6 Friday, October 28, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
WHAT'S IM
fl IIRME?
ERYTHIMG!
r
Report Studies Children of Intermarriage
NEW YORK — Children
of Jewish-Christian inter-
marriages tend not to be in-
volved in organized Jewish
life, and they usually define
their Jewishness as a belief
in the Jewish religion
rather than a sense of iden-
tification with Jews as an
ethnic group.
This finding was one of
the highlights, of what is
said to be the first detailed
study ever conducted of the
children of Jewish-
Christian intermarriages.
The research was sponsored
by the American Jewish
Committee's William
`-Petschek National Jewish
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Family Center, and was
conducted by Dr. Egon
Mayer, professor of sociol-
ogy at Brooklyn College.
Among the other major
conclusions of the study
were that children of
Jewish-Christian inter-
marriages showed no signs
of unusual emotional prob-
lems, were far more likely to
consider themselves Jewish
if their Christian-born par-
ent converted to Judaism,
and — whether or not they
considered themselves
Jewish — generally had
more non-Jewish friends
than did their Jewish par-
ents.
Although most of the
study's subjects did not
feel strongly about their
Jewish ethnic — as op-
posed to religious —
tage,
nevertheless,
stressed Dr. Mayer, "The
one Jewish ethnic di-
mension endorsed by the
majority of all respon-
dents was a pride in Is-
rael's accomplishments
— although there- was
less agreement on
whether American Jews
had a special responsibil-
ity to support Israel."
Turning to the question of
the next generation, Dr.
Mayer reported that his re-
search found that more than
one-third of the married
children of "conversionary
marriages" (those in which
the Christian parent con-
verted to Judaism) had
non-Jewish spouses, while
92 percent of the children of
"mixed marriages" (where
no conversion took place)
had married non-Jews.
Moreover, continued
Prof. Mayer, "over two-
thirds of the children of con-
versionary marriages and
more than 90 percent of the
children of mixed marriages
said they would.not dis-
courage their own children
from marrying non-Jews
and not one of the non-
Jewish spouses among the
children of the intermarried
had converted to Judaism."
The study, titled. "Chil-
dren of Intermarriage: A
Study of Patterns of Iden-
tification and Family Life,"
was a follow-up to a 1979
American Jewish Commit-
tee survey, "Intermarriage
and the Jewish Future,"
which focused on intermar-
ried couples. The 117 re-
spondents in the current
Study are the children —
aged 16 or older — of
couples who participated in
the earlier reserach.
"Intermarried families
now constitute a sizable
portion the Jewish
community, and our data
indicates that the Jewish
community could lose
most of the mixed-
married families — in
which the ,non-Jewish
partner has not con-
verted — in the span of
two generations," said
Yehuda Rosenman, di-
rection of the AJCom-
mitte Family Center.
Stressing that the new re-
search was an "exploratory
investigation whose conclu-
sions must not be viewed as
broad generalizations con-
cerning all children of in-
termarried couples," Dr.
Mayer reported these find-
ings:
• Eighty-four percent of
the respondents from "con-
versionary" families con-
sidered themselves J,-nvish
and the remainder of that
group said they had no reli-
gion; while 24 percent of
those from "mixed" families
called themselves Jewish,
34 percent said they had no
religion and 42 percent
called themselves Protes-
tant, Catholic or "other."
• Less than half of the re-
spondents considered them-
selves ethnically Jewish,
and most saw their ethnic
heritage as an amalgam of
their parental backgrounds.
There were, however, great
variations among the
different groups, with those
from conversionary mar-
riages in which the father
was the Jewish-bo'rn parent
most likely to consider
themselves
ethnically
Jewish, and those from
mixed marriages in which
the mother was born Jewish
least likely to do so.
• Of those from conver-
sionary families, 36 per-
cent considered their
religious ties "very im-
portant," while only 25
percent thought their
ethnic ties were very im-
portant; and of those
from mixed marriages, 20
percent viewed religious
ties as being very impor--
tant and 10 percent saw
ethnic ties as being very
important.
• Seventy percent of
those from conversionary
families, as opposed to only
18 percent of those from
mixed marriages, felt that
"being Jewish is very im-
portant to me" — but only
45 percent of those from
conversionary marriages
and 26 percent of those from
mixed marriages agreed
that "I personally feel my-
self to be a remnant of a
people who were almost ex-
terminated."
• Thirty-eight percent of
the children of conversio-
nary families belong to a
synagogue and 62 percent
belong to neither a church
nor a synagogue; while
three percent of those from
mixed marriages belong to a
synagogue, 21 percent to a
church and 76 percent to
neither.
• Of those from conver-
sionary families, 22 percent
reported that all or most of
. their friends were Jewish,
48 percent said that about
half of their friends were
Jewish, and 30 percent said
that all or most of their
friends were non-Jewish.
Of those from mixed mar-
riages, six percent said all
or most of their friends were
. Jewish, 43 percent said
about half were Jewish and
51 percent said most were
non-Jewish. (Conversely,
according to an AJC-
sponsored survey conducted
in 1981 by sociologist Dr.
Steven Cohen, 61 percent of
the overall American
Jewish population reported
that more than_half of their
close friends were Jewish.)
• Approximately 90 per-
cent of both groups reported
a generally favorable atti-
tude toward Jews as a
people, but much smaller
percentages endorsed what
the study called "specific
expressions of Jewish
peoplehood": for example,
supporting political candi-
dates favorable to Jews
(slightly more than half),
helping to promote the
interests of Jews the world
over (about two-thirds) and
"making the world re-
member the suffering of the
Jews in the Holocaust" (ab-
out two-thirds).
Kohl Plan to Sell Weapons
to Saudis Stirs Opposition
BONN (JTA) — The op- of weapons sales to Saudi
position Social Democratic Arabia, but failed to get his
Party (SPD) is up in arms party to agree.
over Chancellor Helmut
Kohl's reported decision to
sell modern weaponry to
Saudi Arabia. The plan has
also been attacked by Israel.
NEW YORK — Author
But Kohl, who visited Victor Lasky has filed a $9
Riyadh two weeks ago, ap- million lawsuit against the
pears to have defused most American Broadcasting Co.
of the controversy by charging that an ABC
eliminating West Ger- documentary, "The Ameri-
many's most advanced and can Inquisition," falsely
sophisticated tank, the portrayed him as the reason
Leopard II, from the sales why a teacher lost her job.
list.
Lasky is seeking $3 mil-
Horst Ehmke, vice
chairman of the SPD's Bun- lion in compensatory dam-
destag faction, charged that ages and $6 million in puni-
Kohl has made a grave mis- tive damages from the net-
take "with unbelievable re- work, which aired the pro-
cklessness." He said this gram on the McCarthy era
was the first time the Fed- June 23.
eral Republic has made a
Lasky, a longtime
military commitment out- crusader against com-
side the NATO alliance.
munism, claims that while
Former Chancellor Hel- he and the teacher, Luella
mut Schmidt of the SPD Mundel, did exchange
warned in an article in Die words at a public meeting at
Zeit that West Germany Fairmount College in West
should refrain from ship- Virginia in 1951, he never
ping arms to the Middle called her a communist or
East. Schmidt, when in contributed to her sub-
office, was a strong advocate sequent firing.
ABC Program
Prompts Lawsuit