“This present moment used to be the unimaginable future.”

This was the premise of a gathering spearheaded by The Wexner Foundation in Columbus, Ohio earlier this week. I was honored to join 21 volunteer and professional leaders from across North America to dream about the future. Not just the next 5-10 years – instead, the next 75 years.

Our discussions were led by Lisa Kay Solomon, a Designer in Residence at the Stanford University d. school. We spent four Zoom sessions and one day in person together imagining the future of the Jewish community. It is not as easy as one may think. Too often, we are stuck in “what is” and “what we know” – instead of pushing the boundaries to be planful and creative.

Many of you will remember the television show The Jetsons (I bet you are singing the theme song in your head right now). The original show debuted on September 23, 1962 and only had 24 episodes. Think about the creativity and vision of the writers who had to dream of what the future would look like. Here are just a few items that have come to fruition since the show aired over 60 years ago:

• Videophone
• Flat Screen Televisions
• 3D Printing
• Smart watches
• Smart home technology
• Robotic helpers

I do not believe we were as clever nor smart as the creators of The Jetsons. However, I came away with a new challenge for myself and our Jewish community – not to just think about what we need for our children – but to think about what we need to do now for our great-great grandchildren in Jewish life. It may be hard to imagine, but what will the Jewish world be like in 2100?

Please feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts and ideas.

Last week, the Pew Research Center came out with an interesting new study on “Religious Switching.”

In many countries around the world, 20% or more of all adults have left the religious group in which they were raised. Christianity and Buddhism have experienced especially large losses from this “religious switching,” while rising numbers of adults have no religious affiliation, according to Pew Research Center surveys covering 36 countries.

In some countries, changing religions is very rare. In India, Israel, Nigeria and Thailand, 95% or more of adults say they still belong to the religious group in which they were raised. But across East Asia, Western Europe, North America and South America, switching is fairly common. For example, 50% of adults in South Korea, 36% in the Netherlands, 28% in the United States, and 21% in Brazil no longer identify with their childhood religion.

In most cases, the bulk of the switching in all age groups is disaffiliation – people raised in one religion and are now unaffiliated. These are people who answer a question about their religion by saying they are atheists, agnostics or “nothing in particular.”

Most people who were raised Jewish in Israel (95%) and the U.S. (76%) still identify this way today. People may identify as Jewish in a multitude of ways, including ethnically, culturally, religiously or by family background. In this report, however, they use the term “Jewish” to mean only religious identity, because the survey questions ask about a person’s current religion and what religious group they were raised in (their childhood religion). You can learn more here.

On a different note, a major issue we are following is financial vulnerability in the Jewish community and the continuation of essential federal aid for human services. Some 25% of Jewish households in Greater Portland either cannot make ends meet or are just managing to make ends meet, and 40% of Holocaust survivors here live in poverty.

Jewish Federations across the country are urging lawmakers to maintain and strengthen programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which provide a crucial safety net for Jewish families, seniors, and other vulnerable populations. 

Senator Ron Wyden recently stated, “I believe that people in Oregon see that Medicaid is life or death for them. I think in other parts of the country that’s the case.”

There are several options under consideration in Congress to significantly reduce Medicaid spending -- targeting cuts to Medicaid of up to $880 billion or more over a decade. Medicaid is the primary program providing comprehensive coverage of health and long-term care to 83 million low-income people in the United States. It accounts for 20% of all health care spending, more than half of spending for long-term care, and a large share of state budgets.

The Oregon Health Plan is Oregon’s Medicaid program. Thirty percent of the state's population is covered by Medicaid, including: 115,000 seniors, 350,000 children, and 114,000 individuals with disabilities – and members of our local Jewish community. Cuts under consideration to Medicaid may eliminate coverage for thousands of people, support fewer services, or reduce payment rates for providers, such as nursing homes, hospitals, and Jewish Family and Child Service.

Similarly, SSI provides critical support to millions of people with disabilities. Jewish Federations are urging passage of the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would update the program’s asset limits for the first time in over 35 years to ensure that recipients can save for emergencies and other basic needs without putting their benefits at risk.

In addition, the White House issued an Executive Order calling for the elimination of seven federal cultural agencies, including the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a partner with the Council of American Jewish Museums in the U.S. National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism. This could have a major impact on museums across the country, including the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

Contact our members of Congress to advocate for your views:

Senator Ron Wyden – 202-224-5244

Senator Jeff Merkley – 202-224-3753

Rep. Suzanne Bonamici – 202-225-0855

Rep. Andrea Salinas – 202-225-5643

Rep. Maxine Dexter – 202-225-4811

Rep. Janelle Bynum – 202-225-5711

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez – 202-225-3536

The Jewish Federation is committed to supporting families and respond to incidents of antisemitism and anti-Israel activities in schools, while also providing resources for educators. Monday night we are hosting a Parent Advocacy Night featuring Danielle Frandina from Facing History and Ourselves. Parents will share their experiences with school curricula and teens participating in our Student to Student cohort will share their work. You can register here.

Passover begins with the first seder on Saturday evening, April 12. We will gather with family and friends to retell the events of the exodus from Egypt some 3,000 years ago. Check out all the Passover community happenings by clicking here.

Shabbat shalom.