WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN JEWISH YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS Some Implications for Birthright Israel
BARRY CHAZAN. PH.D. Professor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem and STEVEN M. COHEN. PH.D. Professor, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
The effort to bring many more American Jewish young people to Israel demands sensitivity to the new realities of contemporary American Jewish youth. Visiting Israel is the exception and not the rulefor the majority of American Jewry, and it is not reinforced by adolescent peer or adult Jewish society.
s we enter the twenty-first century, there OUR APPROACH Aire clear indications of a dramatic change To address this question, we undertook the in youth travel to Israel, as manifested in the following steps: establishment of Birthright Israel, acombinbd effort ofthe State of Israel, Jewish communities • We reviewed the social scientific litera throughout the world, and a group of Jewish ture on American teenagers and American phtianthropists. The goal of this program is to Jewish teenagers make a visit to Israel a part of the hfe experience • We held extended discussions with acade of the majority of today's and tomorrow's micians, researchers, and educational prac young Jews. titioners in Israel and the United States To reach this goal, this new venture is • We reanalyzed the 1990 National Jewish developing a systematic, long-term, and stra Population Survey (NJPS), focusing on tegic approach to its work. We were asked to young adult respondents, aged 19-26, and contribute to this effort by presenting a clear the parents of teenagers aged 14-18. In and accurate understanding of the social, addition, we utilized a national survey of demographic, and Jewish identity character American Jewish teenagers and their istics of today's young Jews and how they parents conducted in 1993 to provide affect the decision to travel to Israel. Our task supplemental data. was to answer this question: Who are Jewish young people in the United States between WHAT WE LEARNED the ages 14-26? In this article, we focus on the young Jews The Changing Size of the Jewish Youth of the United States. Although the United Population of the United States States is home to the vast majority of Jews Demographically, the number of Jewish living outside the Land of Israel, American teens, college-aged students, and young aduhs Jews exhibit the lowest rates of travel to in the United States is not static and, in fact, Israel. The American Jewish community is shows dramatic changes every few years. crucial to the success of any effort to signifi The 1990 NJPS is a helpful resource for our cantly increase the participation of Jewish concems, since it contains accurate, precise, youth worldwide in the Israel experience and detailed information about the number of while also presenting the greatest challenge to Jews bom in each year. One finding of this the vision of birthright Israel. study that we rely upon definitely is the actual
76 Amencan Jewish Youth and Israel Travel / 11 and predicted age structure ofthe population • The majority of American Jewish youth (knowing the number of 0-9 year olds today is are socioeconomically of the middle class. a quite precise indicator of the number of 10- • They are consumers of quality secondary 19 years old in ten years!). education, both private and public. The data indicate a significant increase in • Most are on an educational track leading the Jewish teen populadon over the past ten to attendance at a university. years: from232,000m 1990to354,000inthe • They have growing independent power as year 2000. In the year 2000 there were approxi consumers and as purchasers of goods and mately 71,000 Jewish teens in each age cohort services, particularly in the area of cloth between the ages Hand 18, as compared with ing, music, and travel. 46,000 Jewish teens in each age cohort in 1990. • They are susceptible to all of the psycho At the same time, the college-age group is logical dynamics and processes of adoles in decline. In 1990 there were 267,000 young cence and youth, which include sexuality people between the ages 19-22, in contrast to and parental issues and dynamics. 209,000 youngsters in 2000. • The present generation of 25-year-olds The prospective shrinkage is even more and under has grown up in one ofthe most severe among Jewish young adults (age 23- individualistic cultures that has ever ex 26). There were 313,000 such individuals in isted. 1990 and a projected 191,000 by die year 2000. • At the same time, these teens are develop During the coming ten-year period, ing in a cultiire in which aduhs play an changes in Israel travel will occur not only increasingly distant role and identity and because of birthright or better marketing or behavior are shaped significantiy by peer recruitment, but because of changes in popu groups and social networks. lation size. American JewisJi Youtli Consist of Three Young American Jews Must Be Seen First Distinct Subgroups: Adolescents (14-18), and Foremost as Young People Living in Youth (19-22), and Young Adults (23-26) American Society Young Americans and American Jews be Jewish teens are American teens. They are tween 14-26 are not one homogeneous group. influenced and shaped by all of the psycho They need to be treated as three unique age logical and sociological factors that affect groups, each of which has distinctive socio contemporary American youth in general. logical, psychological, and demographical fea The organized Jewish community's uniquely tures. Jewish concerns sometimes leads it to see these young people through Jewish eyes only. Adolescents: Ages 14 to 18 This approach is misleading. Any interven Adolescents are characterized by the pow tion must take into account the prominent erful role of peer group and adolescent social characteristics of these young people—as networks. They are deeply influenced by in- adolescents and as consumers. groups, out-groups, hanging out with friends, Consequendy, utilizing large-scale surveys and being popular or not. of American teens and college students that As adolescence unfolds, young people go include Jewish youngsters (e.g., the UCLA through sequential stages of detachment from freshman survey of 30 years of entering UCLA parents, a search for a mature identity, and freshman and the University of Michigan eventually, the coalescence of the aduh self "Monitoring the Future" survey of school- Though all teenagers may go through these aged youth) is critical for our effort. three developmental stages, not all undergo These and other studies point to several them at the same ages and certainly not in the salient general characteristics that American same way. Jewish youth share with their counterparts:
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High-school youngsters of all ages are pre This group (and their older counterparts) is occupied with issues of physicality, sexuality, literate in the world of computers and and the opposite sex. Products and thinking cyberspace. Almost all use personal comput related to skin, hair, body, and clothing play ers and e-mail and access the Internet regu central roles in their psyche. larly, and many make purchases on the This age group markedly resists organiza Internet. Teens spend over 4 hours a week on tional and ideological afftiiations and mem average on the home computer. Clearly the bership. Adolescents like to hang out with Internet will be an increasingly central re other teens, but, in contrast to youth in other source for a host of activities (marketing, pre- countries, they are not predisposed to joining trip preparation, post-trip programs, commu youth movements or other ideological frame nications between Israeli and North Ameri works. They may see such affiliations as can teens) related to the Israel experience, representative of the adult world and value and it will play an important role in tiie work system at a time when they are wresthng with of birthright Israel. diverse identity possibilities. Consequently, While youngsters at this age are still part both existing organized youth networks and of the core family group, this is a period of independent non-organized outreach pro increased independence from (and sometimes grams must be used to market Israel travel. friction with) family and increased gravita For reasons about which we can only specu tion toward the peer group and friends. At the late, more girls than boys have an interest in same time, teens emphasize the central role of joining youth movements and related activi their parents in the development of their self- ties (such as Israel experience trips). This perceptions. More than 52 percent value the phenomenon is not particularly related to opinion of one or both parents as opposed to being Jewish, and the gender variation seems only 18 percent for a friend. This data clearly to apply to all sorts of organized youth activi suggest that when it comes to social-market ties. ing issues related to the Israel experience, a Adolescents exercise increasingly inde "parent-strategy" (in addition to a teen focus) pendent consumer power. While the group is is essential. not completely economically independent, it The years between 14-18 are a time of does have its own financial resources, spend intense preoccupation with examinations, ing money on clothes, music, cars, and enter grades, and preparing for college. The pres tainment. The increased economic indepen sures of successfully completing high school dence of this age group is related to the in and being accepted at a desirable college are creased preoccupation with working during primary forces in the daily lives of young summer and vacation periods in order to make people. Youngsters at this age, especially money. These issues affect attitudes toward those on the academic fast track, speak of the duration and cost of Israel trips. "resume-building," by which they mean ac Music plays a central role in the life of this cumulating experiences that will make them age group. These youngsters buy CDs and more attractive applicants to highly selective musical equipment, watch MTV, and go to rock institutions of higher leaming. Marketing concerts and performances—spending an Israel ttavel as an experience that may conttib- average of 30 hours a week watching TV, ute to one's college application process may listening to radio, and listening to CDs as increase its appeal. compared to 2 hours a week spent going to Mobility and travel are accepted norms for religious functions. They intimately connect this age group. They have drivers' licenses, fly with the culture and personalities ofthe con regularly, and are comfortable in airports, ttain temporary musical scene. The interest in music stations, and money-exchanging agencies. and teenage culture suggests creative new These young people have grown up in homes ways for presenting Israel as a contemporary with multiple cars and in which families ttavel Jewish society.
WINTER 2000 American Jewish Youth and Israel Travel / 79 regularly on vacations inside and outside the This age group, as its younger siblings, is United States. totally at home with planes, ttains, busses, Many experts stress the dramatic leaps cars, backpacks, and all of the paraphernalia forward in maturity that occur within the of modem ttavel. Moreover, young people of high-school years, even going so far as to this age attend universtties in which overseas suggest that one or two grade levels constitute ttavel for study purposes is accepted or even distinctive market segments. Indeed, there is encouraged. much to be said for this view, as the changes This age group is also computer literate that young people undergo during these years and active. They use the Internet for informa are more rapid and dramatic than those that tion and communication even more than their take place among the two older age segments. younger counterparts. All of these characteristics have immediate Youth: Ages 19 to 22 implications for marketing Israel ttavel in the college years: Members ofthe college-aged group make a dramatic break from the home as base. A • It should take into account career inter great number shift their place of residence for ests. at least several months each year to apart • Traveling to Israel at this age with other ments and dormitories. The campus now as Jews could mean spending time with po sumes many fimctions of the home. The people tential spouses. they live with are no longer family members, • Israel ttavel has to take into account the and the family' s Jewish or general calendar no economics ofthe college years. longer shapes their daily and weekly sched • Israel travel in the college years must ule. Therefore, outteach to this group carmot reflect topics and subjects that preoccupy only rely on home. the post-adolescent mind. This age group focuses very directly on • Israel ttavel during college must learn career choice and preparation. Young people from general travel patterns at this age and at this age are now thinking about what they cannot simply be replicating teen ttips. will become professionally and how to get there. A no less serious preoccupation related Young Adults to the future is fmding one's significant other. At this age, the preoccupation with the oppo The 23- to 26-year-olds are fully preoccu site sex begins to encompass issues of finding pied with issues of career, economic indepen a future husband or wife. dence, marriage, and becoming estabbshed in These preoccupations are also accompa hfe. Some are involved with advanced profes nied by an increased focus on financial issues. sional training, others are beginning to go out Members feel an increased responsibility for into the larger world, and some are seeking to supportmg themselves. Summers are no longer extend the moratorium a few more years. They automatically vacation time; they are now a are generally very individually focused and time to work and make money or to invest in much less preoccupied with the peer group or pre-professional preparation. with group ttavel. The focus now is on myself, At the same time, for some of these young a small group of friends, and where I am going. people the college period is very much the last This is the age when individuals enter their chance for the classic "moratorium" period. adult lifestyle. There is much new knowledge It is the last time in life when one is free to in the world of education about methods and think, read books, discuss philosophy and approaches to adult leaming. Israel ttavel at love, and not be tied down by a full bag of day- this age must utilize the best knowledge we to-day responsibilities. have about adult leaming and education.
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THE CATEGORIES THAT ARE riage and the arrival of school-aged children, GENERALLY USED TO DESCRIBE many Jews retum to the instittitional infra ADULT JEWISH IDENTITY ARE NOT stmcture that they abandoned during the 14- DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO 26-age period. ADOLESCENTS AND YOUNG ADULTS Similarly, many of the key Jewish rituals that are used to measure Jewish identification In thinking about Jewish teens and their are connected to having a home or a family. identities as Jews, many sophisticated ob It is much more likely that Jews will light servers apply conceptions and categories ap Shabbat candles if they are married and have propriate to the adult world. They may divide young children than if they are single univer the population by denomination. They may sity students. A dormitory room is less con speak of the affiliated and the unaffdiated. ducive to lighting candles or to building a They may focus on a variety of ritual practices Sukkah. The majority of young people at this and attendance at synagogue services. These age have not yet begun to own their own distinctions may make some sense, but they homes or to have young families. They are at mean different things for adults as opposed to a stage of life and development that does not younger populations. yet reflect the rituals of Jewish family life. Adolescence and youth are the classic ages Again, the absence of performance on these of the search for identity, defined by altema indicators should not be taken as definitive tives, diversity, and experimentation rather proof of total lack of interest in things Jewish. than by definitive and conclusive identifica These considerations mean that many of tion pattems. As fluid as are aduh Jewish the current generalizations about adolescent identities, those of youngsters are even more and youth Jewish identity may be far from fluid and dynamic. accurate. The ttuth is that we actually have The application of adult-oriented measures very little sophisticated knowledge about of Jewish involvement may also lead to an young people's Jewish beliefs, emotions, underestimation of the depth of Jewish inter knowledge, skills, and behavior. Indeed, it est and concem among younger people. For would be more useful to view young people' s example, as we have noted, the years 14 to 26 Jewish identities as arrayed on a spectmm are notan age characterizedbyjoining organi rather than as polarized between affiliated zations or by paying membership fees. Hence, and unaffiliated, or involved and uninvolved. membership rates in formal Jewish organiza A careful look at the study of American tions in these younger years are by nature Jewish teens points to numerous variations much lower. and gradations. It is also important to note that, ironically, There probably are at least three main the Jewish educational infrastmcture for the groups in terms of Israel ttavel. youth population is less elaborate than that available for their parents. The Jewish com 1. About 20 percent are highly engaged munity deploys far fewer Jewish educators, young Jews with high rates of Israel ttavel. rabbis, and communal workers per capita for This group includes most day school the ages 14-26 than it does for ahnost any other graduates, most Orthodox youngsters, and discrete age range in the course of the life significant minorities of active Conserva cycle. tive and Reform teens and young adults. As a result of these and other factors, 2. At the other extreme (about 30%) are relatively few 14 to 26-year-olds are found in minimally engaged young Jews with low institutional frameworks, be they youth move rates of ttavel to Israel. This group has ments for adolescents, campus-based youth little or no Jewish schooling, a low degree organizations, or JCCs and synagogues for of organizational affiliation, and low lev the young adults. However, this pattem of els of Jewish observance. "not-joining" is not definitive, and with mar
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3. Between these two groups there is the vast quarter of American Jews have visited Israel. Jewish "middle" that comprises about This figure is consistent with the 1993 Na half the Jewish youth population. This tional Study of American Jewish Teenagers, group is moderately engaged, has had which indicates that 21 percent of high-school some Jewish schooling, may or may not students (by age 18) had visited Israel. It is be members of a Jewish youth organiza also consistent with several local Jewish tion, and may perform some Jewish ob population studies that report that one thhd or servances. This is the group where great more of American Jewish adults have been to gains in Israel travel can be realized. It is Israel. All of these studies suggest a pattem a group that is generally identifiable and in which by age 18 about 21 percent of reachable. American Jews have visited Israel; by age 26 approximately 26 percent have visited; and This more delineated and differentiated about one-third of all American Jewish adults notion of youth Jewish identity pattems will over 21 have visited Israel. yield a much more niche-oriented, The overall implication is clear; about youth-tailored, and teen-focused approach to three-quarters of American Jewish young presenting and programming Israel travel. people up to the age of 26 have not visited Israel. In that sense the task being confronted ONLY ABOUT ONE-QUARTER OF is not merely to increase numbers, but to AMERICAN YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE significantly change a dominant pattem that VISITED ISRAEL BY THE AGE OF 26 has characterized over fifty years of Ameri can Jewish life. There has been much confusion over the past decades as to the exact number and TODAY'S YOUNG JEWS ARE percentage of young people (and adults) who EXPERIENCING A NEW ISRAEL have visited Israel. One source of confusion is that different categories of numbers and Adult Jews grew up with an Israel that was figures have been used in reporting on this a young, pioneering country fighting an his subject. Some research has reported the per toric battie for survival. This fledgling Israel centage of youngsters who have gone to Israel was beleaguered, heroic, democratic, socially out of the total possible age cohort in any one progressive, and central to collective Jewish year. For many years it was reported that only identity in the Diaspora. 2 percent of youngsters from the United States The Israel of today's Jewish youth is a went to Israel in any one year. Sometimes only different place. It is modem, high-tech, a youngsters who have participated in programs military power, and a place of major impor sponsored by certain agencies have been in tance in the intemational arena. It remains cluded in the reporting, thereby excluding important in the collective Jewish identity of youngsters who have gone to Israel with other North American Jews, but its diminished role groups or with their families. Frequently, dif in the personal identity of young Jews has ferent age categories have been used in report been affected by events of the past two de ing participation in Israel travel; sometimes the cades. reporting covers ages 13-18, at other times, The sociological research indicates that 14-18, and at other times 14-26! American Jews are less invested in politics, The 1990 National Jewish Population Sur philanthropy, organizations, and collective vey (NJPS) provides reasonably reliable in Jewish endeavors of all sorts and Israel no formation about this question. We looked at longer stands as the exclusive item of the data on Jewish respondents who were be public Jewish agenda. tween the ages of 19 and 26 at the time of the The American Jewish public has become interview to see how many had been to Israel. more moderately dovish, and attitudes toward This analysis suggests that in 1990 about a the Israel-Arab conflict have become more
WINTER 2000 Journal of Jewish Communal Service / 82 complex. Hard-line Israeli leaders and govem of Jewish youth movements. ments have been alienating to much of the The Israel ttip has not succeeded in reach American Jewish public outside of Orthodoxy. ing out to the majority of the mainstteam The conflicts over conversion and rehgious Jewish youth of the United States. In an age pluralism in Israel have proj ected a (mistaken) when social networks and peers exert much image of Israel as rejecting the vahdity of influence, there is little positive peer influ Conservatism and Reform, the major defini ence toward fraveling to Israel. tions of Jewish identity in the United States. Today's youth are likely to view Israel in CONCLUSION very contemporary as well as Jewish terms. The effort to bring many more American Ongoing research on American Jewish atti Jewish youngsters to Israel demands sensitiv tudes toward Israel shows continued overall ity to the new realities of contemporary Ameri support and commitment, along with greater can Jewish youth: potential reservations and distancing from Israel among younger generations. • We need to be aware of the ever-changing In marketing and educating for the Israel demography of the 14- to 26-year-old age experience, birthright Israel must begin with an group. understanding of the new sense of Israel among • We need to distinguish among teenagers, young people in the 21st century. college students, and young adults in pro moting the Israel experience. TRAVEL TO ISRAEL HAS NEVER • We need to approach our young Jews as BECOME A NORM FOR MOST American consumers and American young AMERICAN JEWS; ISRAEL TRIPS ARE people. UNDERTAKEN BY A SMALL NUMBER OF • We need to think of their Jewish identities THE MOSTLY COMMITTED AND in terms of a broad spectmm of expres RELIGIOUS SECTORS OF sions, rather than as either affdiated or AMERICAN JEWRY unaffdiated. About two-thirds of American Jews have • We need to take into account the new Israel never visited Israel. This means that most that 21 st-century Jewish youth will experi young Jews today have not grown up in a ence. culture in which their parents or other role • We need to recognize that visiting Israel is models typically go to Israel. Most contem the exception and not the mle for the bulk porary Jewish parents of the past tiiree de of American Jewry, and it is not reinforced cades have traveled to other countries, but not by either peer or adult Jewish society. to Israel. Young people whose parents have been to These realities are challenges that invite Israel are ten times more likely to visit Israel responses and not pitfalls that spell failure. than those whose parents have never visited Any sttategy seeking to substantially increase Israel. the number of youngsters visiting Israel will The young people and adults who have need to address all these issues simultaneously ttaveled to Israel have largely come from the and to develop a creative and innovative 21 st- most committed population—tiie Orthodox century sttategy. world, day schools, and very active members
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