Millennials – Society and Religion

To understand why these new expressions of Jewish life seem to successfully engage young adults, it is useful to examine how American society is changing, and how millennials differ from previous generations. This section discusses the generational shifts that affect American millennials in general, and Jewish millennials in particular. Historically, young Jews have often resembled their non-Jewish peers in a variety of ways; today’s young Jews are no different. While not all are relevant to each millennial, those organizations and programs that comprehend and incorporate some of the principles behind these findings seem to be the ones having greater success in engaging young adults.

We use “millennials” as a catch-all for young adults in the 2010s and entering into the 2020s, even if some to whom we refer may be on the younger end of Generation X or the older edge of Generation Z. For context, the Pew Research Center uses the following designations according to birth year: Silent Generation (1928-1945); Baby Boomers (1946-1964); Generation X (1965-1980); Millennials (1981 to 1996); Generation Z or Post-Millennials (born since 1997).¹² Many of the leading figures in the organizations we describe belong to Generation X, and many of those participating in these frameworks belong to Generation Z.

Main features:

• Membership has less currency – In the U.S. today, affiliation with organized religious institutions, and membership in general, is considerably less important for communal participation than in previous generations.
• Young Jews are more confident in their “Americanness” – They hold multiple and overlapping identities, in which “Jewish” plays a part, but is not necessarily the primary identity.
• Hyper-individualism and reduced trust or interest in institutions and authority leads many young Jews to eschew denominational identity and affiliation with establishment institutions. This leads them to seek alternative and more “niche” expressions of Jewish identity.
• In an age of hyper-individualism, a consensus-based community seeking to serve a broad range of Jews is increasingly difficult to maintain and perhaps less relevant.
• Young Jews are part of a post-ethnic shift in America where identity is constructed more than inherited. This includes the loosening of institutional control over culture, which allows for organic and grassroots expressions.¹³
• Young Jews are temporally distanced from unifying historical memories of the 20th century: the Holocaust, Israel ’s founding, the Six Day War.
• There is a possible shift to a view of Jewish identity and practice more connected to “tradition” than “religion” or “ethnicity,” which demands less commitment.¹⁴
• Young American Jews are less likely to be “guilted” into coming to synagogue or marrying Jewish. They also seek out spaces and experiences that are nonjudgmental. Rather, Judaism must positively convince, entice, and offer value.
• Young Jews are digital natives and live much of their lives online. This empowers small groups and individuals to innovate, while simultaneously allowing those who do not seek the full benefits of community to engage in à la carte and DIY Judaism.
• Young Jews, and Americans in general, are delaying marriage and establishing families. Those who are not married, and especially those without children, are far less likely, across all generations, to belong to synagogues or other communal institutions.
• Young adults are also increasingly moving to areas that do not necessarily have Jewish infrastructure in place, including re-urbanizing, that is, from the suburbs into cities, that either do not host Jewish life, or that once did but no longer do, and are less financially stable than the previous generation.

Millennials in the United States – General

Numerous studies conducted on American millennials, between 2012 and today, reflect key generational shifts that differentiate this group from previous generations. For example, millennials tend to be less attached to, and even mistrustful of, establishment institutions, especially those that relate to politics or religion.¹⁵

This, however, does not mean that millennials are not spiritual or lack strong political convictions. Quite the opposite. Even though a third of millennials are religiously unaffiliated, as compared to a fifth of Americans overall, close to 70% believe in God, and 20% of young adults say they pray daily.¹⁶ Moreover, young adults, who tend to be more politically liberal than older generations, prefer to remain independent of party affiliation (about half are political independents).¹⁷ These findings may be more of a commentary on the value millennials see in religious, political, and other establishment organizations than with the ideals of each, as they view the organizations as overly focused on attaining money, power and political influence.¹⁸ This may also be influenced by the fact that this is a generation of digital natives, which can translate to a sense of connection on a global level, together with a sense of isolation and loneliness on the local level.¹⁹

Millennials tend to seek and embrace what they view as more authentic expressions of spirituality and meaning, and tend to eschew organized religion, labels, authority, and institutions in general.²⁰ One of the ways in which this is increasingly fulfilled is through grassroots, counter-cultural communities that fill some of the same functions religious communities may once have filled, including fitness and social endeavors, such as Crossfit, yoga, Dinner Party, Soul Cycle, and others.²¹

Endeavors that succeed in engaging millennials understand that this generation holds multiple identities simultaneously and eschews exclusionary frameworks. Millennials seek meaningful experiences and to be involved and given responsibility in these frameworks on a deeper level, rather than be tokenized. However, there is strong competition over the use of their time, and organizations or programs must provide added value. The product or service, therefore, should be approached from a human- or consumer-centric design process that seeks to understand the participant or consumer in the design stage of the product itself. That is, making the consumer’s goals and preferences a partner to the design of the product.²²

Millennials and young adults also tend to marry and have children later than previous generations; they tend to begin their careers later, as well. Thus, 26% of millennials are married, compared to 36% for Generation X, 48% for Baby Boomers, and 65% of the Silent Generation when they were in their 20s or 30s.²³ This is significant, as many join organized Jewish life only after having children. Because childbearing is delayed, and increasing numbers of people are choosing not to have children at all, it is no surprise that many Jewish institutions feel the absence of the millennial generation.

We noted that millennials and younger generations are “digital natives,” having been born into the digital age. Thus, they tend to be highly connected on social media, a key component of social networks and affinity groups.²⁴

Millennials tend, generally, to be more educated than previous generations.²⁵ They also have lower levels of social trust, which some have attributed in part to greater racial, religious, and ethnic diversity.²⁶

It is important to note that this is the first generation in recent U.S. history to be worse off economically than the previous generation, which certainly affects their financial ability to join and support many establishment Jewish structures.²⁷

Millennial American Jews

How do these generational shifts affect millennial and young adult Jews? We know, for example, that young Jews see their Jewish identities as important. This identity, however, is not exclusive, and overlaps comfortably with other identities, and in many cases, is not a central aspect of their lives.²⁸ Therefore, choices like choosing a place to live or building social networks are based on a constellation of considerations, with the Jewish aspect often being low on the list of priorities.²⁹

Conceptions of religious and ethnic identity are also changing. A key aspect of this is the shift to a post-ethnic identity, in our case a post-Jewish identity. According to this theory, which can help explain what is taking place, identity in the U.S. has undergone a shift from something inherited to something constructed.³⁰ We know that the notion of obligation to tradition is increasingly irrelevant, as are binding memories of the Holocaust, or times when Israel’s existence was under threat, or even of widespread antisemitism in America.³¹ Outside threats are also less likely to act as unifying factors for young Jews, who are firmly confident in their identities as Americans and as Jews. Thus, while previous generations may have asked “what is good for the Jews?”, young adult Jews may be more likely to ask, “how can Judaism help me help the world?”³² The concept of “Jewish continuity,” often the focus of many communal institutions, is bewildering, irrelevant, and sometimes off-putting to many young adult Jews.³³

Another conceptual shift to consider is that some young adult Jews articulate their own Jewish identities less in terms of religion or ethnicity, and more in terms of tradition. That is, they view religion as being an overly abstract, judgmental, and irrational construct that necessitates accepting an institutional authority over one’s life, while ethnicity carries elements of exclusive social boundaries that young Jews are less willing to accept. Tradition, on the other hand, is a construct that can incorporate different performative rituals, holiday celebrations and a more flexible and less obligatory and guilt-driven ethnic component.³⁴ Part of this likely has to do with the compounding influence of interfaith families on the identities of young Jews, many of whom are either the products of intermarriages or are closely related to non-Jews.³⁵ Thus, an exclusive tribalism that disparages marital and social mixing is rejected by this generation.³⁶

None of this, however, means young Jews are necessarily uninterested in Judaism or their Jewish identities – far from it. It does mean, however, that their interest in, and even awareness of, Jewish institutions has declined,³⁷ as the dominance of institutions over culture in general has declined.³⁸ Although previous generations may have expected token participation in religious or social communities, these are neither expected nor demanded today.³⁹ Indeed, young adult Jews, like young adults generally, hardly tend to be “members” of anything, let alone synagogues.⁴⁰ Young adult Jews, we also find, while interested and proud of their Jewishness, tend to be lacking in Jewish literacy.⁴¹

Dan Libenson, of the popular Judaism Unbound podcast, commented that the current synagogue model and structure of organized Jewish life was built for the demographic and social realities of the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, during which membership in religious communities was considered a prerequisite to being a full participant in society. He estimates that most non-Orthodox synagogues have always had a small hardcore group of actively religious members, and this continues to be the case today. Beyond that group, Libenson describes a second group that holds synagogue membership much as it would an “insurance policy or gym membership,” so it can have access to the clergy and facilities for life cycle events and high holidays (the majority of Jews). A third group, according to Libenson, consists of those who rarely attend synagogue but hold membership for communal acceptance. This group, he notes, no longer feels compelled to pay for such membership; what they need is readily available via the internet or through Chabad and freelance rabbis, at a fraction of the cost. The second group is also beginning to question the need for membership in today’s reality.

Millennials and Authenticity

Today, many young Jews, freed from institutional constraints, and empowered by technology and leadership programs, are taking the initiative and defining and building for themselves Jewish expressions they feel more authentically serve their interest and match their identities. As noted in virtually every study on millennials, Jewish or not, this is a generation that values individuality and self-expression. Thus, institutions and even denominations come replete with labels and expectations, something millennials and young adults tend to connect with less.⁴² Many refer to this generation as the iTunes or Netflix generation, in which experiences and identities are hyper-curated and individualized.⁴³ We see a growth in niche organizations that at once blur traditional notions of denominations and labels, while also boldly embracing uniqueness and niche expressions. And since young adult Jews do not feel organizationally or denominationally bound, it is acceptable and commonplace to “shul-hop,” or frequent multiple frameworks and institutions, simultaneously, to engage with the various aspects of one’s personal identity.⁴⁴

This does not mean that young adults do not seek deep and meaningful experiences. In fact, one major shift from previous generations is that as Jewish identity has shifted from inherited to constructed, participation must be meaningful, and experiences must be deep, otherwise they lack value and the participant will find meaning elsewhere (including in non-Jewish expressions).⁴⁵

Simultaneously, on a practical level, this generation delays marriage and family life, while most synagogues and Jewish institutions seem geared primarily to those with young families. ⁴⁶It is no wonder that those without children would be less drawn to frameworks that primarily tailor their programming to families and young children.

Significant geographic trends affecting Jewish communal life are also in play. Surrounding regions tend to have a significant impact on Jewish identities. The coasts, for example, tend to be less traditional and communally minded than the Bible Belt.⁴⁷ Similarly, we see young Jews more frequently moving around, including re-urbanizing (that is, moving from the suburbs back to cities) including to neighborhoods with no real Jewish infrastructure in place to serve their needs.

What seems to work in engaging this demographic? What seems to engage young adult Jews who move to areas without a Jewish infrastructure in place, or where that infrastructure is woefully outdated or geared primarily to young families?

• We see that frameworks succeed when they offer meaningful, positive, and intentional Jewish experiences, and do not shy away from questions such as “what can Judaism do to enrich my life here and now?”⁴⁸
• We see inclusive frameworks that offer judgment-free engagement – regarding both level of Jewish involvement and literacy,⁴⁹ but also personal life and social choices.⁵⁰
• We see inclusive frameworks that avoid labels and derision and break down boundaries of denominations, institutions, religions, class, and race.^51,52,
• We see frameworks that, in being inclusive and “meeting people where they are,” offer multiple meaningful engagement points after getting to know what people’s needs are through relationship building. These frameworks involve and value the presence of young adults as more than just tokens. They allow for individualized expressions and build micro-communities, which help individuals connect to a larger group through more finely tailored experiences.