technomind

I get that impression too. The 8:15 minyan, at least proportionately, has more younger marrieds than the main minyan. Maybe it's a young person thing,or maybe it's just me but I simply cannot sit through the length and the hock of a main minyan.

The question is...where are all of the young, modern orthodox couples going? I think the answer is that there aren't an abundance of young, modern orthodox couples in the community. All of Pickwick either davens at R' Bergers or R' Weiss (except for the few who daven at 8:15). I don't think Suburban is taking away people that would be davening at Shomrei; it's a different type of person.

What do you think?

I think Alan is right. Speak to my son in law, he will vouch for the fact that a good number of mispallalim at the combined hashkama/8:15 minyan on the yamim noraim was younger than 35, with a few old ones, like his father in law there too. I think Alan is right about those going to Rabbi Berger etc...I think it is also a matter of commitment, most apt dwellers are not comitted to the neighborhood and therefore don't feel an achrayus to supporting a shul, especially a big one.

Alan - couple of points on this -

1. How many of the 8:15 people under 35 are there as supporters of Shomrei vs. convenience or family? I don't know the answer to this and I would assume it is more than the 5 or 6 in the main minyan, but would love to hear from someone who actually was there. If the number is low then the problem is a real one as who is going to be supporting the place financially in 15 - 20 years?

2. I think in general anyone who would go to Suburban is there already unless they are living too far right now (of course this is really a Baltimore concept - in most communities an over 15 minute walk would not be considered too far but here it most definitely is). I have always been surprised that noone has started a Young Israel here...

I'm also a 8:15 minyanite, and it isn't for convenience. If I wanted convenience, I would go to Weiss. I do think that Rabbi Teichman's minyan took a lot of the 35 and under crowd, because the one time I was there, there were a LOT of people in that category.

As a side note, I've never seen another rabbi try as hard as Rabbi Gottlieb is to get youth involved in the minyanim and the shul in general. The problem is that they're too young for what you're referring to.

I am not saying everyone is there for convenience, but I still wonder what the actual demographic breakdown is.

Also, Aishel brings out a good point that i should have made clearer. I am not talking about the youth efforts but rather the young adults - those married and under 35.

Rabbi Gottlieb has tried, with his Young Couple's shiur. Unfortunately, it hasn't been very popular in terms of attendance.

i think r' Gottleib has a prob with this demographic b/c it is his age group. its hard to be a rabbi to your peers. easier to "old people" or the youth. much harder to reach those in your same age bracket.

A problem I see is that as Alan points out, many young people go to R' Berger or R'Weiss. This is also results in a lot of guys using Shomrei as their minyan factory during the week without paying membership or being supportive of the shul at all. I guess as BubbyT says, a lot of apartment dwellers don't feel the need to stick with one shul.