Car dealers offer rebates. Airlines offer free miles.
So Rabbi David Abramchik, who wants more Jewish families to move to Lowell, is offering cash.
To lure new residents, Rabbi Abramchik has promised $2,500 to each of the first 15 Jewish families to move to Lowell.
Rabbi Abramchik said he believes the city, which last attracted a sizable Jewish immigration at the end of the 19th century, is an ideal place for Jewish families to put down roots. So he has advertised in The Jewish Advocate, a Boston-area weekly, offering a bounty.
Jewish leaders say that while the cash incentive is certainly unusual, Rabbi Abramchik's motivation - to try to revitalize a Jewish community - is not unique. Across the country and in other parts of the world, many smaller Jewish communities are struggling to remain viable as the old die and the young move away.
So far two families, from Brookline and Maine, have responded to the offer. The families, whom Rabbi Abramchik declined to identify, plan to visit Lowell soon, he said.
The rabbi, who is principal of the Merrimack Valley Hebrew Academy in Lowell, said he got the idea from Perth Amboy, N.J., a seaside city near New York. There, Orthodox Jewish leaders began placing ads in local Jewish papers in late October offering the same deal - $2,500 to the first 15 families to move to Perth Amboy.
Perth Amboy leaders also advertised on a local Russian cable channel that reaches the large Russian Jewish community in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. So far, they say, 10 families have responded to their ads, and one family from a New York suburb has decided to move to Perth Amboy.
Rabbi Abramchik said he does not plan to run another ad until he asks leaders of the Reform and Conservative synagogues in Lowell if they would be willing to waive membership fees for new families for one year. The Orthodox temple, Montefiore Synagogue, has already agreed to waive the fee and its offer was included in Rabbi Abramchik's ad, which appeared Nov. 10.
Many Jewish immigrants from Russia and eastern Europe flocked to Lowell a century ago when it was a booming factory city. But as their economic status improved, they tended to move to the suburbs.
In recent years, the city's economic woes, including a bankruptcy filing by Wang Laboratories, have given a misleadingly bleak picture of its future, Jewish activists there said.
``People immediately write off Lowell and don't know what the community has to offer,'' Rabbi Abramchik said. ``They could live here very nicely and have a wonderful Jewish experience. I felt something dramatic was needed to try and change people's minds about us.''
Although no exact figures are available, Jewish leaders estimate there are about 1,000 Jewish families living in Lowell and as many as 1,000 more families in surrounding communities, down from perhaps 2,000 families decades ago.
Some Jewish leaders said dangling money to attract potential residents might seem a little strange. But they said they support any effort to fortify a Jewish community.
``In a sense, it is an extreme measure, but I fully understand the sincerity and passion behind it,'' said Larry Lowenthal, executive director of the Boston office of the American Jewish Committee.
``I fully agree with the spirit of the idea,'' said Sheila Dector, director of the Boston office for the American Jewish Congress, who is helping Randolph, a town south of Boston, find ways to attract Jewish families. ``The notion of outreach is crucial to maintaining Jewish communal life.''
Jewish leaders in Lowell say their city has been overlooked by families who focus on well-established Jewish communities like those in Newton and Brookline.
``I think there is tremendous growth potential here that hasn't been tapped as fully as it could be,'' said Gilbert Brown, president of Temple Beth El, the conservative temple in Lowell.
``We have a very close-knit, very caring community and the small size is an advantage because you can get to know people on a more personal level,'' said Rabbi Chaim Goldberger of Montefiore Synagogue. ``And we have plenty of shops. We even have a kosher doughnut shop and a kosher bed-and-breakfast.''
Rabbi Abramchik said the incentive funds are being raised through private donations. The money would be doled out over time to ensure that families remain in Lowell.
``Obviously, we're not going to send someone a check just because they say they are going to move here,'' he said.
Bernard Reisman, a professor at Brandeis University who studies smaller Jewish communities, said he has noted a trend of younger Jewish families moving away from urban centers to smaller towns. Small Jewish enclaves, for instance, have formed in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, he said.
``What Lowell is trying sounds like the most aggressive form of advertising I've heard of,'' Reisman said. ``If I were a young family renting an apartment in Boston it would certainly catch my eye and cause me to think about Lowell.''
Rabbi Abramchik acknowledged that some people might bristle at the idea of using money as a hook. But, he added, ``We're living in a business world. Just about any product out there is usually sold with a monetary incentive. And we are selling a product, which in this case happens to be the Jewish community. If you have a product you think is worth selling, sometimes you have to take a risk.''
This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe on 11/20.