EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK
Jewish America's Strife
W
hat. scares me most about being
Jewish in America is the forebod-
ing impact of the steady drumbeat
of intermarriage, acculturation, assimilation
and apathy. Jews make up just 2 percent of
the U.S. population. But with 6 million
Jews, America has even more Jews than
Israel. So for better or worse, the American
Jewish experience reverberates around the
ROBERT A. world.
SKLAR
A provost at the Conservative movement's
Editor
seminary tells about a group of modern
Orthodox parents who sent their kids to
Israel for a year of post-high school yeshivah study "as a form
of inoculation against what they will encounter at college
campuses and beyond upon their return."
Parents chose this path, said Jack Wertheimer, provost and
professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological
Seminary in New York, "despite their unhappiness with the
narrow world view promoted at most such yeshivot, which is
at odds with their own lives and professions."
Wertheimer shared this notion in a com-
mentary he e-mailed to me this week. His
conclusion shook me up as we embark on
the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the
first Jews in America. He affirmed the vul-
nerability of American Jewish life as dark
clouds of fear and uncertainty settle above
our kids and grandkids.
As he put it: "Parents who are religiously
observant and Jewishly engaged — and
Wertheimer
who have sent their children to day schools
from pre-school through high school, raised them in dense
Jewish communities, enrolled them in Jewish summer camps
and took them on trips to Israel —seriously doubt whether
they have adequately prepared their children to live as com-
mitted Jews in America's open society"
In short, parents whose kids were raised under a virtual
Jewish tent still fear the allure of America's bounty and pull.
savor these sparks.
On another front, Wertheimer had the guts to say what
many of us only whisper: Big Jewish givers help every conceiv-
able universal cause but often at the expense of Jewish needs.
"Everyone knows that most Jewish philanthropists bestow
their largesse disproportionately upon universities, the sym-
phony, the local art museum — and give only a fraction of
those sums to Jewish causes," he said.
It's my sense that Jewish big givers embrace Jewish causes
more in Detroit than elsewhere, thanks in part to the lead of
Detroit Jewry's patriarch, Max Fisher.
Byproducts of diverted giving include Jewish schools with
insufficient money to offer competitive pay or enough schol-
arships, human service agencies having to cut programs and
staff, and synagogues trying to fend off spiraling dues.
"The dirty little secret of American Jewish life is that a
shrinking population can afford the skyrocketing costs of
Jewish living," Wertheimer said. "And Jewish institutions, in
turn, are struggling to find qualified people to staff their pro-
grams, given the paltry remuneration they can offer.
"More broadly, it is considered counterproductive and
unduly negative to talk openly about the dangers posed to
Jews by the permeable boundaries of American society."
He's right: Anxiety levels reveal more Jews implicitly
acknowledging the gamble of raising kids in such an open
environment.
Seeds Of Opportunity
Consider politically charged U.S. campuses. Students are
more likely to come upon a pro-Palestinian rally than some-
thing pro-Israel. Trying to apply Wertheimer's logic to our
campuses, I reflected on the incisive talk I had with a coun-
selor from Israel's Tzofim Friendship Caravan, which did five
shows over four days in metro Detroit and Ann Arbor last
week. The singer-dancers, 10 Israeli scouts ages 16 and 17, are
destined for service in Israel's army after high school.
Merav Horsandi, 27, is a counselor with Caravan Tavor, one
of three Tzofim summer troupes touring
North America. The former Israeli army edu-
cational officer is studying political science
Ignoring Erosion
and Mideast history at Tel Aviv University.
At stake is Jewish America.
She also works there as a research assistant.
"Indeed, the can-do spirit of America has so suffused the
I found the native-born Israeli, from
community that it has become socially gauche to remind
Givatayim near Tel Aviv, friendly and
American Jews about some of the less visible, but nonetheless
thoughtful. "American Jews who see a pro-
very real, forces eroding Jewish life," Wertheimer said.
Palestinian rally on campus feel strengthened
He hammered on a belief that haunts me: American Jews
with Israel's situation," she said. "At the same
Horsandi
are quick to speak out against the building currents of anti-
instant, they identify with Israel because
Semitism abroad, but often back down from addressing our
they're Jewish.
weaknesses at home.
"Even if they never thought about Israel before, or never
"Whereas a decade ago the community fixated on high rates
talked about Israel or been there, they start to get interested
of intermarriage," he said, "it met the latest figures with a collec-
because of this connection. Jews everywhere are connected
tive yawn despite the fact that the National Jewish Population
through Israel."
Study of 2000 found an intermarriage rate of 47 percent.
And they are.
"Given the vast numbers of Jewish families touched by
But it will take more than just new synagogues, schools,
intermarriage, including some of the wealthiest, communal
Hillel buildings, community centers, senior housing, social
leaders avoid discussing the likely consequences of this trend
services and Orthodox outreach centers for the American
for the future vitality of American Jewry "
Jewish experience to flourish.
We should hear tremors, not yawns.
Like Wertheimer, I'm a believer that we'll also need seeds
Intermarriage no doubt stems from a willingness to assimi-
that yield parents who yearn to be role models, synagogues
late despite the shaky Jewish American hope that every Jew
that speak to congregants and an inclusiveness that hurdles
marries within the faith. At issue for me is the rush among
age, observance, interfaith and gay rights barriers.
many to make interfaith homes off limits. Such rejection is
Most important is having the collective will to hurry and
not the Jewish way. Many mixed families instill Jewish values
regroup before the American Jewish community reaches the
and raise Jewish kids; conversion may even follow. We must
point of no return. ❑
AIN
8/ 6
2004
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