SING 1,,E

Neil Beckman

Jewish
singles
of all ages
air their views
on issues
affecting them

HEIDI PRESS

News Editor

Everyone Into The Poll!
J

ewish singles prefer to marry
within the faith and abhor in-
terfaith dating, yet they feel
that a synagogue or temple is
not a good place in which to
meet singles.
These were some of the conclu-
sions arrived at as a result of a recent
poll conducted in the Single Life sec-
tion of The Jewish News. In Feb-
ruary, Single Life took the poll to
learn how Jewish singles feel about
issues directly affecting them. A total
of 60 persons responded to the poll.
Because some respondents gave two
answers to a question, rendering it
invalid, or because some chose not to
answer some questions at all, there
will be some discrepancies in the
total of responses to each question.
The poll is by no means scien-
tific. There are no plus or minus fac-
tors and the conclusions drawn are
generalities. Singles were asked to
give one of the following responses to
each of 15 questions: strongly agree,
somewhat agree, somewhat disagree,
strongly disagree and not sure. The
percentage of responses in each cate-
gory will be given with each ques-
tion. In some instances, it is interest-
ing to note how each gender re-
sponded. Information in that regard
is given for the appropriate question.
Single Life would like to thank
the 60 individuals who participated

88

Friday, May 15, 1987

in the poll and who offered ideas for
future stories. Following is a profile
of the respondents, the questions and
the responses.
First, let's look at a typical re-
spondent. The average respondent
was a female, age 25-44, never mar-
ried, a Conservative Jew, a resident
of Southfield who has lived in the De-
troit area for more than ten years.
The actual breakdowns are as fol-
lows: 18-24, 10%; 25-44, 63%; 45-54,
10%; 55 plus, 17%; males, _42%;
females, 58%; never married, 53%;
previously married, 43%; separated,
4%; Orthodox, 5%; Conservative,
41%; Reform, 36%; Humanist, 5%;
unaffiliated, 13%. Living in the De-
troit area responses read: less than 3
years, 5%; 3-9 years, 7%; and 10 years
or more, 88%. (One respondent was
from Traverse City.)
The majority of respondents
came from Southfield, 37%. Others
came from Oak Park, 18%; West
Bloomfield and Farmington Hills,
7% each; Birmingham, Detroit and
Troy, 5% each; Huntington Woods,
3%; and Clawson, Pontiac, North-
ville, Royal Oak, Bloomfield Town-
ship, Dearborn, Waterford and
Traverse City, 1.5% each.
And now, the questions.
While I would prefer a Jewish
mate, I could marry a non-Jew as
well.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Singles overwhelmingly re-
sponded that they would not marry
out of the faith, with an equal
number of men and women respond-
ing in this vein. The rest of the re-
sponses read as follows: 9%, strongly
agree; 29%, somewhat agree; 4%,
somewhat disagree; 48%, strongly
disagree; and 10%, not sure.
Interfaith dating is all right,
as long as it doesn't lead to mar-
riage.
Twenty-six percent of women
and 13% of men strongly disagreed
with this question. Others responded
as follows: strongly agree, 10%;
somewhat agree, 23%; somewhat
disagree, 21%; and not sure, 5%.
Jewish community leaders do
not pay enough attention to the
needs of Jewish singles.
A majority of the singles re-
sponding to the question (52%) said
they felt that the Jewish community
is not doing enough for them. The
rest of the responges went like this:
somewhat agree, 22%; somewhat
disagree, 8%; strongly disagree, 0%;
and not sure, 18%.
The synagogues and temples
provide singles programming of
interest to me.
The responses to this question
can be interpreted in two ways: that
the synagogues and temples were not
doing enough programming for sing-

les, or that they are not providing
interesting programming. A total of
49% strongly disagreed with the
statement. Other responses were:
strongly agree, 5%; somewhat agree,
17%; somewhat disagree, 19%; and
not sure, 10%.
A synagogue or temple is a
good place to meet other singles.
Singles responded that for the
most part, synagogues and temples
are not the best places for meeting
other singles. However, in a later
question, they didn't think that sing-
les bars were any better. Responses
read as follows: strongly agree,,13%;
somewhat agree, 18%; somewhat
disagree, 35%; strongly disagree,
15%; and not sure, 20%.
The Jewish community offers
events and programs for singles,
but I'm not interested in par-
ticipating.
A total of 38% said they some-
what disagreed with the question.
The others responded as follows:
strongly agree, 5%; somewhat agree,
21%; strongly disagree, 29%; and not
sure, 7%.
I would prefer to find a
Jewish mate, but most Jewish
women/men are "JAPs."
Singles answering this question
waivered a bit, not really sure if their
peers fell into the Jewish American
Prince/Princess category. Twenty-