For the first time in almost 70 years, the Jewish community in the Long Beach area has been given a chance to share their thoughts, experiences and identities through a study commissioned by Jewish Long Beach.
The results of this comprehensive study, conducted over the course of the last two years, will be shared with the community through a panel and discussion at the Alpert Jewish Community Center on Monday, May 22.
Results and data gathered as part of the process will help local Jewish organizations better understand the wants and needs of the roughly 40,000 Jewish people living in or around Long Beach, and will provide insight on how to improve programming and outreach.
“This data helps inform how we program, how we prioritize our spending, how we target our activities, even how we develop our leadership training as we move across generations,” said Richard Marcus, president of Jewish Long Beach’s board of directors.
So far, Marcus said that the data has helped point out gaps in their programming for Jewish teenagers and those between the stages of college and starting a family. He said although Jewish Long Beach aims to provide many senior programs, there was still room to improve programs for that age group as well.
Data showed that Jewish people are becoming more diverse. Of the 40,000 Jewish people in the Long Beach area, almost 30% of those people identified as non-white. Marcus said that another aspect that’s becoming more diverse is the way that Jewish people express their identity.
While it may be more common for those 65 years old and older to visit a synagogue or community center to worship or engage in activities, the younger generations of Jewish people “tend to get a much more personalized experience,” Marcus said.
“So that means what we need to do is to shift focus,” he said.
Another finding from the study was that one in seven Jewish people interviewed said they had experienced antisemitism since 2020.
Jewish Long Beach is made up of three Jewish organizations in Los Angeles county—The Jewish Federation, Jewish Community Foundation and the Alpert Jewish Community Center. The Jewish Federation started the process for the study in 2021 and Marcus is one of the people who oversaw the process of the study.
The three organizations officially merged last year to “empower ourselves to use the funds from a foundation, the leadership and capacity from a federation, and the programming and operations of a JCC to really innovate what we’re doing,” Marcus said.
Data and results gathered in the study will be crucial in the strategic plan for Jewish Long Beach as they move forward in the community, Marcus said. Brandeis University, in partnership with the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, was hired to conduct the study, gather the data and write the report.
Marcus said that it took the group over a year to come up with questions for the interviews and choose a method of surveying, several months to conduct interviews, and several more months to look over the data and write a report on it.
“Jewish Long Beach hopes that this project raises the tide for every local Judaic institution in fostering identity and continuity for generations to come.”
Press release from Jewish Long Beach.
The panel on Monday, May 22 will go over the results of the study. Panelists will include Richard Marcus from Jewish Long Beach; Alpert Jewish Community Center and Jewish Long Beach CEO Zach Benjamin; and professor and principal researcher from Brandeis, Janet Aronson.
Jewish Long Beach plans to conduct a comprehensive study like this every decade for the Long Beach area. This study cost more than $150,000 total to conduct, much of which came from grants.
Now that the data is gathered in a comprehensive report, Jewish Long Beach plans to share the raw data results as well as the finished report with other Jewish organizations so they can use it to modify, update and improve their programs.
The group will also give out grants to interested organizations so they can better look into any data points that apply to their specific needs.
The panel discussion and Q&A on the comprehensive study’s findings will be held at the Alpert Jewish Community Center on May 22 at 6 p.m. on the Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus at 3801 E. Willow St.
Those interested in attending can RSVP at https://alpertjcc.org/event/long-beach-jewish-community-study-panel/.
Related Stories:
