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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋu |
"… an intriguing new portrait of American [non-Orthodox; ybd] Jews that has emerged from a groundbreaking study of ethnic America. Conducted last winter by Zogby International in cooperation with The New Jersey Jewish News, the studies, the Zogby Culture Polls, attempt to shed new light on a variety of American ethnic groups by examining them side by side."
Thus, this study is groundbreaking both because it’s not, like most earlier polls, a predominantly Jewish self-study or self-poll (subject to interpretational biases of American Jewish reform perspectives; though one must beware of Arabist biases in the Zogby poll) as well as because it is fixed within the setting of several minority American groups, anchoring a more meaningful comparison. "The result is perhaps the first fully rounded statistical snapshot of America’s ethnic mosaic…" I will be excerpting primarily only those aspects illuminating American Jews. The surveys were all conducted between 1999.12 to 2000.02.
While education and wealth among American Jews isn’t all myth, the group more deserving of being singled out for education are the Asians. "Six out of 10 Jewish adults have a college degree, more than any group except Asians. More than 41% [of American Jews] report a household income of $75,000 or more, far above any other group surveyed."
"Nearly 60% [of Jews surveyed] report having experienced discrimination because of their ethnic heritage, more than any other group except blacks.
"Fully half of Jews report having a ‘strong emotional tie’ to their ‘country of ethnic heritage’ – less than Hispanics, at 62%, or Arab Americans, at 56%…
"What is particularly striking is that unlike the other groups, the country to which Jews are attached is not one their grandparents came from, but Israel, one which for the most part they have only read of in books or heard of in synagogue.
"The researchers pointed to the very distinctiveness of the Jews as an identifiable community, with its own patterns of behavior and values, as the most striking finding of the poll of Jews.
"’Jews have retained their own identity,’ said John Zogby, president of Zogby International.
"’I’m not an expert in Judaism, and as an Arab American I wouldn’t claim to be, but the findings suggest that there’s plenty within the context of Judaism as a spiritual force that generates a commitment to community spirit and communal values.’ Zogby, who is of Lebanese-Christian descent, is best known as a New York-based Republican pollster. He is the brother of Arab American lobbyist James Zogby…
"Both Zogby and [Belio Martinez Jr., Zogby’s director of international marketing] cited … liberalism as the most important finding in the Jewish survey… Some 49% of Jews called themselves ‘liberal’ or ‘very liberal,’ compared to 42% of blacks and about 1/3 of every other group. By contrast, about 19% of Jews called themselves [politically conservative, not religiously "Conservative"; ybd] ‘conservative’ or ‘very conservative…" [I’m center-right politically-conservative (not religiously "Conservative"); ybd] "About 2/3 of Jews are registered as Democrats…" [I’m a Republican-leaning independent; ybd]
"The lopsided liberalism of the Jews shows up in their responses to issues on the public agenda, particularly on abortion. Jews are overwhelmingly pro-choice, with 61% saying the decision should always be left to the mother…" [emphasis added; ybd]. "Similarly, fewer than 50% of Jews believe in notifying parents when a minor seeks an abortion, compared with nearly 80% in every other group." Needless to say, these Jews arent guided by Tor•âhꞋ.
"Jews are the most supportive of letting the federal government set education policy, the most supportive of campaign donation limits and the least supportive of increasing the military budget. In general, Jews showed a greater faith in the power of the federal government to do good than any other group.
"For Zogby, the specific characteristics marking American Jews – attachment to Israel, distinctive political values, mistrust of the United Nations – all point to the enduring influence of Judaism on the Jews’ inner lives… But one thing is certain – wherever it comes from, they’re not getting it in synagogue.
"Jews attend worship services less regularly than any other group surveyed. That, in fact, was one of the most striking differences the survey found between [non-Orthodox] Jews and the other [minority group]s.
"Just under 1/4 of the Jews polled said they attend services at least once a week…" About 30% attend, on average, about once/month. "This matches other surveys that show 25-30% of American Jews maintain a deep, ongoing involvement in communal Jewish practice" (New Jersey Jewish News).
In other words, 70% don’t!!!
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