New York, USA - Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, will ask next week's biennial convention to launch an effort promoting lifelong synagogue membership.
Yoffie said synagogues are "the foundation of our communal existence," which makes low affiliation rates "the most serious challenge facing North American Jewry."
A recent U.S. Jewish population survey showed 46 percent of Jews currently belong to a synagogue. Reform, the largest of Judaism's three major branches, suffered the worst dropout rate.
Yoffie said half the unaffiliated Jews formerly belonged but have drifted away while the other half have never belonged and "demonstrate little interest in joining."