247 - Evaluating the Communal and Organizational Experiences and Needs of Jews of Color Living in the Pacific Northwest

Abstract Information: In 2023, with funding support from UpStart and the Jews of Color Initiative (JOCI), TischPDX partnered with Tiyuv טִיוּב to support the design and administration of the Cultural Shift Project survey, which aimed to gain valuable insights into the experiences of self-identified Jews of Color (JOC) living in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). The primary focus of the survey was on respondents’ experiences as Jews of Color, especially as they navigate Jewish communal life. The research was stewarded, conducted, and analyzed by JOC and the data collected from this survey provides a much-needed, evidence-based understanding of how JOC navigate their local Jewish community involvement.

TischPDX works to bolster the leadership of young and marginalized Jews in Portland, Oregon to enable them to build a Jewish community that accepts and celebrates them fully. Tiyuv טִיוּב is a culturally responsive, Jews of Color (JOC)-led model and hub for formal program evaluation of racial and social justice work in the Jewish community. The word tiyuv means “improvement” in Hebrew. Using culturally responsive evaluation (CRE) in Jewish spaces honors the culture, languages, diversity, ethnicities, and religious practices of the Jewish people within the context in which an evaluation occurs.

The survey was administered between November and January 2024, yielding 136 usable responses for analysis. Scale data was analyzed using SPSS and focused on descriptive statistics for all demographic and substantive questionnaire items, as well as pairwise comparisons as group sizes allowed. The qualitative analysis used an emergent thematic coding approach to identify trends in respondents’ attitudes and experiences.

Respondents, representing Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, were mostly in their 30s and 40s. They shared varied paths to Judaism, dynamic and diverse current Jewish engagement, and a range of experiences navigating Jewish organizational life in their localities. Many shared experiences of racism, as well as discrimination on the basis of other aspects of their identity. Nonetheless, JOC across the PNW are committed to advocating for more racially diverse and culturally reflective Jewish spaces and communities.

While respondents affirmed that they are finding meaningful Jewish experiences, feeling seen and supported by those in their communal life, and were strongly rooted in a sense of Jewish selfhood, they also were unambiguous about the fact that predominantly white Jewish organizations (and those who lead these spaces, who are most often also white-presenting Jews) still have room to grow in their capacity to support and uplift JOC community members, as well as others holding other or additional marginalized identities. Respondents called on current community leaders to: uplift non-Ashkenazi identities (such as Sephardi, Mizrahi, and Beta Israel), amplify the voices of Jews of Color, create more opportunities for JOC to gather, center the need for broader representation of identities within leadership, and diversify educational offerings at synagogues.