Jewish Outreach: Strategies and Opportunities

Publication Date: January 1993

Publisher: American Jewish Committee; Nathan Cummings Foundation

Author(s): Steven M. Cohen

Research Area: Banking and finance; Culture and religion

Keywords: American Jews; Jewish Outreach; Jewish Identification

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The outreach approach embodies a readiness to welcome the mixed-married and others who are remote from Jewish life. It is also marked by a more aggressive promotion of Judaism amid the wider American marketplace of competing cultural currents and affiliations. This report aims to help both potential philanthropists and the outreach field to understand this relatively new phenomenon in American Jewish life. The report describes how outreach works, highlights major controversies within the field, examines why many Jews feel remote from prevailing currents of American Judaism, and suggests some areas where philanthropic intervention can be most effective.