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| Pâ•qidꞋ Yi•rᵊmᵊyâhꞋ u |
2003.09.17 – I've long suspected that Jewish surveys in the U.S. deliberately buried the true extent of assimilation. Now I can prove it.
Probably like most people, I always assumed that in the Jewish population surveys, "affiliated" referred to synagogue affiliation. Reading the newly released National Jewish Population Survey for 2000-01 (United Jewish Communities – ujc.org) shows shockingly differently.
"To examine affiliation-related differences in Jewish involvement, a measure of affiliation was constructed based on synagogues, JCCs and other Jewish organizations. Those with no such memberships total 44% of adult Jews and are called 'unaffiliated.' The affiliated divide evenly into two groups: those with one membership (28%) are called 'moderately affiliated,' and those with two or more memberships (28%) are regarded as 'highly affiliated.' "
Thus, a born Jew who belongs to a local JCC (Jewish Communitiy Center, which welcomes anyone who sympathizes with Jews and Judaism of any persuasion) and GLBT Jews (Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender "Jews") would report membership in two 'Jewish' organizations and be listed in the new NJPS as "highly affiliated"!!!
Clearly, a better indicator of connection to the legitimate Jewish community is observance of
Even with an expanded definition – "anyone who considers him or herself Jewish" rather than born Jews as in past surveys – this 'Jewish' population has shrunk from 5.5 million born Jews to 5.2 million whatevers "who considers him or herself Jewish." This means that the actual number of American Jews – i.e.
Using the same criterion in both the 1990 and 2000 surveys, intermarriage increased. Using the 'born Jew' criterion, the 1990 survey showed a 52% rate of intermarriage compared to a 2000 rate of 54% (instead of 47% of the expanded criterion). Conversely, using the expanded criterion, the 1990 survey would have shown 43% (rather than 52%) compared with the 2000 rate of 47%.
As Jerusalem Post secular op-ed columnist, Yosef Goell, wrote (2003.09.15, p. 6), "A growing number of young Jews, successfully assimilated into America, are simply not buying what their elders have to offer in regard to the meaning of being Jewish, which means, by definition, different from mainstream America."
Goell then goes on to write his perspective. "The problem to my mind is that so much of the message the older generation is trying to transmit revolves around the more ancient aspects of our history and heritage instead of instilling knowledge and pride in the more recent achievements of so many Jews worldwide. That and the insistence on defining Judaism by the more mumbo-jumbo aspects of religious ritual rather than on how to live ethically and successfully in a fast changinbg world."
However, Mr. Goell's perspective is contradicted by the grossly disproportionate of secular Jews who become estranged contrasted with the religious Jews.
The facts imply, rather, that modern educated and intelligent young secular Jews, having no access to religious Jews who have answers – and I have answers if no one else does, are turned off by their elders who demonstrate a complete failure to grasp of Judaism and ignorantly and blithely dismiss it as "mumbo-jumbo" and resort to well known logical fallacies in order to impose a false dilemma between "mumbo-jumbo aspects of religious ritual" and "how to live ethically and successfully in a fast changing world" – attempting to divorce Judaism from ethics and success in a fast changing world, in order to recast the latter as secular attributes. On the contrary, these are unalterably rooted in
Typical of secularists, Mr. Goell sees the problem as sending young Jews to college where they may encounter questions rather than equipping young Jews with answers to those questions. Young Jews don't have to be Einsteins to recognize that Mr. Goell's "best solution" is a cop-out and conclude that the Jewish community has no worthwhile answers to offer.
Only when Jews become willing to overcome their laziness and fears to grapple with the difficult questions in life instead of hiding their heads in the sand will they become able to contribute to stemming the tide of assimilation among their offspring.
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