Pag«2-THE NEWSFebruary. 1983
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Editorial
Spotlighting Federation
The Jewish Famity Facing
Grave Crises In The 80*s
Several decades ago no one would have predicted the
dramatic societal changes we are currently experi'^ncing or
believed that such radical transformation would befall the
Jewish family. These are some of the incredible emerging
facts of Jewish family life in the 1980’s, and a powerful
message they convey to the Jewish community:
• One out of every three Jewish children will be brought up
by only one natural parent.
• One out of two Jews who marry in the 1980’s will be
divorced by 1990.
• One out of every three children born to a Jewish mother
or Jewish father will have a non-Jewish parent.
• One out of every two Jewish college students who marry
in the 1980’s will marry out of the faith.
• One out of every five married Jewish couples will have no
children.
• One out of every three couples will have only one child.
• One out of every two Jewish families will not be affiliated
with a synagogue or with any Jewish organization.
• Two out of every five Jewish children will receive no
Jewish education and will not have a Bar or Bat Mitzvah.
• Approximately 40% of young adults in missionary and
cult groups will be Jewish by birth.
• 25% of all Jewish children will have severe emotional dif
ficulties and school problems due to broken or unstable
homes.
• About half of all Jewish children in suburban schools
will need special guidance.
• Two out of every ten teenage Jews will be alcholics by
age 30. Currently 27% of all Jewish college youth are involv
ed in serious alcohol and/or drug problems. 35% of the
membership of Alcoholics Anonymous groups in New York
is Jewish.
The contrast with the Jewish home of the past is dramatic,
considering that traditionally the Jewish home has been held
up as a model of family togetherness and generally thought
to be impervious to negative influences. Open society and
Western affluence have taken their toll on the Jewish family.
However, the picture is by no means all bleak. Those same
Jewish values that have characterized Jewish home life,
motivating individuals toward outstanding academic, pro
fessional and cultural accomplishment, are still evident in
many family settings.
There are signs of Jewish vitality in the Jewish communi
ty, including the growth of the Jewish day school, the in
creased Jewish awareness among Jewish communal leaders,
the presence of increasingly larger numbers of young com
mitted Jews and Jewish families in various sectors of the
Jewish community, the growth of the Ball Tshuvah
(returnees to Judaism) movement, the unbated record of sup
port for humanitarian causes, particularly for Israel, and the
growing sophistication of the organized Jewish community.
This vitality is overshadowed by the prognostication made
in 1976 by Harvard University sociologist Elihu Bergman,
that in the year 2076 there will be at best only 900,000 Jews in
this country and at worst 9,000 Jews. Considering that there
are presently more than 5 million Jews in the United States,
this is a shocking revelation.
It is unfortunate but true, that with the exception of some
Jewish day schools and yeshivot, Jewish parental commit
ment to Jewish schooling is generally less than supportive.
The overwhelming majority of Jewish parents do not really
associate themselves with the goals of the Jewish schools
which their children attend, and do not provide the
necessary home reinforcement for Jewish schooling. Resear
chers in public and private education have demonstrated
that academic effectiveness is doomed without support from
the home and the community, and that family background
affects pupil achievement more than any school factor.
If Jewish studies and values are to be transmitted effec
tively, parents must become active partners in the education
of their children. Quite simply, without the involvement and
commitment of the Jewish family, Jewish education is doom
ed.
— Alvin I. Schiff
Dr. Schiff, is executive vice president of the Board of
Jewish Education of Greater New York. His article is based
on excerpts from a talk he gave at a Jewish Family Month
gathering, held in Oceanside, N. Y. His talk was based on a
number of recent surveys and many years of intimate study
of the Jewish community.
By Richard A. Klein
Is the Federation spending
too much money on missions
to Israel and sending people
to conventions?
Fair question. And it’s be
ing asked with increasing
frequency, so it needs to be
considered. The Federation
is a community trust, so we
must carefully consider how
each dollar is being spent. A
finance and budget commit
tee is being created to further
watch the money raised and
work with our established
allocations committee.
The concern about money
spent on missions and con
ventions is relatively new.
Until recently, Charlotte’s
Federation was hard-pressed
to find anyone who wanted to
go on missions to Israel or
UJA/CJF conventions
around the country.
In fact, until this year,
most folks couldn’t name the
last ten people to go to Israel
on a UJA mission. Only a
handful had gone to any of
the regular UJA conven
tions. Even those listed on
UJA rosters and stationery
as Charlotte leaders and
representatives often didn’t
attend.
That’s changing. And with
the change will come the
need for subsidies and loans.
Are they worth it? Should
Charlotte even consider in
vesting as much as $10,000 to
send people to conventions
and Israel?
Some may suggest that the
allocation is out of propor
tion for the needs. How
many times does the com
munity need to hear what’s
happening in Israel? How
many new ways are we going
to learn how to raise money
at conventions? Why can’t
one or two people do the job
instead of sending several
people? Shouldn’t the money
simply go to charities and
services — or directly to
Israel?
Our Federation is evolving
from what has been a
relatively modest campaign
with few demands except to
Israel, to a larger campaign
responsive to greater com
munity needs and more
pressure to serve Israel. To
make that expansion, more
solicitors need to participate
and more money must be
raised.
Perhaps one .of our
weaknesses has been the
lack of development of
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D1EWISM.VOOTH
The Jewish Calendar
Candlelighting
Feb. 4-5:55 p.m.
Feb. 24 - Fast of Esther
Feb. 11 -6:02 p.m.
Feb. 27 - Purim
Feb. 18-6:09 p.m.
Feb. 28 * Shushan Purim
Feb. 25-6:15 p.m.
Mar. 4-6:22 p.m.
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leadership and enough peo
ple to work in the campaign.
We’ve depended heavily on a
few good souls. Now we’re
faced with a much larger
community; we’ve lost some
of the trusted campaigners
and many who have given
generously would like to see
others do the same.
In essence, we’re almost
starting over. Those whom
we expect to do the job have
to be trained. Many of the
volunte,ers, however, do not
have sufficient resources to
get the necessary
backgrbund to solicit effec
tively.
Fortunately, the United
Jewish Appeal and the
Council of Jewish Federa
tions provide the necessary
tools. At regional and na
tional conventions, we can
expose our future leadership
and campaigners to the ways
to raise more money in
Charlotte and explain the
reasons why. Our job is to
get our people to these con
ventions.
From past experience,
we’ve discovered (happily)
all the following to be
generally true:
1. Those attending
UJA/CJF conventions and
going on missions
themselves will give much
more money to the annual
campaign.
2. Participants on mis
sions and at conventions are
charged up to successfully
lead our community into a
well-planned, organized
campaign.
3. Participants usually
develop contacts who can
come into our community to
assist with the campaign and
raise more money.
4. Participants acquire
leadership capabilities.
5. Not everything learned
is in campaign work; we also
acquire social services, com-
munity relations and
synagogue skills.
The Federation has not
been subsidizing everyone
who has been going to Israel
and conventions. Several in
dividuals have been paying
their own way. UJA has also
subsidized a few of our peo
ple, recognizing that their
presence in Israel will help
the national campaign.
But the bottom line is that
if we expect our future cam
paigns to flourish, we will
have to train and motivate
more people in the communi
ty. Recognizing that these
good volunteers often don’t
have the means to pay for all
their trips, the Federation is
preparing to study on a case-
by-case basis the need to
provide partial or complete
subsidies.
There are no “free rides”
here, or junkets. These trips
and missions are hard work
for those attending. The
hours are long. The sessions
are well-planned and
studious. The information
comes at a rapid clip. And
the dividends for those at
tending are superb.
As one Charlotte Federa
tion leader recently remark
ed, if we expect to make
money, we’re going to have
to spend some. The ultimate
investment and its payback
should be worthwhile.