JLC launches fund to support projects for young Jews

The summit follows research commissioned by the task force – a report on what works in education by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and focus groups with young people, conducted by Rosov Consulting, an international Jewish agency specialising in education.

“This is the beginning,” said her fellow chair Bill Benjamin, a JLC trustee, who is also chair of the London School of Jewish Studies. “I think this is a very important effort and we need to keep this at the forefront of communal consciousness – which is how to keep the moderately engaged young people committed to their Jewish identity and hopefully to a relationship with Israel.”

Bogush, who is chair of cross-communal educational and cultural organisation Limmud and a UJS trustee, pointed to a growing gap between the time young Jews leave university and when they might settle down to start a family and perhaps join a synagogue. “The longer that gap is, the more likely we are to see young adults drop out of the community,” she said.

Added to that are problems such as the cost of housing in the capital and the impact of October 7. “All those things have come together to mean this is an urgent issue. It needs to be a conversation that is at the top of the communal agenda.”

In addition to the research, she, Benjamin and other members of their team themselves interviewed a couple of dozen of young Jews who were “moderately engaged”, rather than heavily involved with the Jewish community.

“When I did the one-to-ones and asked them who’d had the greatest impact on them,” Benjamin said, “ it was always a family member –a grandfather, an uncle who kept things, somebody who was the standard-bearer in a small community, a Holocaust survivor grandmother.”

It stressed the significance to him of relationships, rather than institutions, in nurturing Jewish identity. This was in line with the JPR report, which noted that upbringing had the most enduring impact on commitment to faith.

Benjamin also highlighted the positive impact of peer-led activities, identified by the report, such as youth movements or university Jewish societies. “It doesn’t mean rabbis and teachers aren’t important, but the numbers favour family and friends,” he said.

One theme that emerged from the Rosov Consulting report was the lack of open discussion, some felt, within the community about Israel. One participant remarked: “If you are too critical of Israel… I don’t think there are welcoming Jewish spaces in the mainstream Jewish community.”

While other polling had suggested “an intensification of support for Israel among the majority” after October 7, Benjamin observed: “There is still a significant proportion of young people who are feeling alienated. Whatever our own personal opinions, they are our children. We want them to have a relationship with Israel, even if it is challenging, [even if] tortured.”

A “significant” segment of our young people “want to be able to speak about Israel in a way that is not necessarily unflinching support.” They wanted “safe and brave spaces to talk about Israel without a cancel culture”, he said.

The purpose of next week’s summit, he said, was “to help envision the community they want to live in, and we will be able to back some of their ideas with money.”

Bogush said it was not about creating new institutions but empowering young people “to do what they think is necessary.

“If we don’t get this group excited about being part of our community now, in 20 to 30 years, we are not going to have anyone like Bill or me.”

To register for the summit, click here or go to: thejlc.org/events2/spark-the-future