November 4, 2013
http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=4875
 |
The recent Pew Research Center
survey of American Jews has ignited discussions extending from gloomy
predictions of the inevitable demise of Diaspora Jewry by assimilation
to optimism over the finding that the number of Jews has risen from the
5.5 million estimated in the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey to
6.7 million.
The survey results are complex
and lend themselves to endless interpretation. But what they undeniably
show is a wide-ranging definition of Jewish identity, increased
polarization of the American Jewish religious experience, a changing
connection to the state of Israel, and above all, a mushrooming
demographic crisis.
The most dramatic Pew Research
survey finding is an alarming increase in the rate of intermarriage.
Amongst all married Jews who participated in the survey, 44% had a
non-Jewish spouse. Of those who married in 2000 or later, the figure
dramatically increased to 58% – an increase of 41% from 1970, when the
rate of intermarriage was 17%.
This substantial escalation in
the rate of intermarriage in just one generation represents nothing
short of a hemorrhage of the American Jewish community, and a level of
assimilation unprecedented in Jewish history. Rabbi Adin Steinsalz has
aptly described the process as assimilation as “a self-inflicted
Holocaust”. It is, he says, “like a person getting into his bath,
cutting his veins, and peacefully bleeding to death.” The survey also
highlights the absurdity of the notion that intermarriage augments
Jewish numbers and confirms that only a small proportion of children of
intermarried couples retain a Jewish connection.
The Pew survey notes that the
Conservative Movement has been in dramatic decline whilst the Reform
Movement has expanded and absorbed large numbers of intermarried
families. However, the ascendant Orthodox community has, to some extent,
offset these numbers. Intermarriage is practically nonexistent amongst
American Orthodox Jews: fully 98% of the married Orthodox respondents
have a Jewish spouse. The number of Orthodox Jews is likely to expand
beyond its current 15% of the Jewish community, because of their high
fertility rate (the survey found that the Orthodox have an average of
4.1 children, compared with the 1.9 average of American Jewish adults
overall). In addition, the study maintains that more Orthodox Jews today
retain their religious commitment throughout their lives than was the
case in the past.
The survey highlights the fact
that cultural identification is replacing religious identification among
many American Jews. In stark contrast to 10 years ago, when 93% of
American Jews identified themselves as Jews by religion, increasing
numbers of Jews now define themselves as “Jews of no religion.”
Two-thirds do not belong to any synagogue; 42% maintain that having “a
good sense of humor” is more essential to their Jewish identities than
observing Jewish law; Most describe liberalism and a commitment to
Tikkun Olam as the defining characteristics of their Jewishness.
Many Jews are delighted with
this “universalist Judaism”, and characterize its adherents as “proud
Jews” who are contributing enormously to American culture. One
commentator satirically remarked that for every Jew who keeps a
Christmas tree, there are 100 non-Jews who like bagels. Oy!
Another highly disturbing
survey finding is the extent to which Judaism and Christianity have
become blurred in the minds of many American Jews.
The criteria for qualifying as
being Jewish have been broadened to a level of absurdity. For example,
34% of the respondents stated that a belief in Jesus as the Messiah was
compatible with being Jewish. 30% of the “Jewish” families surveyed have
Christmas trees. As Hebrew Union College professor Sara Benor observed,
“More people than in the past believe that you can be both Christian
and Jewish.”
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein,
President of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews,
predicts that a new religious category will soon emerge for those who
consider themselves Jewish, but accept Christian doctrines regarding
Jesus. This confused state of affairs is both a reflection and
consequence of an appalling meltdown of Jewish values in America.
However, the survey does
confirm that Israel remains a principal factor in American Jewish
identity. 70% of respondents said that they are somewhat attached,
attached, or very attached to the Jewish state, and a significant 40%
said that they had visited Israel. But only 38% believe that the Israeli
government is genuinely pursuing peace with the Palestinians. This is
not surprising, given that the primary Jewish values of a substantial
proportion of respondents are liberalism and a “good sense of humor,”
rather than dedication to the Jewish people or Judaism.
The Pew findings held few
surprises for me. In my analysis entitled “The Israel-Diaspora Crisis: A
Looming Disaster,” published in 1994 by the World Jewish Congress, I
predicted a gloomy outcome for Diaspora Jewry. I noted that in open
societies with escalating levels of racial religious and ethnic
intermarriage and increasing numbers of Gentiles willing to marry Jews,
Jewish intermarriage would inevitably increase.
While I foresaw an increase in
the numbers of religiously observant Jews who would consume more kosher
food, buy more Jewish books, and provide their children with Jewish
education, I predicted that the vast majority would be swept up by
assimilation and would distance themselves from their Jewishness. I said
that, regrettably, no Diaspora Jew could confidently state that his
grandchildren would remain Jewish. Television and the internet have only
accelerated these trends.
I was certainly not alone in my
gloomy predictions. Arthur Koestler, for example, a proponent of
assimilation, prophesied doom for the Diaspora as far back as the 1950s,
and suggested that those who wished to remain Jewish should move to
Israel.
But doomsday scenarios fail to
take into account the ebbs and flows of Jewish history. As the late
Professor Simon Rawidowic wrote, Jews are an “ever-dying people”…whose
“incessant dying means uninterrupted living, rising, standing up, and
beginning anew…He who studies Jewish history will readily discover that
there was hardly a generation in the Diaspora period which did not
consider itself the final link in Israel’s chain.” Jewish history has
always been propelled by a minority that has retained its identity and
traditions, and thus furthered Jewish religious, cultural, and political
life.
Despite the alarming statistics
of intermarriage which demonstrate that as many as 71% of non-orthodox
Jews are marrying non-Jewish spouses, we must never write off any Jewish
community. Although the indicators suggest that Diaspora Jews in open
societies are in danger of being reduced to orthodox enclaves, we must
stimulate all avenues likely to enhance Jewish identity. Each community -
and certainly America’s - holds potential for Jewish continuity and
contribution. Each carries with it the hope of the late Professor Emil
Fackenheim, that Jews must add a 614th Jewish precept to deny a
posthumous victory to Hitler by ensuring the survival of Judaism and the
Jewish people.
But we should not be under any
illusions. Diaspora Jewish life is under greater threat today from loss
of identity than from anti-Semitism. But whatever the outcome, Jewish
continuity is assured now that Israel exists as a politically
independent entity and has become the center of gravity for Jewish
spiritual life.
As Diaspora Jewry seeks to
define itself and its role within the global Jewish arena, Israel
remains the only place in the world which today provides an environment
in which religiously observant and non-observant Jews alike can fully
express their identity whilst satisfying the existential requirements of
peoplehood.
The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com.He may be contacted at ileibler@leibler.com
This column was originally published in the Jerusalem Post and Israel Hayom
Some of my recent articles:
Turkey’s Erdogan - an Autocratic Islamist Bigot (October 28, 2013)
No End to Claims Conference Distortions and Shamelessness (October 22, 2013)
Electing the Mayor of Jerusalem (October 14, 2013)
J Street Not a “Pro-Israel” Organization (October 8, 2013)
No comments:
Post a Comment