The renewed debate over how many Jews there are in America is about as meaningful as the mythical medieval argument over how many angels could stand on the head of a pin. Five million angels? Six million? Eight million? A more sensible question would be: Even if they could, why would any number of angels want to stand on a pin?
The pin in this case is a meaningful Jewish identity. This is not necessarily the same as answering "yes" over the telephone to a pollster who asks you if you are Jewish or are raising your children as Jews. The same pollster can ask you whether you eat cornflakes, and you can answer "yes" to that, too, without intending to convey that cornflakes are central to your life or that you would even exert yourself to buy a box of them if your neighborhood supermarket ran out of them.
As has been repeatedly pointed out, counting Jews in America is a function of how one defines being Jewish. Once upon a pre-modern time, this definition was agreed on by all Jews. A Jew was someone recognized as such by Jewish religious law, which meant someone able to participate in the rituals and ceremonies of the Jewish community to which he or she belonged.
But this was back in the days when just about every Jew did belong to a Jewish community. Those times were already passing in the early 19th century and are long gone today. Outside of Israel, Jewishness, at least as far as the statisticians are concerned, has become a matter of self-definition -- and self-definition, as we all know, is subjective and therefore intrinsically not measurable. Two people saying they are Jewish can mean totally different things by it.
This is why the numbers debate is not really very significant. One can argue whether there are 5.2 million Jews in America, as was determined by the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey, or whether there are 6.4 million, as has now been claimed in a study undertaken by demographers Ira Sheskin and Arnold Deshefsky, respectively, of the universities of Miami and Connecticut, but in either case, the 1.2 million now-you-see-them-now-you-don't Jews that make up the difference are more virtual than real.
This is because the Jews who are the most difficult to count are inherently those who are not part of the Jewish community, do not give their children even minimal Jewish educations, and can be located only by means of random phone calls of the "Do you eat cornflakes?" variety. Even if they identify themselves as Jewish over the telephone, this identity is highly likely to be tenuous in the extreme and highly unlikely, in their children, to survive another generation of intermarriage and assimilation.
The nonaffiliated Jews of today are of a different composition from that of the nonaffiliated Jews of former times.
One doesn't need to be a demographer or a statistician to realize that in terms of real Jews, the American Jewish community has been steadily shrinking for a long time. This is not because the number of affiliated Jews has dropped sharply, but because the nonaffiliated Jews of today are of a different composition from that of the nonaffiliated Jews of former times.
Once, in the second and third generations of the great Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe, there was such a thing as an "ethnic Jew," men and women who, although they did not go to synagogue or participate in Jewish communal life, ate like Jews, spoke like Jews, thought like Jews, socialized with Jews, and married Jews. It is this type of Jew that has all but disappeared from American Jewish life. Today's fourth- or fifth-generation nonaffiliated Jew eats like other Americans, speaks like other Americans, thinks like other Americans, socializes with other Americans, and marries other Americans.
And yet any observer of the American Jewish scene knows that shrinkage is only half of the story. The other half is the remarkable strengthening of Jewish education, religious observance, and creativity in that part of the American Jewish community that has chosen to remain strongly Jewish. Nor are these two seemingly opposed processes unrelated. On the contrary: As assimilation has claimed more and more American Jews, American Jews who wish to resist it have increasingly come to understand that the only way to do so is by putting more of an effort into being Jewish.
Assimilation and cultural renaissance are thus two sides of the same coin of American Jewish life, and all of the wordy arguments about what direction American Jewry is going in are largely a matter of which side of the coin one is looking at. The American Jewish community is rapidly polarizing into more and more assimilated Jews, on the one hand, and more and more Jewish Jews, on the other. The broad ethnic middle has fallen out of it.
This community has also become more Orthodox, both because Orthodox families have by far the highest Jewish birth rate -- they are the only American Jews who are reproducing above replacement level -- and because they have, again by far and away, the greatest success in retaining their children and preventing defections from the Jewish fold. Although they constitute today an estimated 10% of American Jewry, they comprise a third of its regular synagogue goers, 20% of its under-18 population, and barely 1% of its Jews who intermarry.
Moreover, as bitter as the divide between them and Reform and Conservative Jews may be over cultural issues, the intense allegiance of Orthodox Jews to a Jewish way of life is a model that Reform and Conservatism will increasingly have to follow if they are to survive. The real demographic story of American Jewish life may turn out to be its steady "Orthodoxization" in the years to come. Although this is something whose implications few American Jewish leaders or institutions have given much thought to, it is too clear a trend to ignore.
(20) Rafael, December 3, 2015 2:54 PM
To be or not to be - Jewish
I was a steady entertainer at Kutchers country club in upstate New York . It was a place where Jews would vacation and feel a safety in numbers . Kutchers closed in 2014 when the clientele dwindled to nothing . The reason given by the Kutchers family is that Jews are doing financially well and feel comfortable vacationing and having homes most anywhere in the USA .
These freedoms have diminished the necessity for Jews to cling to each other . An article in Aish written by I think" Evette Alt"said the lack of anti semetism in Asia also disassembled the Jewish community that existed there .
I believe in the case of the Jewish community it is anti semetism that keeps hard and soft core Jews united in some form . The less negative attention Jews get ... The closer they grow and assimilate to the Gentile population . The Gentile population on the other hand doesn't define itself in terms of Gentile and non Gentile . Churches are closing all over the USA as the parishes diminish .
The former religious Jews and former religious Christians as well as disenchanted former Muslims and Hindos are embracing a new 21st century consciousness . Like the walls of Jericho the barriers have come tumbling down . This is not only bad news for Jewish tradition but for all religious denominations that have successfully partitioned themselves in the past !
It is a terrible thing to say that Hitler was the unwitting dark angel that justified for the world ...the State of Israel . The Hollocaust is the battle cry that inspires Jews to go on the offense and hold their ground " AS JEWS".
The Torah is all about stife and fighting enemies according to the will of Hashem . Is it possible that American Jews need a fresh infusion of anti semetism to rekindle the unity of the good old days .
(19) Rabbi Aryeh Moshen, April 14, 2015 3:44 PM
What percent is Orthodox
While there has been no actual complete census taken (and our tradition frowns on taking one) I believe that we can claim at least 1,000,000 Orthodox Jews in the States. That would mean about 20% of all Jews, and perhaps 40%-50% of all American Jewish children under the age of 16.
(18) Anthony, April 2, 2014 3:05 PM
Solving the polarization problem
After reading many books such as: Atlas of Jewish Civilization, Josephine Bacon; Crash Course of Jewish History and World Perfect by Ken Spiro) I came to the conclusion that maybe a Rabbi of profound knowledge should be named to joint Jewish people of different community of Jews.
The Pharisees, Zealots, Sadducees, Essenes, Reformist, Orthodox and Conservative have always been the cause of a great divided between the Jewish people. Also the Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Falasha and Zionist all a cause of great differences’, something must be done and I conclude on the need of a voiceless coordinator of the world Jews.
(17) Anonymous, October 30, 2012 9:09 PM
The Great Jewish Reformation
Tu., 10/30/12 common era //////////I was raised in the Reform movement but came back to G-d and His Torah when I turned age 40. In my experience, the typical Reform "rabbi" lacks the Torah knowledge of the average high school Yeshiva student and of the average frum young woman. Reform "Judaism" provides only an ethnic veneer. To boot, Reform Judaism was concocted to eliminate or at least greatly reduce antisemitism by making Jewish religious practices more closely resemble Protestant Christian ones. And this all happened in dear old Deutschland. I rest my case.
(16) Jacqueline S Kurz-Dunn, February 25, 2007 12:32 PM
If jews born as jews don't care why should anyone else
I really believed in Jaudais as a convert until I saw and experienced so many Jews who honor very little of their traditions especially in my husband's family. Two of my my 3 nieces/nephews (by marriage), married nominal christians and therefore the children are raised as essentially nothing. My brother in law tried to make me believe that a seder plate is a new invention, and my Sister-in-law never lights shabbat candles. They brag about cooking pork when the rabbid visited the house uannanounced. To me they insult Jewish traditions. After seeing so many Jews outright dishonor and blattantly practice their faith only when convenient, I decided to back to being a Christian. To too many Jews in day to day life means very little. How sad!
IrisB, December 8, 2013 9:32 PM
You only went through the motions
Ms Kurz-Dunn, I contend that your conversion to Judaism was for the sake of your marriage and your intentions were to do good, but not for the purpose of truly embracing Judaism. Why else would you have gone back to your prior Christian life? Jews have always lived among fellow Jews who did not observe or respect Judaism, just as there are Christians who live among fellow Christians who do not observe or respect Christianity. If you had converted because you wanted to become a Jew and share in its collective history, you would have remained jewish, albeit disillusioned and disheartened, and not go back to be christan.
(15) mark schwartzberg, January 15, 2007 8:35 PM
i will count myself in
i will think of the importance of klal yisroel before i speak...thank you for turning that light back on in me today.
(14) Anonymous, January 11, 2007 3:09 PM
The Polarized Jewish Community
Dear Sir,
I deeply appreciated your article. As a matter of fact, I believe that Judaism is beyond differences among Orthodox, Conservative and Reformist. I feel that when we are at our Synagogue, God is present. There is grace involved. There is a climate of deep faith and caring surrounding.I feel that, most of all, being present to celebrations and services are the highest part of being Jewish. I know that there are many measures and steps to attract youngsters and children and also very important Hebrew classes before and after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. But I feel that if a family, from generation to generation goes to the Synagogue, the inner and sacred realm of Judaism will prevail, one will be happy together with his/her friends in faith and love. More than assimilation, there is a need, throughout the world, of respecting one another´s faith, and make every effort to learn the beauty of Jewish history, theology and culture and make transparent this beauty to all our loved ones.
Shalom!
(13) William Kurry, January 10, 2007 3:51 PM
I can be Jewish and not affilliated Orthodox!
I would like to believe I can be Jewish and be affilliated with a Conservative synagogue. I can observe Kashrut, attend services regularly, celebrate and observe Shabbat, and try like heck to teach by example so my children may not want to marry a non-Jew. .....but let me not kid you! My adult kids minimally participate in Jewish activities don't observe,and one is married to a non-Jew. Most (I have 5) go to synagogue on every Rosh HaShannah & Yom Kippur and have a family Seder. Two went to Hebrew Day School and they are the least observant. I must admit that when I was young I was similar but as your article says more involved in a Jewish milieu.
(12) Anonymous, January 9, 2007 10:39 AM
history and memories
Numbers are not signifcant, but history is the most valuable value for the human race.
(11) Janna, January 8, 2007 10:43 PM
We need to encourage a "Jewish journey"
A little background, first. I grew up knowing it was important to be Jewish, marry Jewish...even went to Hebrew School, but there were only basic outlines of observance in my home. Yes, I married Jewish (25 years ago), to a man who was mostly unconcerned about his Judaism. Then, our younger child was gravely ill before he turned two. A Jewish community we were scarcely aware of (we had joined a synagogue but hardly ever went to services)rallied to our aid and even to our son's bedside. When, Baruch Hashem, our son's life was spared and he was restored to health, we knew we had to "give back." We began going regularly to services... then getting involved in shul life... then sending our son to day school after anti-Semitic behavior (from third graders!) and a self-hating Jewish principal made it impossible for him to continue in public school....(We have some regrets about not doing the same for our daughter, but she seemed well-adjusted in junior high)....Then we made the decision to kasher our kitchen. And read Jewish publications. And finally, we traveled to Israel. And now, here we sit... anguishing over the recent decisions of the Conservative movement (of which we are reluctant to count ourselves members now) and wondering if we have now hit another crossroads. But our story is just to give perspective. What will save us from assimilation is Jewish education, yes, but even more importantly, it will be Jewish LEADERSHIP. After the parents have had their say, who will be out there modeling Judaism for our kids in the colleges...and beyond? Too many organizations (who are Jewish in name only) seem to think we should be making it "cool" to be Jewish, and that usually means watering everything down. We need young people living committed Jewish lives to bring ideas to the table, to do outreach, to make Judaism a living, breathing concept and practice for those who more or less consider it a museum exhibit. We need to skip the "chocolate seders" and "Jewltide" extravaganzas (yes, I really saw that advertised for late December in NYC) that pass for Jewish activities for our young people.
Another thing - we have got to stop sniping at one another! Reform, Conservative, Orthodox - we use the monikers like insults at each other! The saying has always gone, "Two Jews, three opinions." Even though we do not all agree on our practices, we need to see one another as Jews on a Jewish journey. One who is not keeping kosher is just not as far down the road YET... We need to do what we can to encourage people to change just one thing, consider adding one practice...and support and cheer them along the way. Such action creates a "road" the person may never have realized existed...and may set that person's feet upon this path of continuing study and knowledge. This is what will create Jewish continuity, but we have to stop finger-pointing and make this happen.
If I had not been perceived, at a critical point in my life, as needing to find this "road" and needing to carry on this "journey," then would I be anywhere near where I (and my husband) are now? We have a kosher home, we are moving toward being Shomer Shabbat (not there YET, but as I said, it is a journey), and our son is presently on a college students' mission in Israel (his second trip), bringing asistance and support to the people in northern Israel as they rebuild and recover. Our daughter's boyfriend started out as a friend who made the choice to convert to Judaism. We consider ourselves blessed by this journey...Now let's figure out ways to give others this chance.
(10) Anonymous, January 8, 2007 6:12 PM
survey
And then there are those of us who have discovered through searching geneologies or family documents or just oral family histories that several generations ago our forebears converted away from Judaism because of persecutions, pograms, or whatever. My husband and I had had an inner thirst that was not satisfied for years. So we started this search to see what was it that we were missing, what it was we were longing for. In our search we discovered the Jewish connection, the family that converted, in my husband's case, either before or during their escape from Lithuania. [I have not yet found anything in my own family tree, though I have discovered hints, so conversion is the only avenue open to me.]
We may not be recognized by other members of the Jewish community, or at least not yet, but we are working at bringing our lives into conformance with Torah--and some of us (myself, my husband, and others we've found who are in similar situations) do attend synogogue regularly, study all we can, including learning Hebrew, and work to instill the traditions in our lives as this fulfills that yearning in our hearts. I am a part of group of people in our area that are working at returning to our roots, to the blood of our forefathers, as it were. For us, Jewishness is at the moment a state of the heart, at least until we've satisfied other more official requirements.
My husband's and my children are grown, but we have also begun to instill the traditions, the heritage, and the knowledge of their Jewishness to our children and grandchildren. We come together now as a family to celebrate the feasts. One of my grandchildren who lives far away, calls on Friday night to sing the blessing for lighting the shabbat candles with me as she lights her own candles--which might not be considered exactly kosher, but as I said, we are in a state of learning our heritage. This "conversion" has become quite important to our whole family as they are now on their own search for their identity and how to apply this in their own lives.
Maybe the blood of our forefathers is not lost in being diluted, or not fully. I really believe that the blood will call for us to regain our heritage and the special call of HaShem in being Jewish on our lives. At least the blood will call to those who listen.
Thank you for reading this and giving me this opportunity to share this. And also let me thank you for AISH as it has been an important aid in our finding out how to accomplish some of these many changes we have made in our lives and our lifestyle.
(9) Anonymous, January 8, 2007 1:33 PM
disappearing Jews
Why have the "ethnic Jews" all but disappeared? What was holding them, matzo balls, Yiddish phrases - there was no substance. Torah education is, of course, the answer. We have to make it accessible/affordable to all Jewish children. They are also more effective in bringing along their parents.
(8) Avraham Goodman, January 8, 2007 2:33 AM
A major problem, but what to do?
Intermarrige & assimilation are the 2 gravest dangers facing North American Jewery today. We are loosing more precious souls today than we lost in the Shoa. The question is, What can be done about it?
The answer is Jewish Education. It is incumbent upon parents to give their children a proper Jewish Education, & upon us grandparents to encourage their grandchildren to follow the Jewish path.
We here in Israel must resist the acceptance of the Conservative & Reform movements. They are a grave danger to our very existance.
Am Yisroel Chai V'Kayiam.
(7) Dr. Alex Pister, January 7, 2007 8:13 PM
What portends for the Jewish community of the State of Israel
There has come to be a certain presumption of non-susceptibility of the Jews of the State of Israel to assimilation. When asked why they moved to Israel many Jews give as part of their answer that they feel their children are far safer from the snares of assimilation there. In the last 10-15 years of so called "aliyah" to the State over 60% of all "olim" have been non-Jews. This statistic is to be found in the same 2001 National Jewish Population Survey referred to in Hillel Halkin's article. As well, of the 4.9 million Jews referred to in the Survey at the time in the State approximately 900,000 were "Shomer Shabbos". This leaves over 80% at the time who weren't. Many statistical pundits chirped in at the time that over 90% of all "Israeli's" were at least traditional as evidenced by some form of a Passover Seder or a Mezuzah on the front door. I remember growing up in Toronto when we proudly blurted out the same claim to fame that we Jews stuck together and of course had some kind of a seder (with the T.V. on watching the Leafs in the NHL playoffs). We too went to Shull once a year just as most Israeli's wouldn't miss Yom Kippur "services" today. We all had mezuzahs on our doors (even if they were painted over several times by our Italian house painter). This kind of foolish reliance led to the mess of assimilation we're in now here in Toronto. The obsessive focus on the North American "Jewish continuity" problem deflects from and serves to falsely reassure the Jews of Israel into being duped into the same enormous trap we fell into here in North America over the last 50-100 years. Recently there was an organization with a banner on the JPost website that claimed over 20,000 Jewish girls by birth in Israel are in relationships with Arab Muslim men. The rate of male homosexuality in Israel is evidenced amply by the Gay Pride "debacle" and M.K.'s coming out of the closet. Jewish communal split in America? For sure. But the Jews of America will and are acknowledging the crisis and trying to turn the tide. There's an enormous amount of work to do. And we're proud to share our Torah lifestyles with one and all. For that is the only answer. Every morning we say Talmud Torah K'neged Kulam. That Torah study, sharing, and dissemination equals all the mitzvahs combined! And it works! Together with outfits like Aish we're changing the Jewish world. But don't be lulled into thinking this is a North American problem. Its world wide and right in the front yard of the Israeli fabric. All the symptoms are there and the signs are growing. Forty years ago when a North American child intermarried some parents would "sit shiva". There was even a 1960's comedy of an intermarried couple called Bridget loves Bernie. Today, its average to have intermarriage. And it's no comedy. To those who would say: "Oh that would never happen here in the best neighborhood in the world" we say go back and read 1st and 2nd Jewish Temple history to see what happened back then when the Jews lost their Jewish values. We would all do well to address the worldwide problem of Jewish ignorance, assimilation and apathy as a worldwide responsibility of all Jews who are fortunate enough to be on the inside of the 4 walls of Torah.
(6) Anonymous, January 7, 2007 7:42 PM
As many families are today, it must be hardest for the parents, especially those whose children Return to Judaism (Baalei Tsuvah) on one hand, and others who marry out on another.
And what you say is quite accurate. In the last generation, Jews acted liked Jews, but in this generation, everyone is American, and that is enough. This is a sad way of thinking, as, those who marry out are losing on two points. They are losing something that they never even knew they had, and feel that being 'American' is enough.
(5) Anonymous, January 7, 2007 7:34 PM
So true
I recently read in a conservative Jewish Journal, that they are trying new ideas to keep adolescents involved after their B'nei Mitzvah. One idea is having separate prayer services. I find this idea to be ironic, considering that many who attend these groups have strong feelings against anything Orthodox. Maybe there is something to be said about traditional Judaism, and keeping the future generations Jewish.
(4) Julie George, January 7, 2007 5:43 PM
the Jew you forgot
The want-to-be Jew. Yes, there are a
million of us. We love everything Jewish, were out there learning Hebrew and singing Hebrew songs and praying to Hashem daily. We are the
Bnei Noach group of people and proud
of it. Thankyou, Baruch Hashem.
(3) Anonymous, January 7, 2007 11:42 AM
The 'Jews' of America are Americans and should have no loyality other than to their own country. I am an outsider peering in on the whole situation from countries not involved heavily with much of this publications' subjects. This gives me a brillient advantage. One's ancestry should not dictate political actions by creating a narrow variety of bias through classifications. There are upwards of some 1.3 billion catholics. This figure is based loosely on regestries of affiliation (baptism, sponsership, membership). Many of these people have little to do with any aspect of their religion, nor do they care to. However, the Jews of America are different, and are of a more complicated nature because the word Jew means two very different things. One is a religious term the other is a lack of a better word for ancestry. One should never follow a religion based on their ancestry. And just because someone is of Jewish origin does not mean they are a 'Jew'. I am not opposed by any means to the preservation of Jewish heritage. I am opposed to the bais created by terminology.
(2) KARENJOHNSON, January 7, 2007 11:22 AM
whats in a number?
WHEN YOU MENTION NUMBERS I CAN,T HELP
BUT REMEMBER THE HOLOCAUST BIOGRAPHYS
THAT I READ WHERE THEY WHERE COUNTED.
AND WHATS WORSE WHEN YOU WRITE.
5 .2 MILLION JEWS OR 6.4 MILLION
I BEGAN TO TRY TO FATHOM THE NUMBER
SIX MILLION SIX MILLION REMEMBER
THATS HOW MANY DIED IN THE SHOAH.
(1) Sara Cohen, January 7, 2007 10:29 AM
another report to back this up
You may also want to "google" the phrase "will your grandchildren be Jewish" for an excellent report on this subject.
The article gives clear numbers and reasons why we are seeing what we see today.