Six-Year Increase in Pattern of Intermarriage
Shown in Federations' Study; Children Mostly
Raised as Jews; 25 Pet. of Non-Jewesses Convert
NEW YORK — The first
comprehensive body of facts
on intermarriage among
Jews has been released
by the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare
Funds. The findings are part
of the council's recently con-
cluded three-year National
Jewish Population Study.
Prominent among the find-
ings of the report are: Some
9.2 per cent of all persons of
Jewish origin now married
are intermarried; during the
1966 72 period, the proportion
' Jewish persons inter-
arrying, in continuation of
a recent spiral, was much
greater than in earlier
periods — 31.7 per cent of
Jews who married during
that recent span chose a
non-Jewish mate. Intermar-
riage rates in the report
cover the periods from 1900
to 1972.
A large majority of inter-
married couples are bring-
ing up their children and
educating them as Jewish.
This is particularly true of
Jewish women who have non-
Jewish husbands.
-
Major intermarriage pat-
terns revealed by the CJF
report are as follows: About
twice as many Jewish men
Marry non-Jewish women
compared with Jewish
women who marry non-Jew-
ish husbands. About one-
fourth of the initially non-
Jewish women reported con-
version to Judaism. Few
non-Jewish husbands of Jew-
ish women converted. But
without formal conversion,
nearly half of marriage
partners who were non-Jew-
ish prior to marriage sub-
sequently identify as Jewish,
the study found. Conversions
out of Judaism, on the other
hand, are minor, with the
net effect "suggesting a posi-
tive balance in favor of
`conversion into' rather than
`conversion out of Judaism."
Over all, the findings show
that 96 per cent of the chil-
dren, whether in households
that are intermarried or non.
intermarried, are raised as
Jewish. The report states
that in a great majority of
cases when the wife of an
Pincus Fund Capital
to Total $5 Million
NEW YORK (JTA) — The
Louis Pincus Foundation for
Jewish Education, named for
the late Jewish Agency chair-
man, will have a capital fund
of $5,000,000, it was disclosed
by Mrs. Charlotte Jacobson,
acting chairman of the World
Conference of Jewish Organ-
izations (COJO).
Mrs. Jacobson said that in-
_Jrne from the $5,000,000
fund would be used to pro-
vide urgently needed Jewish
educational services in vari-
ous countries around the
world.
The Joint Distribution Corn-
mittee, which is not a mem-
ber of COJO, will participate
along with the government of
Israel, the World Zionist Or-
ganization and others'.
Link of Eternities
Unless it is a present which
forms a link between two
eternities, representing a n
answer of Amen to the past
and an Opening Prayer to the
future, it will be a very petty
present indeed. — Solomon
Schechter.
intermarriage is initially
Jewish, the children are
raised as Jews. When the
wife is the non-Jewish part-
ner, only "about one-third
of the children are raised
outside the Jewish religion."
The report on intermar-
riage spans nine time periods
from 1900 to 1972 and covers
all marriages since the turn
of the century which are still
continuing. The first signifi-
cant upswing in intermar-
riages took place in the
World War II period when
the rate almost doubled the
pre-war average of some
3 per cent, remaining at
the new level until the early
1960s. During the 1961-1965
span, the basic intermarri-
age rate rose dramatically
to 17.4 per cent.
Patterns and influences
prior to intermarriage, such
as dating, family attitudes
and religious training and
observance are reported in
the population study. Noting
that among those who did
not intermarry, four in 10
indicated that they had never
dated a non-Jew, the study
findings indicate an impres-
sive link between parental
stance and opposition to in-
terdating with marriage
within the Jewish group.
Conversely, lack of parental
opposition is associated with
intermarriage. "Whatever
the nuances of interpreta-
tion. ." the report adds,
". . . it would appear that
parental attitudes, as re-
ported by the intermarried,
are significantly associated
with the presence or absence
of intermarriage."
Childhood background, sim-
ilarly for both categories of
non-intermarried couples and
for intermarried Jewish
women raising their children
as Jewish, show a majority
describing their childhood
unbrinqing as "strongly Jew-
ish." This is in contrast to
marriages involving a Jew-
ish husband and a non-
Jewish wife in which the up-
bringing is rarely described
as "strongly Jewish."
In its data relating Jewish
identity in childhood with
marriage within the Jewish
group, the report further
notes that the chances for
intermarriage are greatest
for those who cannot clearly
describe their upbringing.
The findings "suggest that
any kind of Jewish identity
clearly defined, even if to-
ward the moderate or nega-
tive side of the spectrum, is
somewhat less likely to be
related to intermarriage than
a state of doubtful reflection
on Jewish upbringing."
The correlations on reli-
gious attitudes and syna-
gogue and temple participa-
tion show that while belief
in the Jewish religion is
more prevalent among Jews
who marry within the reli-
gion, this belief is widely
professed, both in inter-
married and non-intermar-
ried households, and that
both groups share a continu-
ing widespread belief in one
God.
The study found that re-
gardless of marriage pat-
terns, active participation in
temples and synagogues is
the exception, not the rule.
A somewhat more intensive
participation is reported for
those who marry Jews, and
for intermarrieds in which
the wife is Jewish. "Rela-
tively higher levels of in-
volvement in Jewish organ-
izations appear for those who
are not intermarried, but in
absolute terms these levels,
too, are generally low." In
percentage terms, only 39.8
per cent indicate any activ-
ity in a temple or synagogue
with the combined propor-
tion of "quite active" and
"very active" less than 13
per cent. This same level of
activity applies to Jewish
organizational life.
The CJF report, written
by Dr. Fred Massarik of the
University of California at
Los Angeles, director of the
National Jewish Population
Study and of the research
Bureau of the Jewish Feder-
ation — Council of Los An-
geles, is the first in a series
to 'be issued from the over-
all population study. The
next two in the series are,
"The Jewish Aging" and
"Demographic Highlights."
The data used in the re-
port was based on a sample
scientifically chosen so as to
be representative of the total
U. S. Jewish population.
Since 1970, when field work
for the study began, every
section of the country, repre-
sented by 39 areas in the
sample, has been covered,
THE DETROIT JEWSH NEWS
Friday, October 5, 1973-11
Yiddish Offered at Vienna University
VIENNA (JTA)—The Insti- dents registered so far for
tute of Judaistic Studies at these studies.
the University of Vienna is
offering courses in Yiddish
by Dr. Jacob Allerhand this
winter semester, in addition
to special courses on the cul-
ture of Eastern European
Jewry, it was announced by
Dr. Kurt Schubert, head of
the institute. About 200 stu-
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