Strength of Connection

Wider gaps by age and denomination emerged. Among seniors, 47% said that being Jewish was very important, yet only 17% felt the same about the connection to the organized community. Among middle-aged Jews (40-59 years old), the gap was slightly smaller between the 38% who said that being Jewish was very important to them and the 17% who said the same about being connected to the community. Among the younger Jews (under 40 years old) and parents with children at home, only 28% and 33%, respectively, felt that a connection to community organizations was very important.

The gap between feelings about the importance of being Jewish and of being connected to communal institutions is even larger for the non-denominational individuals who identify as Jewish, with 65% feeling that connection to institutions is not important. Among Reform and Reconstructionist Jews, only 16% feel that connection to community organizations is very important, with 37% and 41%, respectively, saying that it is not important.

Most feel a connection to local community organizations, but few feel very connected. In the 2019 survey, 57% felt some connection to their local community institutions, although the connection was far from strong: 32% felt very connected and 25% only somewhat connected. In the 2021 survey, a declining majority felt some connection to their local community, with 51% feeling somewhat to very connected. There is also a decrease in their intensity towards feeling connected, with those feeling most connected going down from 31% to 26%.