Source: Chicago Sun-Times
On September 10, 1999, the Chicago Sun-Times published an article on the efforts of the Chicago-area Jewish community to accommodate young Jewish adults. Kehilla, which means "community" in Hebrew, is an outreach program begun six years ago that allows members under the age of 30 to sample services at five temples, ranging from Reform to Orthodox, and use the Florence G. Heller Jewish Community Center. Of the 250,000 people who comprise the Chicago-area Jewish community, approximately 15,000 are post-college Jews. Jay Tcath, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, stated: "Jews of all ages are unaffiliated (with synagogues) and unengaged with organized Jewish life, but historically the numbers are higher whenever any generation is that age." An ad campaign has also begun on the city's public transit system, with the phrase, "nowhere in the Torah does it say, 'Thou shalt not have a little fun.'"