Major Study of American Jews Spawns New Center for Cultural Judaism

NEW YORK, NY, July 21, 2003 - A new educational and cultural center has opened in New York to meet the needs of the large population of cultural, non-religious Jews identified in the recent findings of the American Jewish Identity Survey (AJIS 2001) – the only comprehensive data about this population currently available – conducted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, founded in 1986, has transformed its name and programmatic focus, and opened The Center for Cultural Judaism to implement completely new educational and outreach programs designed to reach this broad and diverse population of cultural Jews.

According to Executive Director Myrna Baron, ”One of the key findings of the survey, which confirmed our long-held understanding of this population, is that nearly half of America's adult Jews regard themselves as secular, and remain interested in the cultural expressions of their heritage.” The primary goal of The Center for Cultural Judaism is to engage non-religious, secular, and cultural Jews in Jewish life.

As one of its first major projects, The Center for Cultural Judaism republished AJIS 2001 and mailed it to nearly 30,000 leaders in the Jewish communal world, academia, philanthropy and Jewish education. (The reissued study is available through The Center for Cultural Judaism.)

The next major project is the introduction this Fall of Posen Foundation Grants for the Study of Secular Judaism. These grants are intended to cultivate and support the study of secular Judaism within already well-established university programs and departments of Judaic Studies, and other departments or programs in the humanities, arts or the social sciences. Grants will be awarded to support the curricular development and teaching of two to four courses per year in the history, texts, philosophy and practices of secular Judaism.

The establishment of The Center for Cultural Judaism is the first major organizational change on the American Jewish scene in reaction to emerging new insights into American Jewish demography, as cited in AJIS 2001. Salient among those insights is the emergence of a very large population of Jews – and for many their non-Jewish spouses as well – who do not find meaning in Judaism as a religion, but for whom Judaism as a culture is meaningful. The Center for Cultural Judaism will focus its work to advocate on behalf of this large, underserved population, explained Ms. Baron. “The Jewish community needs more outreach to cultural, non-religious and secular Jews. We need more programs and services that welcome cultural Jews and offer celebrations and education consistent with their beliefs. We need to train and ordain more rabbis and leaders to help secular, cultural and Humanistic Jews celebrate their Jewish identity with the honesty and integrity of their personal convictions.”

According to AJIS 2001, the first study to collect and analyze information on the religiosity and secularity of Americans, nearly one-half of American Jews identify themselves as secular or somewhat secular. One-half of American Jews are completely unaffiliated, and do not even belong to any Jewish organization or community center. (The full report is available electronically at www.culturaljudaism.org/pdf/ajisbook.pdf).

According to Felix Posen, philanthropist and supporter of the Center for Cultural Judaism, “Cultural Jews are vastly under served by existing educational programs in the organized Jewish community. We need to accept that the larger Jewish community generally has failed to meet the needs of non-religious Jews. We encourage other donors, foundations and local federations that are serious about engaging non-religious Jews in Jewish life to join us in this effort.”

New programs to be instituted by the Center for Cultural Judaism include developing and providing educational resources to high schools to teach Jewish Culture and Civilization; creating a central library of books, articles and videos on secular, humanistic and cultural Judaism including accurate historical reference books; introducing a new seminar series at the New York headquarters featuring leaders in secular, cultural and Humanistic Jewish thought; and creating a major website – an online virtual community – to provide articles, educational tools, cultural “liturgy” for home services, and information on like-minded communities for those who seek a community that supports their beliefs. The IFSHJ’s magazine Contemplate: The International Journal of Cultural Jewish Thought, an annual compendium of articles from around the world, will fall under the auspices of the new Center for Cultural Judaism.

Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine, North American co-chair of the International Federation of Secular Humanistic Jews, explained “The IFSHJ will continue as a federation comprised of national organizations, to develop our biennial conference and to represent secular and Humanistic Jews throughout the world. But we recognize the need to reach not just constituent members, but also the vast number of unaffiliated cultural Jews. We are very excited about this opportunity to transform the New York headquarters into a Jewish cultural center with programs for this population.”

Reflecting on the results of his survey, Egon Mayer, chairman of the Brooklyn College Sociology Department, Professor of Jewish Studies at the Graduate School of the City University of New York, and leading sociologist on AJIS 2001, noted, “I believe our demographic data challenge us to re-think the value of secular Jewish options to group solidarity… The analysis makes clear, the spirit of Jewish secularism is alive and well among America’s Jews. It awaits the creative genius of the galvanizing leader who can congeal that spirit into the mix, which forms the bonds of solidarity of the entire Jewish people.”

The Center for Cultural Judaism anticipates that its work will coincide with the educational programs in Israel known as “Judaism as Culture.” The Center plans to draw upon the expertise in this area of its colleagues at Meitar College for Judaism as Culture in Jerusalem and Alma Hebrew College in Tel Aviv, as well as the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in Michigan. Meitar Founder and Academic Director Yaakov Malkin will be among the first speakers at the new seminar series slated to begin in the Fall 2003, and will appear at New York’s prestigious 92nd Street Y in a program developed in cooperation with The Center for Cultural Judaism.

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