High
Holidays
Keep Kosher
or Kosherstyle
Stay at home
on the Jewish
High Holidays
Participate in
a Passover
Seder
Light
Chanukah
candles
Have a
Christmas
tree
91