Pew Survey Shows Major Change in Jewish Identity
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
December 2013
The first major survey of American Jews in more than ten years finds a
significant rise in those who are not religious, marry outside the faith and are
not raising their children Jewish. When it comes to Israel 48 percent of those
polled don’t think Israel is making a sincere attempt to make peace. A quarter
of all Jews ages 18-29 believe that U.S. is too supportive of Israel.
The percentage of Jews who identify as Jewish solely by culture or ancestry
rather religion has jumped from 7 percent to 22 percent since 2000. So many Jews
feel strongly about their identity as Jews but don’t define themselves as “by
religion” that Pew started using the academic term “Jews of no religion.” Thirty
four percent said you could still be Jewish if you believe that Jesus was the
Messiah. The intermarriage rate has reached a high of 58 percent for all Jews
and 71 percent for non-Orthodox Jews.
The survey, by the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project, found
that despite the declines in religious identity and participation, American Jews
said they are proud to be Jewish and have “a strong sense of belonging to the
Jewish people.”
According to the Washington Post (Oct. 1, 2013), “In most areas, young Jews and
older ones were similar. The largest gap between young and old was about caring
about Israel. Among those 65 and older, 53 percent said caring about Israel is
essential to being Jewish. Among Jews younger than 30, 32 percent feel this way
… The organized Jewish community has been very concerned about whether Jews are
maintaining their connection to Israel and the poll will further stir debate.”
Steven M. Cohen, a professor of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College and
a consultant to the Pew poll, says, “Younger Jews are considerably less
supportive of Israel’s policies and less supportive of Israel and the
differences are very large. I think we’re seeing a shift, not just a gap.”
The lead article in the November 2013 Commentary, discussing the Pew Study,
seems to lament that a lack of anti-Semitism in America is not keeping Jews
within the group. The cover headline: “Loving Us To Death: How America’s Embrace
Is Imperiling American Jewry.”
Author Jonathan Tobin, senior online editor for Commentary, notes that, “...the
acceptance of Jews at every level of American life might be the ultimate proof
of American exceptionalism. America is not insisting in any way that Jews
assimilate, give up religious practice, or do anything differently. It is Jews
themselves who are choosing this path.”
Discussing the Pew study in The Forward (Oct. 26, 2013), Rebecca Vilkomerson,
executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, writes: “The irony here is a
subset of Jewish Americans who are in fact strongly connected by every measure
to Jewish life, but are being actively pushed out of it. Let’s take my own story
as a case study. I was raised in a Conservative synagogue. I grew up to marry an
Israeli and lived in Israel for three years. I belong to a synagogue … and I am
actively raising my children Jewishly … But part of my Jewish identity … has
always been political activism and has ranged from economic justice to fighting
for an Israel that would value the equality, dignity, freedom and security of
all people in the region, Israeli and Palestinian. Because of these views, I and
others like me, are being shut out by the self-appointed leaders of the Jewish
community — solely because our political perspective on Israel and Palestine
falls outside the acceptable parameters they have unilaterally decided on.”
Vilkomerson notes that, “This voluntary jettisoning of politically engaged Jews
is creating a huge loss to the Jewish community, one it can ill afford. Over and
over again, I have seen how betrayed young people feel when the same Jewish
community that nurtured them and taught them values such as justice and tikkun
olam, rejects them when they apply those principles to Israel and the
Palestinians … Jewish leaders are claiming to speak for a community that doesn’t
agree with them … Any organization that cares about Jewish continuity needs to
understand that for a growing number of us, holding Israel to a standard of
equality, justice and security for everyone — whether Jewish or Palestinian — is
one of the most important ways of expressing our Jewish values … It is time to
end the litmus test on Israel.”
The evidence that established Jewish organizations do not represent the men and
women in whose name they speak is made abundantly clear by the Pew research,
particularly with regard to the confusion of religion and politics with regard
to Israel.
Prof. Marc Ellis, author and theologian, writes (Mondoweiss, Oct. 19, 2013):
“Take every survey you want. Multiply them until the end of time. The reason for
Jews going out is because the Jewish establishment can’t stretch beyond empire.
This is the fundamental flaw inside the establishment. It’s been there for a
long, long time. Mainstream Judaism is the wrong turn we have to declare our
freedom from. The surveys tell us that is exactly what Jews do. … The surveys
don’t poll conscience. They don’t survey those who leave because the system is
so hypocritical there’s no way to remain and retain your ethical sanity.” •
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