DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD.
Who Is A Jew? from page 12
It Doesn't
Have
To Cost
A fortune...
Only Look
Like It!
Jewish Theological Seminary in
New York and an adviser to the Pew
study, told the Forward. "It's a story
of a community that's contracting."
Check The Numbers
Complete kitchen and
bathroom remodeling
as well as furniture
design and installations
including granite, wood
and other materials.
Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989
EX1-
110SIS?
.HelpMeThroughThis.com
Navigation and Advocacy
by Expert RNs and IIRSWs
A SPECIAL SERVICE OF
Axis Case
A Division of Aging Answers, LLC
(248) 855-1072
18687001
€11-
Coming to Florida?
e))i7N‘
lre
Nursing Agency , Inc.
Professional Health Care You Can Trust
24 Hours a Day • Since 1983
EXPICARE Nursing Agency is a recognized leader in
home health care and has been placing caregivers in clients'
homes throughout Pam Beach County for over 30 years.
Rick Cutler, former Detroiter
•
elationship Development
BBB
ACCREDITED
BUSINESS
■ Home Health Aides ■ LPNs ■ Live-ins
■ We conduct FBI background and reference checks
■ RNs
We hire our caregivers and do not use Independent Contractors
A+ Rating
License # HHA20336096
Toll-free:
l
855.730.9895 • www.expicare.com
Cell 561-716-7645
1867170
i Keep your company top of
mind with our readers.
•
•
ADVERTISE WITH US!
CALL 248.351.5107
Visit theJEWISHNEWS.com
14 October 10 • 2013
metro
iN
The Pew report was based on inter-
views of 3,475 self-identified Jews
from Feb. 20 to June 13, 2013. The
report estimated there are 6.7 mil-
lion Jews in the U.S., 5.3 million of
them adults and 1.3 million children.
The 2000 NJPS counted a total of
5.2 million American Jews, but the
number is considered to have been
underestimated by demographers.
The Pew study found that 4.1
million of Jewish adults identify as
Jews by religion (the majority calling
themselves Reform). The remain-
ing 20-plus percent of Jews have "no
religion:' identifying as Jews ethni-
cally and/or culturally.
The Steinhardt Social Research
Institute (SSRI) out of Brandeis
University arrived at similar con-
clusions in its report ("American
Jewish Population Estimates: 2012"),
released within days of the Pew study.
Synthesizing data from U.S. popu-
lation studies performed between
2006 and 2012, the SSRI study
estimated there are 6.8 million
American Jews, 4.2 million adults
(81 percent) identifying as Jewish by
religion and 970,000 identifying as
Jews by ancestry or ethnicity or by
other criteria.
The SSRI report also found that
Jews are concentrated in six states and
that overall, they've attained more
education than their counterparts.
The age distribution of the Jewish
population, according to the SSRI
report: Nearly 1 million (or 24 per-
cent) are 65 years or older, and the
smallest group, with just over a half-
million, is 18-24 years of age.
The report estimated there are 1.6
million Jewish children.
Pew defined Jews as anyone who
identified as Jewish or partly Jewish
(one or another parent was Jewish).
According to the Pew study, Jewish
Millennials, or
those born after
1980, are likelier
to identify as Jews
without religion.
And a whopping
79 percent of those
Jews have a non-
Jewish spouse.
Rabbi Jeffrey
That encourages
Falick
Rabbi Jeff Falick,
who joined the
Birmingham Temple in Farmington
Hills in July as its rabbi.
"That's the way we understand our
Judaism — we're not religious, but
we identify as Jews," he said. "I'm
delighted with the findings [of the
Pew study]."
On Yom Kippur, Falick spoke
to his congregation about reach-
ing out to younger Jews who may
find that their values dovetail with
Humanistic Judaism, which posits
that the individual, not a higher
power, determines the course of
human history. If they want to marry
non-Jews, they won't be shunned or
turned away.
"People still need a community,"
Falick said. "We may look like a
synagogue and have the smell of one
— you can smell the bagels and blin-
tzes — but we're not going to tell you
stories that aren't true. We're giving
you something you said you need."
Where Do We Live?
The Steinhardt study found that
about 65 percent of American Jewish
adults identifying by religion reside
in six states, including more than 20
percent in New York, followed by 14
percent in California, 12 percent in
Florida, 8 percent in New Jersey and
5 percent each in Massachusetts and
Pennsylvania.
The SSRI study reported the Metro
Detroit area was found to have 1.16
percent of the nation's Jewish adults
who identify by religion, ranking the
region just above Atlanta and below
the Phoenix area among the study's
top population centers.
The number of Jewish adults iden-
tifying by religion in Metro Detroit
is about 50,000, according to the
SSRI study. With the addition of
Jewish children and those who say
they are Jewish but not religious, the
total is about 63,000, said Leonard
Saxe, director of the Steinhardt
Social Research Institute and co-
author of the SSRI report.
That's a 5 percent decline from
the 66,500 reported in the 2010
update to the Detroit Area Jewish
Population Study (initiated by the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit).
Still, the Jewish community in
Metro Detroit is vibrant — and
generous, says Howard Neistein,
Federation's chief administrative
officer. The economic downturn
that began in 2008
forced many Jews
who are unaffiliated
to turn to the com-
munity for help —
and they got it.
"In the economic
downturn, the
response from this
Howard
community served
Neistein
to engage more peo-