The Ageism of Jewish Events

I am so tired of being told that I am too old for Jewish events. Enough with Jewish events for Jews in their 20s and 30s.There are tons of those. They need to make more Jewish events for single Jews 35-50s. And I don’t see why Jewish organizations don’t make them. There is definitely a market for it.

I am Jewish, and I am 44 years old. Many times I see a great event, I get all excited about going and then there it is in the description “this event is for Young Jewish Professionals in their 20s and 30s”.

Many of the Jewish events that I see on Facebook are geared toward Jews under 40. There are a few aging out periods when it comes to Jewish events. The first one is when you hit 26. Because some Jewish events are geared for Jews aged 18-26. Since Birthright Israel has extended the ages of who can go on their trips to Israel, there is another aging out period which is at 32. Jewish adults 18-32 can go on Birthright. Then there are events that are geared towards Jewish Young Professionals in their 20s and 30s. You age out of those when you hit 40.

After 40, the choice of events to go to gets pretty slim, especially singles events. From what I understand part of the reason for this is because there are plenty of organizations that give grants for events for Jews in their 20s and 30s. The 20s and 30s is also an age when there are also lots of fellowships and other opportunities available for young Jews. As one ages, this goes away.

I think this is a big problem. It seems to me that most of the Jewish community has just given up on single older Jews. They just don’t feel we are worth making events for. There are a few organizations in NYC like JICNY who are making events for us. But it is very limited.

I believe that older Jewish singles are a growing population. And that we are worth engaging. So I think that efforts should be made to make events for us so that we can mingle with other Jews our age. I think this is an important need that is being largely ignored. I think that more organizations need to fund this so that the events are affordable. And I think that attitude that single Jews above 40 aren’t worth investing in needs to go away.

Originally published on Andrea Karshan | A Collection of Articles