Source: The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/28/AR2009042803584.html
Gathering in group homes and college dormitories, in rural woods and apartment buildings, a growing number of young Jews are spurning traditional synagogues and forming worship communities that blend ancient traditions with modern values in ways that religion scholars say could redefine American Judaism.
The young people represent some of the most devout of their generation and, worried that they are being lost, rabbis and other Jewish leaders in the Washington region and elsewhere are working hard to bring them back into the fold, including offering financial grants to independent groups who are willing to create partnerships with traditional worship communities.
"They are the elite of American Jewish life: the most committed, the most passionate, the most visionary," said Ari Kelma, a professor of American studies at the University of California at Davis who has studied the young Jews. "They are going to have a huge impact, because we are living in a moment where denominations are really not very successful, particularly with these 20- and 30-somethings."