Strategic Assessment

For decades, outreach among American Jews has focused on shoring up the core. As non-Orthodox Jews drift away from Jewish life, the establishment invests billions to reach them through campus centers, youth movements, trips to Israel, and other programs. Demographic realities now dictate an additional approach: on the one hand, mobilization of the emerging “Jewish Background” and “Jewish Affinity” sectors, and on the other, moves to increase Haredi involvement in mainstream philanthropy and pro-Israel activism. These growing sectors must become targets for outreach. For Israel and American Jewry, the time has come to move beyond the core.