metro
SHAAREY ZEDEK.
saw-LA(41j
OBER
lit
-
S
•
VIA241,
Who Is A Jew?
exteb,vatiiit9 OUR 151ST YEAR
Two population studies show U.S.
Jews identify less by religion or
belief than by culture, ancestry.
BEGIN AT 8 PM
DANCING & tittehhitttwat UNTIL 1 AM
Ask Ark
4
$36 FOR ONE •
a
United States of America
Jewish Adults by Religion *
Percent of Adults
'Search
Low
Estimate
High
4,091,400
4,206,000
4,327,900
1.8%
1.8%
1.9%
'Estimate is or U.S. Adults who self-identify as Jewish when asked their religion. This does not
INCLUDES STROLLING SUPPER & COCKTAILS
BOTH MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS WELCOME
incbde dAdren and those who do not identity by religion. Low and High represent the -margin
How does the Jewish population
compare to others in this region?
2
AGE ESTIMNIE
Jewish
U.S. Total
Click the
map to zoom in
of error.
0 to <0,5% 10.5 to <1% 1 1 to <1.8% 11.8 to <5%
5 to <9%
• 9% or greater
$151 pc.thviit, LEVEL
12.8%
29,919,000
17.6%
40.957,800
2 TICKETS • SPONSOR THE NEXT CS1 GENERATION
PATRON NAMES LISTED IN THE RECORDER
fratwvittb
-
SEAN BLACKMAN
"A
I
12.3%
18-24 years
516,490
14.3%
25-34 years
600,440
17%
39.682,100
3544 years
18.7%
43,680,300
4554 years
17.2%
722,060
18.2%
37,675,400
55-64 years
18.7%
787,070
17.7%
41,252,500
55• years
13.5%
569,680
24%
1,009,990
111■■1■ 1E1Z2
Source: Steinhardt Social Research
& WAYNE GERARD'S DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY WITH
Institute/Brandeis University
S
BAND
LATIN, AFRICAN & WORLD JAll
Top 10 7u2,asowi
to
FAVORITE SONGS ACROSS THE YEARS
p
with us:
10. You CoV42, to have
9. You COVC a &xi (Where can you go for a complete evening at $36 per person?)
8. You want a reason to batiteh, with family and fAittitds.
lj clothes.
7. You want to icAtiVuAS new friends in your spiffy ,ci.h
6. You have a sitte.A., and need a pfc.)ee, to go.
5. You love grazing on Quality Kosher Catering's cattc4ii.it5 sushi, tacos,
desserts and more. utitutf.
4. You can't wait to
4/2., our signature co
with imagination.
3. You want to chill out to smooth worldi j azz by sitit, iti,do and dance
the night away to Aked(2.5
haul
2. You were sorry you missed our 15 otft.
1. You / ► ake a /ILA last year!
COtt5ARSCAtiett SitCt,Ct7t42-9
27375 BELL ROAD • SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN 48034
248.357.5544 OR WWW.SHAAREYZEDEK.ORG/2013-SOIREE
STEVE
CODE U
PLOWER SF2OF
SDI
Ge ry this
ceapwied"
.11N
QUALITY KOSHIL
Sp T RAK
1869870
12
October 10 • 2013
Julie Edgar
Special to the Jewish News
I
n 2000, the landmark National
Jewish Population Survey (NJPS)
seriously unnerved the Jewish
community: Too many young people
were intermarrying, too few were
affiliating with synagogues, and the
birth rate among non-Orthodox Jews
was almost nil because more women
put off childbearing until their 30s
and 40s.
A dozen years later, the picture
isn't all that different - the inter-
marriage rate is high, synagogue
affiliation is stagnant and our num-
bers are just slightly higher.
Jews comprise just more than
2 percent of the total population,
between 6.7 and 6.8 million people,
according to two recently released
national Jewish population studies.
Is it time again to feel gloomy
about the future of American Jewry?
Yes and no.
The findings of a recent survey
show that younger Jews are inter-
marrying at a high rate, they aren't
raising their children Jewishly, and
they are far less connected than their
grandparents to Jewish institutions
and Israel.
On the other hand, this demo-
graphic study by the Washington,
D.C.-based Pew Research Center -
the first in a decade - suggests that
American Jews are quite comfortable
staking their identity as Jews, and at
the same time, are as American as
apple kugel.
Pew's "A Portrait of Jewish
Americans:' released Oct. 1, found
that Jews are much like non-Jews
in their identification with religion
- 22 percent say they are Jewish by
ancestry, ethnicity or culture but have
no religion.
Even among those who identify as
Jews by their religion - about 4.1
million - more than half say being
Jewish is mainly a matter of ancestry
and culture, and 60 percent say it
isn't necessary to believe in God to
be Jewish.
Clearly, American Jews aren't
shedding their roots - but they can
live without religion.
Unfortunately, they can also live
without synagogues and other Jewish
institutions.
The Pew study shows that two-
thirds of "Jews of no religion" or sec-
ular Jews, are not affiliated, they are
far more likely to marry non-Jews,
less likely to raise their children as
Jews, give to Jewish charities, belong
to Jewish organizations or to care
about Israel.
"I don't know how to spin this
report as being a good news story,"
Jack Wertheimer, a professor of
American Jewish history at the
Who Is A Jew? on page 14