One of the few silver linings of the past two years of war in Israel and rising antisemitism around the world has been the so-called “Surge” in Jewish engagement that has been documented in studies conducted by a number of Jewish organizations. 

Data scientists from several of those groups broke down their numbers last night in a panel discussion hosted by the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education, painting a hopeful but more nuanced picture of the Jewish world today than the rosier, more straightforward one that has been more widely publicized. 

In particular, the representatives revealed the inherent limitations of the studies, which rely on potentially flawed self-reporting and lump together significantly different forms of engagement and also primarily indicate what is happening post-Oct. 7, but not necessarily why they are happening. 

“Are we reaching people that we wouldn’t have reached otherwise because we’ve changed our programming mix or are there simply more people who are interested?” Michael Goldberg, the director of data management and business intelligence at the Union for Reform Judaism, asked rhetorically. 

A recent study by UJA-Federation of New York also found that between 11% and 23% of respondents reported attending Jewish programming or events more frequently than before Oct. 7, 2023. However, data on participation in Jewish programs “has not experienced a statistically significant change” during that time, according to the researchers. 

This can make it more difficult for organizations to use the data to inform their decisions going forward, and yet groups do appear to be relying on these figures for planning purposes.

“We have seen various communities create ‘Surge’ committees within their planning or allocations departments to really think about what are the organizations within their catchment area that are seeing an increase in individuals coming, that are well-positioned to do outreach to individuals or address some of those interests that we’re seeing,” David Manchester, director of community data and research development at Jewish Federations of North America, said. 

Batya Kopelowitz, Hillel International’s vice president of measurement, research and grantmaking, said that the group’s research into the increased engagement seen on college campuses post-Oct. 7 has already been factored into the organization’s latest three-year strategic plan. “We are doubling down on providing movement-wide experiences as a result of what we’ve found in this data,” she said.

Odeliah Epstein, senior director of knowledge, research and data at Prizmah, which supports Jewish day schools, said her findings on increased enrollment in those schools post-Oct. 7 had allowed her organization to provide them with better, more targeted assistance.  

“What this data did was allow us to customize how we were supporting schools and admission professionals and how they were intaking and marketing and talking to these families,” she said. “We’re able to help schools think about how they were going to help integrate these new students into the schools. So if they’ve never taken Hebrew before or they haven’t been in intensive Judaic studies courses, what additional supports do schools need to implement in order to support these students and help them thrive in their schools.”

Answering a question from eJP about which “Surge” behaviors appear likeliest to remain — increased synagogue attendance, tracking Jewish-related news more carefully, greater religious and cultural practices, etc. — Jake Brzowsky, the manager of community research at UJA-Federation of New York, said that this was an area that his organization would be tracking going forward. However, he said he “would hazard” that increased institutional engagement will likely remain elevated going forward, more than private practices like “news following,” which are more likely to drop off. “That is something that we’d be looking at in future research to see which are sticky and which aren’t,” he said.

Responding to the same question, JFNA’s Manchester said that the initial behavior that gets someone involved is less significant than “what that experience is once they’re in the door.” He highlighted the need for Jewish organizations to bring people into their communities and build personal relationships with them. 

“From what we’ve seen, the big piece is that development of social capital and social networks,” he said. “The hardest thing to walk into a Jewish program is the concern about not knowing people. … What I’ve over the last few years been saying to people is [that it] doesn’t matter what the topic of the program is, it is a relationship-building program, and that needs to be our top goal if we want to keep these people engaging in the Jewish community.”