This scenario could have far ranging implications for the Jewish community. Here are some possibilities:
- The economic crisis is short. While some Jewish organizations don’t survive the crisis, most manage to bounce back.
- The resulting economic inequality, however, results in fewer people able to pay tuitions and membership fees; so community revenue models depend more and more on mega funders that control much of the communal agenda.
- There is an increase of antisemitism both in the left and the right, demanding enormous expenditures in security.
- A fragmented society means that communities will need to “fend for themselves”; we could see a re-emergence of Jewish health systems, Jewish defense groups, and “Hatzalah”-style EMT services in many areas. Gated Jewish communities could emerge
- However, human services agencies in the Jewish community will be hit hard because poverty will not diminish and government subsides will decrease. Many funders will be asked to contribute to these agencies.
- With international travel decreasing, many Israel engagement activities will be in crisis. With time, Israel travel will resume, but many programs will be prohibitively expensive for some.
- The development of AI will result in a significant increase in the use of technology for Jewish education. In a fragmented and even violent society, distant activities will flourish.
- Young adult activities that are campus-based may suffer as a large number of students study online or attend commuter campuses. Campus organizations like Hillel and Chabad that engage students will become less relevant in a “no-campus” era.
- In this context, where the outside society is seen as repressive and threatening, Jewish spaces may regain their luster.
- Many families will look at the community as a refuge. Parents will want for their children to spend time in the protected space of the JCC. Small suburban synagogues and communities will offer comfort and belonging to many. In that context, larger, less personal synagogues may suffer or need to be reimagined.
- Many may also retreat into religious study, searching for meaning and trying to make sense of a turbulent context.
- As in other times of crisis, Jews may need to experiment with a renewal of Judaism, creating new spiritual movements and re-inventing their tradition.
- The move of Jews to the suburbs may create a disconnection between Jewish infrastructure (buildings, schools, etc.) and the place of residence of those Jews. There’ll be pressure to sell real estate, but in a depression, there’ll be few buyers.
- The family will become the focal center for many, and family-based communal programs will thrive.
- The disparity in economic means will determine that we will have a two-tiered community, one for the wealthy and another for the rest. The spaces for the entire community will be weaker or nonexistent.