How Do We Keep Living Jewishly from Becoming Expensive and Lonely?

By Kellie Smith, Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida

I recently read an article that suggested two of the most urgent priorities facing the American Jewish community are making Jewish life more aff ordable and revitalizing the Jewish dating scene. This got me thinking—with Jewish life being rather expensive and the constant challenge of meeting Jewish singles, are we standing in our own way of having a thriving Jewish community? We must work to make Jewish life more aff ordable, and in the absence of your Jewish mother living down the street to fi x you up, we must make it easier for Jewish singles to connect!

Financially, the cost of Jewish Day School is one of our greatest challenges. Thankfully, our local Federation Annual Campaign provides funding to assist families with tuition. However, we must still consider that the price of tuition to attend a private Catholic K-8 school locally is roughly $8,000, while it costs nearly double that to receive a Jewish education—a reality of which I am very aware since I send my son, an only child, to a private Jewish Day School. In addition, the cost of Catholic religious school in Jacksonville is approximately $200 per year, while Jewish religious school can cost up to fi ve times that amount. Since only an estimated 2.4 percent of U.S. adults are Jewish and since we are a community that shuns active proselytizing, we must rely on a high Jewish birthrate to sustain. In order to sustain our Jewish identity in a secular, American culture, we must ensure our children are given the highest standard of Jewish education in both day schools and religious schools.

To help parents make the decision and feel fi nancially confi dent with their decision, we need the community's help to make this happen, from generation to generation, by being partners and sustaining Jewish education.

Culturally, the Jewish dating scene is in crisis, as more Jews than ever remain single in their thirties and forties, holding out for someone who is Jewish but unable to fi nd anyone. It’s proven diffi cult for young Jewish singles to meet and fall in love, especially when families are so spread apart, separated geographically by parts of town that are labeled “more Jewish.” One of the many missions of our local Federation is to provide ample networking opportunities. Programs like our Young Professionals & Families and Shalom Northeast Florida exist to serve a diverse and modern cross-communal and unaffi liated community. But, we must continue to do more to provide a lively Jewish social scene into the future to keep our next generation engaged and connected. We must shift our focus from capital projects to investing our

money into more efficient, dynamic infrastructure— moving from a brick-and-mortar mentality to an outreach and programming-based orientation.

There is no simple solution, but we must learn from what other organized religions have done. How can we begin to repair these issues and secure our Jewish future? I believe part of the answer lies in Endowment Funds—permanent investments that grow over time, established to fund the institutions they were created to support, in perpetuity. For example, the Catholic Archdiocese is worth $3.5 billion, and through long-term investing and endowments, has made it possible for Catholic life, culture, and education to thrive for generations even in the face of societal recession and hardship. Throughout history, Jews have paid a far higher price than money to hold onto our traditions, so how ironic that without proper preparation, an economic downturn could be the catalyst which ends up knocking countless Jewish families out of the possibility of Jewish practice.

Consider this: Did you save for retirement? Did you make plans to leave your family an inheritance? In the same vein, we must proactively invest in the protection and survival of our community. I know that particularly in the midst of the pandemic, so many families are forced to shift their focus from saving and providing for tomorrow to day-to-day spending; however, how will there be a next generation of Jews if we do not make a conscious effort to provide for their future sustainability?

The mission of our Jewish Foundation is to ensure the long-term financial health of our community and secure the ability to live Jewishly for generations to come. As our Endowment Legacy Campaign motto states, “We are Here for Jewish Futures.” To ignore the financial and dating predicaments facing our community is to ignore the importance of l’dor v’dor and potentially watch a generation of Jews fall away from their traditions—not out of disinterest, but out of a lack of organizational resources. Help preserve a thriving Jewish life in Northeast Florida for your children and grandchildren, by committing to tomorrow, today. Start the conversation about creating your Jewish legacy by contacting me at kelliek@jewishjacksonville.org or (904) 512-3796.