Listening to Jewish Youth
Keeping young people involved and engaged is an issue for most, if not all, faith traditions. While the particular dynamics vary, the trends look much the same: Young people stay involved through Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Confirmation, or other rite of passage to full adult membership and then they begin to drift away.


Parents, clergy, and others have some understanding of why this happens, but often not enough to make a difference. Shema: Listening to Jewish Youth explores these trends among Jewish youth and seeks to provide Jewish educators, parents, rabbis, and youth workers with a deeper understanding of what factors are likely to keep young people interested and involved in Jewish congregations, youth groups, and formal education. Conducted by the Identity and Continuity Commission of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, with researchers from Search Institute, it is the first study of its kind in the country. No other Jewish community to date has undertaken such an intentional look at the thoughts, needs, and feelings, of its adolescents.

Through focus groups and surveys of 414 young people, the researchers found that Jewish youth are generally interested in being involved in Jewish rituals and traditions, as well as congregations, youth groups, and educational programs.

However, there are some things that youth view as barriers to that involvement. Top on the list is anti-Semitism. More than 40 percent of all 14- to 19- year-olds surveyed have personally experienced anti-Semitism. Other barriers include being bored, programs and activities taking too much of their time, being separated from their non-jewish friends, parents who arenÕt involved themselves, and schools that donÕt accommodate Jewish traditions.

So what things are likely to keep Jewish youth interested and involved? Listed below are some of the things Jewish young people say they are very or somewhat interested in or that make activities very or somewhat meaningful for them:
 
Doing things with my friends 93%
Meeting new people 92%
Learning about the Holocaust 85%
Having fun 83%
Helping me feel good about my Jewish identigy 82%
Learning about ethics 58%

The Jewish youth surveyed also expressed interest in activities that bring together Conservative, Reform, and Orthodox youth, and activities that sometimes include their non-Jewish friends.