According to a Pew Research Center survey, fewer American Jews identify with their religion today and the threat of assimilations is a growing one.
“American Jews overwhelmingly say they are proud to be Jewish and have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people, according to a major new survey by the Pew Research Center. But the survey also suggests that Jewish identity is changing in America, where one-in-five Jews (22%) now describe themselves as having no religion.
“The percentage of U.S. adults who say they are Jewish when asked about their religion has declined by about half since the late 1950s and currently is a little less than 2%. Meanwhile, the number of Americans with direct Jewish ancestry or upbringing who consider themselves Jewish, yet describe themselves as atheist, agnostic or having no particular religion, appears to be rising and is now about 0.5% of the U.S. adult population.1
“The changing nature of Jewish identity stands out sharply when the survey’s results are analyzed by generation. Fully 93% of Jews in the aging Greatest Generation identify as Jewish on the basis of religion (called “Jews by religion” in this report); just 7% describe themselves as having no religion (“Jews of no religion”). By contrast, among Jews in the youngest generation of U.S. adults – the Millennials – 68% identify as Jews by religion, while 32% describe themselves as having no religion and identify as Jewish on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture.
“jew-overview-2 This shift in Jewish self-identification reflects broader changes in the U.S. public. Americans as a whole – not just Jews – increasingly eschew any religious affiliation. Indeed, the share of U.S. Jews who say they have no religion (22%) is similar to the share of religious “nones” in the general public (20%), and religious disaffiliation is as common among all U.S. adults ages 18-29 as among Jewish Millennials (32% of each).2
“Secularism has a long tradition in Jewish life in America, and most U.S. Jews seem to recognize this: 62% say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture, while just 15% say it is mainly a matter of religion. Even among Jews by religion, more than half (55%) say being Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture, and two-thirds say it is not necessary to believe in God to be Jewish.themselves as atheist, agnostic or having no particular religion, appears to be rising and is now about 0.5% of the U.S. adult population.”
See the comprehensive report entitled “A Portrait of Jewish Americans”. http://www.pewforum.org/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture-survey/
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10 Responses
This is really tragic,,,,that is why there is such a need for KIRUV.
The big news in this new Pew report is that it found that 71% of non-Orthodox Jews intermarry with gentiles.
Yes, 71%
The Reform and Conservative are shrinking at a rapid rate. They are quickly disappearing.
And what is left of Reform and Conservative are increasingly non-Jewish. They are halachicly gentiles. Such as their converts, the offspring of their converts, and the children of intermarriage with a gentile mother. They count most of these as Jewish even though they are goyim under Halacha. An increasingly large percentage of the remnants of the Reform and Conservative religions are non-Jews.
Commenter No. 1 got it right: kiruv. And nobody gets kiruv righter than Chabad.
According to Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald, quoted in an online article, kiruv is becoming increasingly less effective as more and more of the non-Orthodox population has no Jewish exposure at all. He contends that affiliated Jews from Conservative or Reform backgrounds have a foundation upon which kiruv can build. But unaffiliated Jews are very difficult to reach. Thus, based on this study, the kiruv window (at least as we know kiruv today) is rapidly closing.
Pews data on many things like the frum are way off from Federation data. And Looking at Pews methodology they really screwed up on the frum. Perhaps someone who is better qualified than me can dissect the problems with what Pew claims with the frum and write a counter piece
Actually the survey showed the American Jewish community has split into two distinct and separate communities. The frum (Shomer Shabbos, Shomer Kashrus) and the rest. The frum are growing steadily, and the rest, i.e. the non-orthodox are dying. Hearing that the non-orthodox Jewish community is disappearing is like hearing that a cancer patient is dying. The problem occured when they got the cancer (secularism), and its no hiddush they are dying as they had contracted a fatal illness. By not focusing on basic questions (do you refuse to go to work on Shabbos even if it results in losing your job, do you refuse to eat non-kosher even if it cduts you off from coworkers) they were misled. The non-orthodox died years ago, and the corpse is finally starting to stink.
#6 Disgusting comment especially since the bale teshuva come from non frum backgrounds.
#6 akuperma: Well explained.
Akumpera- we don’t let a cancer patient die, we try to treat them and cure them. I’m glad you’re not my oncologist.
#9 heretohelp — you cant cure a patient who committed suicide.