Many Americans are moving away from congregations, but not necessarily from religion – movies, plays, art and social media fill the gap

By: Laura Yares, Michigan State University and Sharon Avni, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: August 24, 2026

Words: 906

Last Updated: 1 month, 3 weeks ago

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By Laura Yares, Michigan State University and Sharon Avni, Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY

“Emma,” a young Jewish woman who we met in 2019, didn’t belong to a synagogue. She didn’t have a Jewish partner. She didn’t observe Jewish rituals regularly. On most surveys about religion, she would not seem very engaged with Judaism.

But as Emma talked about what she did in her free time, a very different picture began to emerge. She visited …

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