Unsolicited belated Pew take: if you’re concerned about Orthodox retention and talking about “inreach”, know this: people don’t leave Orthodoxy because they can’t find meaning in it. They leave because Orthodox institutions and social norms are all Orthodoxy ever was to them.
Orthodoxy either A) doesn’t have a coherent spiritual vision (Modern Orthodox) or B) suffers from social problems so egregious or pervasive as to overshadow, for people who leave, anything good about them (Yeshivish+MO). You think people want to be rejected by their families?
Orthodox institutions are responsible for this. You can’t expect most people to articulate their own Jewish vision for their families. People rely on shuls, schools, youth organizations. And institutions bury their heads in the sand about issues they deem not significant enough.
The result? Young people learn to distrust their institutions. They realize they don’t represent them. I would be interested to see a survey of 20-30 year olds of their opinions of YU, OU, NCSY. I would take a large bet it wouldn’t be pretty.
And that’s besides the fact that the institutions aren’t working. NCSY’s recent study of participation-Israel gap year conversion rate was a total bust. Kids rely on the year in Israel to “flip out.” Most come out of high school having no idea what most words of davening mean.
That doesn’t mean these young people distrust all Jewish institutions though. Think about why so many young Modern Orthodox Jews are flocking to Hadar and Shor Yoshuv. Because they’re not Modern Orthodox institutions, and they actually stand for something.
Bottom line: Orthodoxy needs new institutions (not a long-dead Israel-centered one betting hundreds of thousands of donor money on a highly unlikely revival). Built and run by young people, for young people.
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