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34 THE GUIDE 2021/2022
households to participate in ritual-like activity,” said Lindsay Weicher,
manager of data analytics at Jewish Federation. “Ritual-like” activities
included lighting Chanukah candles or attending a High Holidays
service. Jews of color were just as likely to participate in synagogue program-
ming as white, non-Hispanic Jews, but were less likely to do so as
members. Fifty-six percent of households with a Jew of color are not
connected to a synagogue.

Jared Jackson, executive director of Jews in ALL Hues, an education
and advocacy organization that supports multiple-heritage Jews and
Jews of color, said racism is often a barrier to synagogue engagement
for Jews of color. They may face implications that they are somehow not
“real” Jews because they are not of white Ashkenazi heritage. Another
common issue is feeling pressured to choose between their Jewish and
racial identities in certain political contexts.

“It shouldn’t be a cost of being a part of a community to take racism
from people,” he said, especially in a space where people are seeking
spiritual fulfillment.

In terms of affiliation, Jews of color were most likely to identify as
unaffiliated (51%) or Orthodox (22%). Jackson said this data aligned
with his own observations.

“I would say probably a good fifth of the Jews of color that I know
are Orthodox in some way, shape or form,” he said. “A lot of them lean
towards Sephardim because there are certain Sephardi communities
that are more accepting of Jewish people of color.”
He also said there are many Jews of color who are not affiliated with
any movement whatsoever, or who say they are Reform, if asked, to
avoid scrutiny.

The study also showed that households with Jews of color tend
to prefer to use Jewish agencies for social services across all areas,
including food, housing, senior care and child care, compared to white
non-Hispanic Jews.

Romirowsky said Jewish Federation plans to use the study’s findings
to inform grant writing, investments and proposals for creating inclu-
sive community programming and social services.

“We would like for our community agencies to make sure that any
services they provide, whether it be social services or Jewish engage-
ment or education, are inclusive, and, if need be, that they are doing
specific outreach in some cases to Jews of color communities,” she said.

She said the findings could be used to create culturally sensitive
outreach — publicizing a program through channels other than syna-
gogues, for example.

Her department plans to continue to conduct smaller follow-up
studies and focus groups in areas that they believe need further expla-
nations. They plan to commission more studies depending on what they
can accomplish with in-house staff.

“The plan is not to wait 10 years for another big study, because the
world is changing too fast now,” she said.

Jackson said the results, particularly those revealing income
inequality and need for social services, showed the huge amount of
work that needs to be done to provide better economic and engagement
opportunities for Jews of color.

“Having a multiracial community is not a given. It has to be earned
at every turn,” he said. “We need to invest in a multiracial future and a
multiracial present that integrates and honors people.”
“We’re growing as a multiracial religious and cultural community,
and that’s a beautiful thing,” he added. l