RAJE Background & Long Term Impact of the RAJE Fellowship

Russian American Jewish Experience

RAJE Background & Long Term Impact of the RAJE Fellowship ProgramResults of the Research Institute for New Americans (RINA) Long Term Impact Study

‘FROM LET MY PEOPLE GO TO LET MY PEOPLE KNOW’

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www.rajeusa.org • [email protected]

Table of Contents: Page 1. Introduction to the RAJE Fellowship Program………………………………………………..3 – 52. Study Background and The Research Institute for New Americans (RINA)……..6 3. RAJE Fellowship Program Parameters & Student Background…….……………..…..75. Relative Jewish Educational background, Jewish Denominational Affiliation

and FSU Connection of RAJE students prior to participating in the RAJE Fellowship program……………………………………………………………………………………….8 – 9

6. RINA Study Goals & Methodology………………………………………………………………….107. Impact Part 1: Establishing a Jewish Household…………………………………………… 118. Impact Part 2: Involvement in Jewish Organizations & Communal Life…………..12 – 149. Impact Part 3: Fulfillment of Spiritual Needs Through Judaism………………………15 – 18 10.Impact Part 4: Developing a Strong Connection to Israel……………………………….19 11.Conclusion and Next Steps…………………………………………………………………………....20 – 21

Introduction & Background: According to the Pew study and the RINA institute, there are approximately 750,000 Jews from the Former Soviet union and their children, who live in North America. Due to 70 years of systematic communist repression of Jewish education and communal life, this group represents the largest unaffiliated Jewish community of its type and hence its Jewish future is of great importance in shaping the next generation of Jewish life in North America.

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RAJE was founded in 2006 with the goal of finding a systematic and comprehensive approach of ensuring a Jewish future for this vital community. RAJE was inspired by the intrepid vision of Taglit-Birthright Israel. The 10 day FREE trip to Israel was an incredible first step, a catalyst of growth and connection for an entire 18-26 year old target population of Jews, who represent the future of the Jewish people. Alas, a 10 day trip, as powerful as it is, has it’s limitations both in the depth of impact possible over a 10 day trip and in the fact that such a trip quickly fades into memory unless a powerful follow-up system is in place. So we asked the questions: if a 10 day trip is a first step, what would be an ideal system to build on that experience and transform a generation by creating lasting, deep level change? Are there unique features of our Russian American Jewish target population, which would enable an out of the box approach that would work to impact our community?

To achieve its mission, RAJE developed a unique system of community wide change, known as the RAJE Fellowship program. This program focuses on the millennial age group of 18 – 30 year olds. This is an age when most important decisions regarding future identity and affiliation are made, and hence can be seen as an hour glass shaping the future generation.

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Similar to the Birthright concept of the FREE 10 day Israel trip, RAJE also begins with an offer of a trip to Israel. While the Birthright trip is a great first step, it is a standalone vacation like trip with no built in educational component before or after the trip. The RAJE trip is longer; two weeks vs. 10 days for Birthright, includes significant Jewish educational programing on the trip and most importantly, an intensive semester long program before the trip. The program before the trip consists of ten, 4.5 hour sessions, 2 weekend retreats, as well as other social, educational and community building activities outside formal program hours. As a result, over the course of a single semester, the students experience over 250 hours of Jewish educational programming - a higher level of deep level engagement then any program of its type within the Jewish community.

While such commitment would be hard to achieve on a large scale, among the average unaffiliated young Jews from non-FSU backgrounds, the unique realities of our target population, such as: concentration of Russian Jews residing in major metropolitan areas, their natural desire to connect with each other and their fascination with visiting Israel, enabled RAJE Fellowships to quickly scale programming in the New York area. Since 2006, 3260 participants, or over 11% of all 18 – 30 year old FSU Jews in New York and Philadelphia have completed the RAJE Fellowship program. With hundreds completing the program each year, it has become a rite of passage for Russian Jews in these cities. In the Spring of 2014, a successful pilot program was launched in Toronto. For Fall 2014, RAJE plans to expand the Toronto program and to open Fellowship programing in Chicago and Baltimore.

Paul T. (2009)

“I have more pride than ever

to be a Jew. I am hosting

Shabbat meals and

participating in Jewish

organizations. RAJE really

changed my life.”

Marianna L. (2007) “What I appreciated the most at RAJE was the family feeling you get. Since I became involved, RAJE has been like a

home.”

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Study Background and The Research Institute for New Americans (RINA)

To examine the long-term effects of the RAJE fellowship program on participants’ Jewish identities and on their engagement with Israel, RAJE commissioned the Research Institute for New Americans (RINA), led by Dr. Sam Kliger, to conduct a study of RAJE program alumni, who participated in the program between October 2006 and December 2011.

The Research Institute for New Americans (RINA), a founding organization of COJECO, is a widely respected independent research and analytical center. RINA was established with the goal of providing a deeper understanding of the social, demographic, identification, and integration processes of the FSU Jewish immigrant community in North America and Israel. Studies conducted by RINA include two major surveys for the American Jewish Committee (AJC), a comprehensive study of the FSU community for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and studies commissioned by COJECO. RINA’s work in political polling, includes commissions by the US government to conduct exit polling both in the US and Israel in partnership with Michigan State University. RINA’s research on new immigrants has been featured in a New York Times front page article and in other major media outlets.

RINA’s team: Dr. Sam Kliger, Kristina Shmatok, RINA’s program coordinator, and Ketevan Chkhikvadze, RINA’s program coordinator. The RAJE study was partially sponsored by RINA’s board of directors, by private donors, including Dr. Igor Talis, and by COJECO, of which RINA is a member of organization and beneficiary. RINA expresses deep gratitude to all individuals and organizations that supported the study.

Dr. Sam Kliger is the founder and chairman of the Research Institute for New Americans (RINA).

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50%

30%

15%

5%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

20-24

25-29

30-34

35-38

CURRENT AGE OF RAJE ALUMNI WHO COMPLETED THE RAJE FELLOWSHIP

PROGRAM BETWEEN 2006 - 2012

52%48%

GENDER OF STUDENTS

Male

Female

Yes, two semesters or

more of second or third level

RAJE Fellowships

31%

Yes, one semester of

second or third level RAJE

Fellowships19%

No50%

SINCE COMPLETING THE FIRST LEVEL RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM HAVE YOU

PARTICIPATED IN A SECOND OR THIRD LEVEL RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM?

2006 - 64

2007 - 375

2008 - 428

2009 - 445

2010 - 454

2011 - 474

NUMBER OF STUDENTS COMPLETING THE RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM EACH YEAR BETWEEN 2006 – 2011

THE FOCUS OF THIS STUDY IS ON THE 2240 STUDENTS WHO COMPLETED THE RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM BETWEEN 2006 - 2011

SINCE 2006, 3260 PARTICIPANTS, OR OVER 11% OF ALL 18 – 30 YEAR OLD FSU JEWS IN THE NEW YORK AREA HAVE COMPLETED THE RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM.

THE SEMESTER LONG PROGRAM CONSISTS OF TEN, 4.5 HOUR SESSIONS, 2 WEEKEND RETREATS AND A TWO WEEK EDUCATIONAL TRIP TO EUROPE AND ISRAEL. OVER THE COURSE OF A SINGLE SEMESTER THE STUDENTS EXPERIENCE OVER 250 HOURS OF HIGHLY IMPACTFUL AND TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMMING, A HIGHER LEVEL OF DEEP LEVEL ENGAGEMENT THEN ANY PROGRAM OF ITS TYPE WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

RAJE Fellowship Program Parameters & Student Background

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55%

32%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Percentage of RAJE participants who received any formal Jewish education prior to RAJE program

participation as compared to Taglit-Birthright participants of

FSU Background.

Taglit-Birthright Alumni of FSUBackgroundRAJE Program Applicants

11%

4% 2%

71%

12%14%

8%

2%

74%

3%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Reform /Reconstructionist

Conservative Orthodox Just Jewish Other

Jewish Denomination of RAJE participants prior to program participation as compared to Taglit-Birthright participants of FSU

Background.

Taglit-Birthright Participants of FSU Background RAJE Applicants

Are RAJE Fellowship participants similar in their background to their peers who participate in less intensive Jewish educational programing, such as the free 10 day Taglit-Birthright Israel trip?

This question needs to be addressed to help evaluate the RAJE program’s relative impact. To address this issue, prior to commencing the study of program impact we compared data from RAJE applicants prior to attending the program to that of US based Taglit-Birthright participants of FSU background. This comparison was made possible by analyzing data from the 2011 Cohen Center study of Russian-Speaking Taglit-Birthright participants.

The data analysis suggests that RAJE participants are very similar in their background to those participating in the Birthright Israel trip, with the notable exception of RAJE applicants having significantly less formal Jewish educational then those participating in the Taglit-Birthright Israel trip (32% for RAJE vs. 55% for Birthright). This maybe do to the way RAJE was able to penetrate a target population who are not connected with any other Jewish organizations and managed to build a level of trust making the program seem more accessible to them as RAJE is seen more culturally attuned to this demographic.

Relative Jewish Educational background & Jewish Denominational Affiliation of RAJE students prior to participating in the RAJE Fellowship program.

FSU Connection of RAJE Fellowship Students

76%

24%

65%

35%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Born in FSU Born in the US - parents from FSU

Level of FSU connection of RAJE Applicants as compared to Taglit-Birthright Alumni of FSU Background

Taglit-Birthright Participants of FSU Background RAJE Applicants

RINA Study Goals & Methodology

What is the impact of 250 hours of deep level Jewish Educational programming in a single semester and trip? Of having hundreds, 18-30 year old Jews spending so much of their free time together, bonding, learning and experiencing Jewish life?

The specific goal of the study, was to measure the impact of RAJE programing on four basic areas of Jewish identity and peoplehood affiliation, which the RAJE program set out to impact.

Two years or more after completing the RAJE program, were participants more likely to: • Establish a Jewish household? • Affiliate with and be involved in the life of the Jewish community?• Fulfill their spiritual needs through the study and practice of Judaism?• Develop a strong connection to the State of Israel?

Study Methodology: A randomly collected sample of 300 completed survey questionnaires were collected from a group of 2,240 alumni who graduated the RAJE Fellowship program between 2006 and 2011.

This random statistical sample was achieved by attaching a number to each contact from 1 to 2,240 to the full list of program participants and then selecting every sixth name for the study sample (e.g.1, 7, 13, 20, 26). In this way, a list of 373 sample program participants was compiled. We then proceeded to contact the 373 sample program participants by emailing them a specially designed questionnaire. The first email sent, resulted in 83 surveys filled out online, an additional 34 responded to a second email sent a week later. Then, trained RINA interviewers followed up with the remaining sample list via phone calls and individual emails, until we reached the required 300 survey responses. Out of the original sample of 373 program participants, 34 individuals were unreachable due to incorrect contact info, 9 refused to participate in the survey for various reasons and 30 were not followed-up with, beyond the initial email, since the target quota of 300 was already reached. Three hundred interviews were collected by the end of May 2014. The data collected was then statistically analyzed by RINA’s team. The present report is a result of the quantitative and qualitative analysis done by RINA.

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RAJE Impact Part 1: Establishing a Jewish Household

35%

65%

HAVE YOU GOTTEN MARRIED SINCE PARTICIPATING IN THE

RAJE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM?

Yes

No

6%

94%

IF YES, IS YOUR SPOUSE JEWISH?

My spouse is notJewish

My spouse isJewish

52%48%

DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE AT RAJE?

Yes

No

RAJE PARTICIPANTS HAVE A 300% LOWER INTERMARRIAGE RATE THEN NON-PARTICIPANTS

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78%

22%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU MADE A CHARITABLE

DONATION?

Yes

No82%

18%

IF YES, WAS YOUR DONATION TO A JEWISH

CHARITY?

Yes

No

35%

27%

13%

8%

39%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

A JEWISH ORGANIZATION OTHER THAN A SYNAGOGUE OR JCC

TO RAJE

A JEWISH FEDERATION

A JCC

A SYNAGOGUE

IF YES, TO WHICH JEWISH CHARITY?

RAJE Impact Part 2: Involvement in Jewish Organizations & Communal Life

82% OF RAJE PARTICIPANTS WHO DONATED FUNDS TO CHARITY, DONATED TO JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS VS. 27% OF BIRTHRIGHT ALUMNI WHO DONATED FUNDS TO CHARITY,

DONATED TO JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS.

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Yes73%

No27%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN AN

ACTIVITY SPONSORED BY A JEWISH ORGANIZATION OR

A SYNAGOGUE?

Yes82%

No18%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU

VISITED A JEWISH WEBSITE?

1-3 times35%

4-10 times31%

10 times or more

34%

IF YES, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU

PARTICIPATED IN AN ACTIVITY SPONSORED BY A JEWISH ORGANIZATION

OR A SYNAGOGUE?

1 or 2 times37%

A few33%

10 times

or more30%

IF YES, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU VISITED A JEWISH

WEBSITE?

RAJE IMPACT PART 2: AFFILIATE WITH AND BE INVOLVED IN THE LIFE OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

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No65%

Yes35%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU VOLUNTEERED

EITHER AT RAJE OR AT ANOTHER JEWISH ORGANIZATION?

1-3 times48%

4-10 times20%

10 or more times32%

IF YES, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU VOLUNTEERED?

RAJE Impact Part 2: Involvement in Jewish Organizations & Communal Life

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RAJE IMPACT PART 3: FULFILL THEIR SPIRITUAL NEEDS THROUGH THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF JUDAISM

78%74%

35%

63%

40%

55%

69%73%

38%

Lit Chanukah candles Attended a Shabbatdinner

Hosted Shabbatdinner

Attended Yom Kippurservices at asynagogue

Attended Shabbatservices at asynagogue

Celebrated Purim Attended a PassoverSeder

Celebrated RoshHashanah

Celebrated Shavuot

WHICH OF THESE JEWISH RITUALS AND TRADITIONS HAVE YOU OBSERVED OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS?

RAJE PARTICIPANTS ARE 550% MORE LIKELY TO LIGHT CHANUKAH CANDLES THAN PEERS WHO ONLY

PARTICIPATED IN BIRTHRIGHT

15

No I do not think its

necessary40%

No, but I would like to

19%

Yes to some extent

21%

Yes 20%

DO YOU OBSERVE THE LAWS OF KASHRUT?

No I do not think its

necessary33%

No, but I would like to

28%

Yes to some extent

17%

Yes 22%

DO YOU OBSERVE THE LAWS OF SHABBAT?


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Yes59%

No41%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU ATTENDED A JEWISH EDUCATIONAL

PROGRAM, CLASS OR LECTURE?

10 times or more46%

4-10 times21%

1-3 times33%

IF YES, HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU ATTENDED A JEWISH EDUCATIONAL

PROGRAM, CLASS OR LECTURE?


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No15%

1 or 233%

A few24%

More than 10

28%

DO YOU OWN ANY JEWISH BOOKS?

No48%

1 or 229%

A few16%

More than 107%

OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU READ A JEWISH BOOK?


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RAJE IMPACT PART 4: DEVELOP A STRONG CONNECTION TO THE STATE OF ISRAEL

38%

62%

IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN A MEETING, DEMONSTRATION OR OTHER

ACTION IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL?

Yes

No

Not under any circumstance

39%

Not likely45%

Possibly depending on their stance on other important

issues15%

I would not take support of Israel

into consideration 1%

WOULD YOU VOTE FOR A US SENATORIAL, CONGRESSIONAL OR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

WHO DOES NOT HAVE A STRONG TRACK RECORD IN SUPPORTING ISRAEL?

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Eight years ago RAJE set out to achieve an ambitious goal; to develop a scalable model for impacting a generation of young FSU Jews in North America and ensuring their Jewish future. From the onset, it was easy to see that we were on the right track and the evidence of the RINA study only concretizes in hard numbers the change we have already witnessed all around us. One only needs to stop a random young Russian Jew on a New York subway and ask them about RAJE, to feel the level of program penetration and how spending a 250 hour semester, learning and growing as Jews has become an accepted norm. To witness countless RAJE alumni weddings and see the impact on Jewish family life. To debunk the myth that young Russian Jews are just not interested in the spiritual side of Jewish life by seeing hundreds of young RAJE students at an all night Shavuot program, a holiday which so few of them could even name prior to the RAJE program. To watch the sea of RAJE t-shirts marching in the Israel day parade and know that Russian Jews are ready to stand up for Israel. To see the potential for Jewish leadership in RAJE alumni now involved in countless Jewish projects and organizations, in a wide spectrum of areas ranging from: Israel Advocacy, Jewish Education, Community development, Social Services and Caring for the needy. Now that we have both the anecdotal evidence and the hard numbers, the success of the RAJE model is both a source of happiness and of sobering responsibility.

If we have a proven, scalable model to make a historic impact on the future of the Jewish people, how can we make sure to realize it’s full potential?

Conclusion and Next Steps

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What’s next? We believe that if the RAJE model is scaled to reach 50% of the FSU target population in North America, a tipping point of Jewish affiliation can be achieved and a Jewish future secured for an entire generation.

To do this, we must build the capacity to scale and expand programming, both locally and nationally. In New York and Philadelphia, this would require RAJE to double the number of students completing the fellowship program each semester. On a national level, RAJE would need to expand programing to all 10 major metropolitan areas in North America with significant populations of FSU Jews.

Boston

50,000

New York & New Jersey

276,000Philadelphia

25,000

Baltimore & Washington

25,000

South Florida

50,000

Chicago

70,000

Toronto

40,000

San Francisco

50,000

Los Angeles150,000

Detroit

15,000

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Documents

RAJE Background & Long Term Impact of the RAJE Fellowship