OPINION CONTENTS Are Jewish Moms Right About Divorces? Horse Country A new study shows that adult friendships with other Jews may discourage intermarriage. CHARLES HOFFMAN Special to The Jewish News T he young American Jewish male living in a "normal" Jewish family situation may be quickly becoming a vanishing species, according to a study released last week in the United States. The study shows that half of all Jewish men under 40 are either in- termarried, divorced or both. Of the remainder, a good por- tion are single. The study was conducted by Barry Kosmin, director of the North American Jewish Data Bank; Egon Mayer, professor For those under 40, 37 percent of the men and 24 percent of the women married a non-Jew in their first marriage. of sociology at Brooklyn Col- lege; and Nava Lerer. The research examined the marital histories of 6,457 Jewish adults in nine American cities, making it the largest and most representative sample ever obtained. The researchers found that what Jewish mothers said about marrying a non-Jew is true: intermarriages end in divorce nearly twice as often as marriages between two Jews. The divorce rates men- tioned in the study do not in- clude "conversionary mar- riages" — those in which the non-Jewish partner converted to Judaism. "The findings of this study are both surprising and disturbing," Kosmin said. "We have seen a steady growth in the incidence of in- termarriage among Jews since the mid-1960s. Therefore, we expected that such marriages would become more like other marriages as they became a common feature of American Jewish life. But we found that inter- marriages continue to have a much higher risk of divorce than marriages between two Jews — in every age group." Charles Hoffman is Jewish affairs editor for the Jerusalem Post. Mayer said he found numerous ironies in the fin- dings. "For example, Jews who remarry after a divorce are about three times as like- ly to intermarry as Jews who are marrying for the first time. This shows a remarkable willingness to take the risk of a second divorce. "We also found that Jewish women who intermarry are far more likely to get divorc- ed than Jewish men who in- termarry. Yet the rate of in- termarriage among Jewish women has grown much faster in the last 20 years than the rate among Jewish men." Among all age groups, it was found that 14 percent of the sample married outside of the community in their first marriage, and 40 percent in their second marriage. For those under 40, 37 percent of the men and 24 percent of the women married a non-Jew in their first marriage. Half of all Jewish males under 40 are either intermarried, divorced or both (which means that they are divorced from a non- Jewish partner); about 38 per- cent of the females find themselves in the same situa- tion. The researchers conclud- ed that "the evidence sug- gests that these proportions are bound to increase over the coming years for the Jewish population as a whole." The rate of intermarriage has increased over the past 30 years about fivefold for men and about twelvefold for women. Since there are still a higher proportion of Jewish men intermarrying than Jewish women, this creates demographic pressure on Jewish women to seek non- Jewish partners as well. The current rate of divorce for first marriages, among all age groups, is 19 percent. But among those who married other Jews, the rate is 17 per- cent, while for those who in- termarried it is 32 percent. There is a significant dif- ference in the divorce rates of Jewish men and women who intermarry. Among women the rate is 38 percent, while among men it is 25 percent. Jewish women who inter- marry are far more likely to get divorced than those who marry Jewish men. Upon remarriage, there is Continued on Page 10 22 CLOSE-UP ADRIEN CHANDLER The riding set near Metamora runs from enthusiast to serious. Cover photo by Daniel M. Rosen 46 SPORTS Prospecting MIKE ROSENBAUM The Detroit team will be hunting for gold in Pittsburgh. 22 52 FICTION Boiling Water MARLENE ROBERTS Preparing to make tea is steeped in memories of sugar and Bintel Briefs. 59 ENTERTAINMENT Classic Rocker STEVEN M. HARTZ Mark Pasman has traveled the long, winding radio road. 70 FINE ARTS Artmix LINDA R. BENSON Ann Arbor attracts thousands to its annual art fairs. 59 76 SINGLE LIFE Counter-Attack RICHARD PEARL Jewish singles have new means to deal with stressful situations. DEPARTMENTS 28 32 36 39 41 58 Inside Washington Media Monitor Life In Israel Community Synagogues Cooking 74 78 79 85 88 114 Travel For Seniors Engagements Births Classified Ads Obituaries CANDLELIGHTING 70 8:31 p.m. August 4, 1989 9:37 p.m. Sabbath ends Aug. 5 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 7.