News of the August closing of the Westchester Jewish Chronicle, a privately owned newspaper in New York, together with a seminar I recently attended for journalists in the Jewish press, have gotten me thinking about the role of The Chronicle in our community.
It’s no secret that newspapers in general are in trouble. The Internet and other electronic media have set off an earthquake in print journalism. Circulation of all news publications, from The New York Times and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle, has dropped steeply.
But even though the American Jewish press suffers from the same problems as the secular press — with the added challenge of decreasing Jewish identity caused by intermarriage, declining synagogue affiliation and many other factors — there are bright spots.
This was a recurrent theme among a group of noted, mostly Jewish journalists and scholars who spoke at the bi-annual Gralla Fellows Program for Journalists in the Jewish Press held at Brandeis University from July 15-20.
Seventeen early and mid-career journalists, of whom I was fortunate to be one, learned from more than 30 presenters expert in politics, history, religion, biblical texts and archeology, Christian-Jewish and Muslim-Jewish relations, medical ethics, women’s studies, youth, education, art and social research. And we debated the dilemmas now facing American Jews and their newspapers.
Directed by Brandeis professor Jonathan Sarna, historian of the American Jewish scene and director of Brandeis’ Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, the program included lectures, discussions, tours and social time with the faculty and with one another.
The consensus of these experts seems to be that what is at stake for this generation of Jewish Americans is indeed the survival of Jewish culture, religion and ethnicity in the U.S.
According to Sarna, the American Jewish population is less than 2 percent of the total U.S. population by any count. The immigration of Jews to the U.S., which has brought half a million since 1960, has stopped.
It is common knowledge that American Jewish birth rates are below the level of replacement. In addition, intermarriage rates are nearing 50 percent, conversion is flat and the average age of American Jews is rising.
Contribute and consume
Nevertheless, the Gralla program left me with inspiration and a new commitment to the role of the Jewish press in American Jewish survival. It also left me in awe of the rich intelligence, diversity, adaptability and vitality of Jews and Judaism and a renewed passion for the value of keeping this precious legacy alive.
While we are blessed in America not to be barred from participating fully in American society, we are also blessed, here in Wisconsin, to have inherited a deep-rooted, diverse and lively Jewish community that has contributed much to the American Jewish and general societies as well as to the world. We must continue to join wholeheartedly in the richness of American and Jewish life, both as contributors and as consumers of what they have to offer.
One way to do that is to stay informed of the news and the issues relevant to Jewish life here and elsewhere and participate in the public discourse of Jewish Wisconsin by reading The Chronicle. It is a resource providing a valuable link to the Jewish part of our American feast.
The Chronicle has important stories to tell, both Jewish and not, but all presented through a uniquely Jewish lens. We offer a forum for discussion and debate as well as a place to report your news and read that of your Jewish community members.
Now, as the Wisconsin Jewish community is more and more geographically dispersed, The Chronicle’s role in connecting us has become more important.
It is clearly incumbent on Jewish journalists to do our utmost to present compelling, useful, entertaining, thought-provoking and provocative information, analysis and dialogue in a user-friendly way. And, here at The Chronicle, we are continuously working hard to improve in all of those areas.
But the community also has a role to play in keeping The Chronicle alive. For a mere $40 dollars a year, you can subscribe to your Jewish newspaper, thereby supporting and being supported by your community in a meaningful way.
Subscribe to The Chronicle in 5768 and give a gift subscription to a young person you know. Advertise in The Chronicle and contribute to Jewish continuity. Read the articles, editorials, reviews, announcements and life cycle notices. Send us your news. Write us a letter and become part of the conversation.
In the words of Jonathan Sarna, “The future does not just happen. People and institutions shape it.”
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