21 st CENTURY JEWS- PEW RESEARCH SURVEY OF U.S. JEWS November 22, 2013 By Rabbi Robert H. Loewy

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1 21 st CENTURY JEWS- PEW RESEARCH SURVEY OF U.S. JEWS November 22, 2013 By Rabbi Robert H. Loewy In one of those obscure articles, squeezed onto the page of the Times Picayune, alongside a huge ad for who-knows-what, I read of a $671 million spacecraft being launched to Mars. That was not what caught my attention. The fact that they are calling the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN vehicle MAVEN, the Yiddush word for expert, did. Ya think someone in NASA is Jewish? The article quotes NASA s Space Science Chief, John Grunsfeld as saying, A maven is a trusted expert, so I am guessing that either he or Chief Investigator Bruce Jakosky, also mentioned in the article, had something to do with the acronym, which they had to stretch by capitalizing the N at the end of evolution. Using the Pew Research Survey of U.S. Jews, the question is what types of Jew might they be? Are they part of the 78% who fall under the category of Jews by religion or the 22% of Jews of no religion? Do they identify with one of the denominations? Are they intermarried? Jewish by lineage? What are their values concerning Israel? The Holocaust? Issues of social justice? I really don t have many answers regarding Drs. Grunsfeld or Jakosky. Based on last names, I am assuming that both are Jewish, which is NOT a reliable indicator. With a little on-line search I learned that Dr. Grunsfeld is Jewish from Chicago, but one of the articles discusses how he is influenced by his mother s Buddhism. Is she a Buddhist from Asia or a Jewish flower child from the 60s? I can t tell you. Clearly he was Jewish enough to want to name this spacecraft MAVEN. However, the Pew Survey does give us information about the American Jewish population in the aggregate. For many it is considered an alarm bell, a warning of the imminent demise of American Judaism. For some it is an opportunity for triumphalism, vindicating one or another approach to Jewish life. Still for others, it is a reflection of what we already knew experientially and an opportunity to rethink the programs and institutions of Jewish life. I place myself in the latter category. From my experience, every decade or so, these kinds of studies are produced, or earth shaking articles are written, which upset Jewish leaders. Amazingly, it never becomes as horrible as some predict or as positive as others might hope. Recently, Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the leading historian of American Jewish life spoke at Loyola University. His comments validated my assessment, as he indicated that from the very beginning of Jews arriving in America, there have been voices lamenting how Judaism cannot survive on these shores. To confront this dilemma, three strategies have generally been offered to address the problem. Religious voices call for a recommitment to Jewish tradition, practice and adherence to the mitzvot. Modernist voices outline creative approaches to religious and communal life, which break from tradition, while respecting it. Secular voices claim that one can maintain Jewish identity by connecting with Jewish values and culture without being religious. 1

2 Sarna will argue that none of them have been fully successful, but that all of them have enabled Judaism to not only survive, but flourish. Let me share some of the findings that are relevant to us. There are 6.6 million Jews in America, 5.3 adults and 1.3 children, which is 2.2% of the American population This is an increase in overall numbers, but numbers can be deceiving. It includes people who we as Jews might not necessarily consider to be Jewish, such as those who have a Jewish ancestor only. They identify with Jews, but may be practicing Christians. Of big concern is the Jewish birthrate, which is approximately 1.7 per household, except in parts of the Orthodox community. As I counsel many a couple during pre-marital discussions, make lots of babies and don t stop at 2. 78% self identify as Jewish by religion - People who say their religion is Jewish (and who do not profess any other religion) 22% as Jews of no religion : People who describe themselves (religiously) as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular, but who have a Jewish parent or were raised Jewish and who still consider themselves Jewish in some way. This latter statistic is what has many very anxious, particularly when breaking it down by age from those who were born between , who come in at 7%, while those born after 1980 at 32%. It can be argued that as people grow older they tend to become more religious, so the number may change for the latter cohort. And it should be pointed out that this number mirrors similar surveys in the Christian world. That should not give us comfort, but is a reflection upon how integrated we are in American society as Jews. When it comes to the different denominational affiliations: 35% identify with Reform, 18%- Conservative, 10% Orthodox, 6% other- i.e. Jewish Renewal, Reconstructionist 30% claim no denomination and that includes19% of those Jews who claimed to be Jewish by religion, as well as 2/3 of those who claimed they are Jews of no religion Not surprisingly, the Reform movement was pleased to see that we are #1, but we should not rejoice to see the weakening of the Conservative movement. Lively options in the marketplace of religious life benefit us all. There is also a tendency that when people shift denominations, the movement is almost always towards the more liberal approaches to Judaism. At least that has been a pattern in the past, but Reform and Conservative seem to be aging, while Orthodox numbers indicate they are younger and with lots of babies. In addition, the outflow of Reform Jews into the ranks of the nonreligious is 28%. If current patterns continue, we can expect a diminishing of those who connect with Reform and Conservative, while the Orthodox either maintain or slightly increase. Of course the intermarriage rates are a concern as they continue to rise. 2

3 Before 1970, only 17% had non-jewish spouses, Since 2005, 58% have non-jewish spouses. Not surprisingly, 79% of married Jews of no religion are intermarried, as opposed to 36% of those who identify themselves as Jews of religion. This may be a which comes first, the chicken or the egg phenomena. Does intermarriage make Jews less religious or does being less religious make one more likely to intermarry? The answer is a little of both. Related is the question of how children will be raised in these homes, where only 20% are being raised as Jews, 25% partly Jewish and 37% say they are not raising their children Jewish at all. In addition, the children of intermarriage are more likely themselves to intermarry. These numbers are not surprising, but certainly call for us to continue our efforts to encourage in-marriage and be as welcoming as possible of those who intermarry. Some argue that this should include even greater openness for rabbis performing interfaith marriage, but again, this may be more of a chicken and egg issue. There are those who argue that if rabbis perform intermarriages there is a greater probability of being connected to Judaism and children being raised as Jewish. This is not a new statement. Though anecdotally common, it has yet to be clearly proven accurate. With numbers of committed Jews seemingly eroding, still 94% (including 97% of the Jews of religion and 85% of the Jews of no religion ) say they are proud to be Jewish. When asked to complete the statement: is an essential part of what being Jewish means to them. The following results arose: 73% remembering the Holocaust 69% leading ethical/moral lives 56% working for justice/equality 49% being intellectually curious 43% caring about Israel (69% say they feel an emotional attachment to Israel, and 40% believe that the land that is now Israel was given to the Jewish people by God, only 17 percent think that the continued building of settlements in the West Bank is helpful to Israel s security. 42% having good sense of humor 28% being part of a Jewish community 19% observing Jewish law 14% eating traditional Jewish food All of these numbers are just the tip of the statistical iceberg. Sociologists are going to be having a field day, first analyzing and then responding to the results. Much of this has already begun: It s a very grim portrait of the health of the American Jewish population in terms of their Jewish identification, said Jack Wertheimer, a professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary, in New York. 3

4 Jane Eisner, of the Jewish Daily Forward, who initiated the study with the Pew foundation found the results devastating because, I thought there would be more American Jews who cared about religion. This should serve as a wake-up call for all of us as Jews, she said, to think about what kind of community we re going to be able to sustain if we have so much assimilation. With my personal experience of reacting to similar kinds of studies over three decades and the insights of the historians, I am not wringing my hands and shreiing GEVALT! But neither can we close our eyes to these findings. In truth there is very little here of which we were not aware. Some of you will recall my sermon on Relational Judaism during Rosh Hashanah, where many of these same issues were raised. That being said, what might some responses be, particularly to the reality of increased interfaith marriage and the increase in the numbers who distance themselves from religion? 1. Synagogues and all Jewish institutions need to be less parochial and competitive, recognizing that there are unaffiliated Jews, who care about being Jewish in different ways. If ritual and worship is not motivating, we must appeal to the interests that they do have: social justice, remembering the Shoah, cultural activities, film, art and comedy, along with follow up to Birthright experiences. One person suggested Birthright for intermarrieds. This is what Sarna might call the cultural response. 2. We need to enhance and fund opportunities for social connections: Jewish cultural summer camps for children, like Jacobs, Barney and Blue Star; youth groups like JewCCY and BBYO; Jewish travel for all ages; creating venues for Sabbath and holiday meals; expanding on-line connections; new Jewish organizations and clubs that may not last forever but respond to where people are today. To resurrect outreach programs that help non-jews who wish to connect with Judaism to find a comfortable place, whether through conversion or something short of that. This is what Sarna refers to as the creative response. 3. Last is the traditional response. Jewish ritual, learning, celebration, law and philosophy have an enduring quality that has spoken to spirits throughout the ages. It has not all of a sudden become passé. This includes all the various denominations. We have never been a one size fits all kind of people, but a house of God for all people. That can include secular/cultural Jews as well as those seeking religion. Our challenge is to present values that speak to people in their lives; to confront minds with sophisticated theological concepts; to offer Jewish ritual as a path to bring order into otherwise chaotic lives. The Jewish family, Jewish schools and synagogues continue to be the foundation of Jewish life. They have responded to changing realities throughout the ages and there is no reason to think that they cannot continue to do so in our time. 4

5 Sociologist Sarah Benor, who was involved in creating the survey, opines that instead of asking why some of the disturbing figures are so high, we should instead be asking, why so low? We might expect much higher as Jews become more and more interwoven in American society. America has become the main religion for people of various faiths. Still, 58% of all Jews say they attend synagogue and connect with Jewish institutions more than once a year across the ages. 67% had some formal education; including an increase in the numbers attending Day Schools. 79% say they have close Jewish friends. There is much light in all the darkness. Indeed that has been the reality of our people throughout the ages and there is every reason to believe that it will continue. AMEN 5