2019 - Brandeis IR

2019Cohen Center Authors:Matthew BoxerMatthew A. BrooknerEliana ChapmanJanet Krasner AronsonJewish Community StudyA socio-demographic portrait of the Jewishcommunity in Sarasota-ManateeSponsored in part bya grant from:

2019 Brandeis UniversityMaurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studieswww.brandeis.edu/cmjsThe Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manateehttps://www.jfedsrq.org/The Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies (CMJS), founded in 1980, isdedicated to providing independent, high-quality research on issues related tocontemporary Jewish life.The Cohen Center is also the home of the Steinhardt Social Research Institute (SSRI).Established in 2005, SSRI uses innovative research methods to collect and analyze sociodemographic data on the Jewish community.

Jewish Federation AcknowledgmentsIt is with pride and a sense of accomplishment that we present the findings of our 2019 JewishCommunity Study. The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee has a vision to build a vibrant,inclusive, engaged Jewish community. To realize this vision, our leadership felt strongly that wemust better understand the demographics of our Jewish community and the attitudes and needs ofits residents. To address this, our Federation invested in a comprehensive study of our localJewish community.This study will significantly impact the strategy and work of our Federation, helping us to betterunderstand communal needs so that we can allocate our precious resources for maximum impact.The results are especially important and timely as we embark on a project to reimagine our 32-acreLarry Greenspon Family Campus for Jewish Life on McIntosh Road.Our Federation engaged the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies atBrandeis University to conduct the survey and to report on its findings. Led by principalresearcher, Dr. Matt Boxer, the Brandeis team, comprised of Matthew A. Brookner, ElianaChapman and Janet Krasner Aronson, used the most advanced research techniques to provide uswith a high-quality survey, which produced reliable findings. More than 1,000 respondentsparticipated in the study. It allowed us to gain important insights into contemporary Jewish life—the beliefs, practices, values and rituals that add meaning for our core constituencies and the manysubgroups of our community. This data will enable our own strategic planning, and will also provehelpful to agencies, synagogues, the Jewish day school, and other Jewish service and fundingorganizations.Federation is releasing the community study results to inspire a healthy and robust conversationthat amplifies our community’s strengths. The information contained within this report will be thecatalyst to address the many opportunities and challenges the study highlights.We are grateful to many people who helped bring this study to fruition. Our sincere thanks to ourpresident, Michael Ritter, and CEO, Howard Tevlowitz, whose leadership made this study apriority. We also thank the individual respondents, and our community partners for theirparticipation and support of this project. Federation is grateful to the Community Foundation ofSarasota County for their generous grant in support of this initiative.Most of all, we extend our deep appreciation and gratitude to Marsha Eisenberg for chairing thestudy committee and advisory group, to Dr. Linda Silver and Kim Mullins as the Federationprofessionals leading this effort, and to the committee members who dedicated their time andenergy to creating a study with results that will benefit our entire Jewish community.

We would also like to thank our study committee members: Lenny Drexler, Liz Gellis, StacyHanan, Bart Levenson, Rod Margolis, and Alan Silverglat.In addition, we are grateful to our advisory group members: Isaac Azerad, Heidi Brown, KrisBrzostek, Linda Buxbaum, Su Byron, Amy Meese, Ronnie Riceberg, Kim Sheintal, Jay Solomon,and Rabbi Michael Werbow.We invite you to review these findings and assist our Federation as we plan for the future of ourSarasota-Manatee Jewish community. If you have any questions or comments, or would like to beinvolved in further discussions, please contact Kim Mullins, Chief Operating Officer, at941.552.6300 or kmullins@jfedsrq.org

CMJS/SSRI AcknowledgmentsThe Brandeis research team is grateful to the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee for theopportunity to collaborate and conduct the 2019 community study. The study was proposed andsponsored by the Federation, whose staff, Board of Directors, and Community Study Committeeprovided valuable input on the study design, questionnaire, and report. We are particularly gratefulto Chief Executive Officer, Howard Tevlowitz, former Chief Human Resources Officer LindaSilver, Chief Operations Officer Kim Mullins, Board of Directors President Michael Ritter, andCommunity Study Committee Chair Marsha Eisenberg. They helped us learn about thecommunity and ensured that our work would be of the highest quality and utility for the SarasotaManatee Jewish community. We also thank the 1,038 respondents who completed the survey.Without their willingness to spend time answering numerous questions about their lives, therecould be no study.The University of New Hampshire Survey Center served as the call center for this study. We aregrateful for the efforts of Zachary Azem, who acted as our main point of contact and was thesurvey instrument programmer and supervisor for data collection. Sean McKinley wasinstrumental in testing the survey. Robert Durant and Carolyn Lamb managed the callingoperation, including training and supervising callers, fielding callbacks, and countless other tasks.We would also like to thank the many callers who collected data from respondents.Director of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and SteinhardtSocial Research Institute Professor Leonard Saxe provided critical guidance and supportthroughout this process. We are also appreciative of a large team of our colleagues and students atBrandeis University who assisted us with the study. Matthew Feinberg managed logistics,combined and deduplicated membership and mailing lists, and ensured that the sample drawn forthe study met all criteria. Harry Aaronson led efforts to code responses to open-ended questionson the survey. He also helped prepare tables and figures throughout the report and organized thequotes used in chapter 9. Elizabeth Tighe, Raquel Magidin de Kramer, and Daniel Parmer led theefforts to develop an estimate of the adult Jewish-by-religion population of Sarasota-Manatee aspart of the Steinhardt Institute’s American Jewish Population Project. Yi He, Hannah Taylor,Camille Evans, and Harry Abrahams helped code responses to open-ended questions.Deborah Grant provided editorial advice and assistance and, with Harry Aaronson, prepared thereport for publication. Finally, we thank Masha Lokshin and Ilana Friedman for their logistical andeditorial support throughout the study.

2019 Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community StudyTable of ContentsExecutive Summary . 1Demographics . 2Geography . 2Jewish Engagement . 3Jewish Children . 4Synagogue and Ritual Life . 4Social and Communal Life . 4Connections to Israel . 5Financial Well-Being and Health Needs . 5Chapter 1. Introduction: The Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community in 2019 . 7History . 8Methodology . 8Undercounted Populations . 10How to Read This Report . 10Reporting Qualitative Data . 11Comparisons across Surveys . 11Report Overview . 11Report Appendices . 12Chapter 2. Demographic Snapshot of the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community. 13The Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community Population Estimates, 2019 . 13Jewish Population Estimate . 13Jewish Adults . 14v

vi2019 Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community StudyDefinitions . 15Jewish Households . 16People in Jewish Households. 16Age and Gender Composition. 17Household Composition . 19Geographic Distribution . 20Regional Definitions. 20Residency and Length of Residence . 23Extended Family in the Region . 23Year-Round and Seasonal Resident Definitions . 23Seasonal Population . 23Jewish Denominations . 26Inmarriage and Intermarriage . 27Inmarriage and Intermarriage Definitions . 27Chapter 3. Patterns of Jewish Engagement . 29Background: Classifications of Jewish Identity . 29Index of Jewish Engagement . 30How We Developed These Categories . 32Patterns of Jewish Engagement . 31Jewish Behaviors and Jewish Engagement . 32Demographics and Jewish Engagement . 34Jewish Background and Jewish Engagement . 35Attitudes about Being Jewish and Jewish Engagement . 37Attitudes about Jewish Community . 40Feelings of Jewish Peoplehood. 43Chapter 4. Jewish Children . 45Jewish Children . 45Religion of Children by Household Characteristics . 46Participation in Jewish Education . 46Chapter 5. Synagogue and Ritual Life . 49Synagogues and Congregations . 49

2019 Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community StudyCongregation Types . 51Synagogue Participation . 53Ritual Practices . 53Chapter 6. Social and Communal Life . 57Jewish Organizations. 57Jewish and Non-Jewish Programs . 59Sources of Information . 61Volunteering . 62Philanthropy . 62Informal Involvement in the Jewish Community . 66Informal and Cultural Activities . 66Antisemitism . 71Chapter 7. Connections to Israel . 75Travel and Emotional Connection to Israel . 75Types of Israel Travel . 77News about Israel . 80Chapter 8. Financial Well-Being and Health Needs . 81Educational Attainment and Employment . 81Economic Well-Being . 82Economic Insecurity and Poverty . 82Health Status and Needs. 86Caregiving and Elderly Residents . 88Health Limitations and Jewish Life . 89Chapter 9. In the Words of Community Members . 91Religious, Spiritual, and Cultural Life . 91Social Environment . 92Communication and Outreach . 94Regional Limitations. 94Recreation . 95Kosher Food . 95Looking Toward the Future . 95vii

viii2019 Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Community StudyList of Figures and TablesFigure 2.1. Growth over time in Jewish community size . 14Figure 2.2. Age-gender distribution of Jews in Sarasota-Manatee . 18Figure 2.3. Household composition . 19Figure 2.4. Regional definitions . 21Figure 2.5. Dot density map of Jewish households in Sarasota-Manatee . 22Figure 3.1 Patterns of Jewish engagement . 32Figure 3.2 Being Jewish is a matter of ethnicity and culture . 37Figure 3.3 Being Jewish is a matter of religion . 38Figure 3.4 Essential aspects of being Jewish . 39Figure 3.5 Being Jewish is part of daily life. 40Figure 3.6 Connections to local and worldwide Jewish community . 41Figure 3.7 Being Jewish is a matter of community . 41Figure 3.8 Community is an essential aspect of being Jewish . 42Figure 3.9 Sense of belonging to Jewish people and feeling connected to other Jews . 43Figure 3.10 Being comfortable in Jewish places of worship and feeling responsible to carefor Jews in need . 43Figure 4.1. Marital status of parents of children in Jewish households . 46Figure 4.2. Religion raised, children of inmarriage . 47Figure 4.3. Religion raised, children of intermarriage . 47Figure 6.1. Involvement in Sarasota-Manatee Jewish and non-Jewish organizations . 59Figure 6.2. Jewish friends . 67Figure 7.1. Frequency of Israel travel . 76Figure 7.2. Emotional connection to Israel . 77