Pew survey: 6.8 million US Jews, but majority intermarry

NEW YORK - First the good news: There are a lot more Jews in America than you may have thought — an estimated 6.8 million, according to a new study.

  

Now the bad news: A growing proportion of American Jews are unlikely to raise their children Jewish or connect with Jewish institutions. The proportion of Jews who say they have no religion and are Jewish only on the basis of ancestry, ethnicity or culture is growing rapidly, and two-thirds of them are not raising their children Jewish at all.

Overall, the intermarriage rate is at 58 percent, up from 43% in 1990 and 17% in 1970.

The data on Jewish engagement come from the Pew Research Center Survey of US Jews, a telephone survey of 3,475 Jews nationwide conducted between February and June and released on Tuesday.

The population estimate, released Monday, comes from a synthesis of existing survey data conducted by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University.

While the estimate is likely to be a matter of some debate by demographers and social scientists, it is the Pew study that offers an in-depth portrait that may influence Jewish policymaking for years to come.

Among the more notable findings of the Pew survey:

* Thirty-two percent of Jews born after 1980 — the so-called millennial generation — identify as Jews of no religion, compared to 19% of baby boomers and just 7% of Jews born before 1927. Overall, 22% of US Jews describe themselves as having no religion, meaning they are much less connected to Jewish organizations and much less likely to be raising their children Jewish.

* The emotional attachment to Israel has held steady over the last decade, with 69% of respondents saying they feel attached or very attached to Israel. Forty-three percent of respondents said they had been to Israel.

* Far more respondents said having a good sense of humor was essential to their Jewish identity than observing Jewish law — 42% compared to 19%.

* Approximately one-quarter of Jews said religion is very important in their lives, compared to 56% among Americans generally.

Among Jewish denominations, the Reform movement remains the largest with 35% of respondents identifying as Reform. The second-largest group is Jews of no denomination (30%), followed by Conservative (18%) and Orthodox (10%).

As with other studies, the Pew study found that the Orthodox share of the American Jewish population is likely to grow because Orthodox Jews tend to be younger and have larger families than Jews generally.

In addition, while past surveys showed about half of respondents raised as Orthodox were no longer Orthodox, the Orthodox retention rate appears to be improving, with just a 17% falloff among 18- to 29-year-olds.

Most denominational switching among American Jews, however, remains in the direction of less traditional Judaism.

In the Pew survey, 90% of those who identified as Jews by religion and are raising children said they are raising them Jewish. By comparison, less than one-third of those who identified themselves as Jews of no religion are raising their kids as Jewish.

Among inmarried Jews, 96% are raising their children as Jews by religion (as opposed to ethnicity), compared to 45% among intermarried Jews.

On Jewish observance, some 70% of respondents to the Pew survey said they participated in a Passover seder in 2012 and 53% said they fasted for all or part of Yom Kippur that year. The numbers represent declines from the 2000-01 National Jewish Population Survey conducted by the Jewish Federations of North America, which found seder participation rates at 78% and Yom Kippur fasting at 60%.

While most of those surveyed by Pew said they felt a strong connection to Israel, and 23% reported having visited the Jewish state more than once, the respondents expressed significant reservations about the current Israeli government’s policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

Forty-four percent said West Bank settlement construction hurts Israel’s security interests, and only 17% said continued settlement construction is helpful to Israeli security. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said the Israeli government is making a sincere peace effort with the Palestinians.

The Pew survey also asked respondents about what it means to be Jewish, offering several options. The most popular element was remembering the Holocaust at 73%, followed by leading an ethical life at 69%.

Fifty-six percent cited working for justice and equality; 43% said caring about Israel; 42% said having a good sense of humor; and 19% said observing Jewish law.

Sixty-two percent of respondents said being Jewish is primarily a matter of ancestry and culture; 15% said it was mainly a matter of religion. Most Jews said it is not necessary to believe in God to be Jewish. In the survey, 60% said a person cannot be Jewish and believe that Jesus is the messiah.