Jewish Community Centers across America face a stark reality: despite ambitious cultural and educational missions, most prioritize social activities over meaningful Jewish engagement. Through qualitative analysis of Center programming, professional practices, and extensive case studies of National Jewish Welfare Board affiliates, this research reveals critical gaps between Centers' stated objectives and their implementation. The investigation examined six core functions: Jewish personality development, outreach to unaffiliated Jews, enrichment of Jewish living content, community cohesion, leadership training, and civic responsibility cultivation. Centers consistently fall short in Jewish cultural transmission and ideological programming, largely due to inadequately prepared professional staff who lack deep knowledge of Jewish civilization. The influence of assimilationist board members further compounds these challenges, often steering Centers away from substantive Jewish educational experiences toward superficial social programming. Achieving the Centers' potential for authentic Jewish community building demands systemic reforms in professional education, ideological orientation, and leadership selection processes. These findings illuminate broader contradictions within American Jewish life and the institutional challenges of maintaining cultural identity in a pluralistic society.