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continued from page 20
do we provide for the growing
needs of older adults as they age?”
The survey will be conducted
with adults who consider them-
selves Jewish and is by random
digit dialing. The study will be con-
ducted by professional interviewers
from an independent company
with the goal of completing 1,200
surveys from households randomly
selected in Oakland, Wayne and
Macomb counties. Interviewers
will not know, and will not ask for,
names and addresses of respon-
dents. There will be no solicitation
of funds. Not everyone in the com-
munity will be called.
Q&A
With Ira
Sheskin
VIVIAN HENOCH SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
Demographer Ira Sheskin
22
January 11 • 2018
jn
Federation has enlisted the ser-
vices of Ira M. Sheskin, the princi-
pal investigator of the 2005 Detroit
Jewish Population Study and its
2010 update. Sheskin has authored
more than 50 studies of Jewish
communities across the United
States. He is the editor and a con-
tributing author of The American
Jewish Year Book and much of his
work can be found at jewishdata-
bank.org.
Home-based at the University of
Miami, Sheskin is director of the
Jewish Demography Project of the
Sue and Leonard Miller Center for
Contemporary Judaic Studies and
Q: Recent studies indi-
cate that the Jewish popu-
lation globally is growing.
Is that the case?
IS: That data keep shock-
ing everybody, including me.
Sometimes we find that com-
munities feel there are a lot of
people moving in — and there
are! But what we don’t see is
that there are almost as many
people moving out.
Across the nation, when we
look at the factors that drive
population growth, we do find
that more Jews are moving
into the U.S. than are moving
out. Particularly, they are mov-
ing to the U.S. from places
like South America and Israel.
Here in Florida, we have
Jews coming in from Canada.
We’re not talking really large
numbers, but there is some
growth.
Now you would think that
in a population that is 16 per-
cent elderly — which is what
Jews are nationally — there
would be more Jewish deaths
than Jewish births. Yet the
interesting thing is that every
time we do a study — with
the exception of Detroit and
Broward County, Fla. — we
keep finding more Jews. In
its last study, Detroit showed
a decline in its population
estimate. We’ll see this time.
professor and chair of the
what we are thinking and
Department of Geography.
where we are headed,” says
In addition to collecting
Linda Blumberg, director
demographic and socio-
of Planning and Agency
economic data, the study
Relations at Federation.
will ask questions about
“It will identify the crucial
Jewish identity and engage-
needs in our community
ment as well as attitudes
and help us create a road-
Linda Blumberg
and needs of the Jewish
map for all Jewish com-
population as a whole
munal organizations and
and of select subpopula-
foundations to address,
tions, including foreign-born Jews,
plan for and serve Jewish needs and
Holocaust survivors, intermarried
interests for years to come.”
families and young adults.
Results of the study are expected
“This study in being conducted
this summer and will be shared
to provide critical information con- with the community, according to
cerning who we are, where we are,
Federation officials. •
I’m hoping we find that
there’s been some increase in
Detroit’s Jewish population.
Q: There’s a strong
perception in the Detroit
Jewish community that we
are the exception to many
trends. Would you agree?
IS: I’m really looking for-
ward to the Detroit study.
I often use Detroit as an
example of a community that
has something that almost
none of the Florida com-
munities have — and that’s
the fact that so many people
who live in Detroit were born
in Detroit. In Detroit, people
feel they belong here; they’ve
been here for generations
and honestly can say, “This
is my Jewish community.” The
connections are remarkable.
Personally, I’m not looking
to leave Florida, but if I were
looking to move — in terms
of weighing the Jewish com-
munities, Detroit would be
near or at the top of my list.
In Detroit, we find a stable
Jewish community that has
many, many dedicated mem-
bers, based on the numbers of
Jewish agencies in place and
all the great things happen-
ing here Jewishly. In terms of
the infrastructure and quality
of the Jewish communities
we see across the country, it
would be hard to see Detroit
being beat.
Q: As you’ve studied
Jewish communities
around the country, what
notable trends are you
beginning to see?
IS: One of the notable
trends we’re seeing nation-
wide as the Jewish popula-
tion continues to age is that
most communities are having
trouble getting young people
involved although we are
beginning to see some impact
of Birthright.
More specifically, a trend
we see with millennials is
their reluctance to join any-
thing; they don’t want to be
labeled Democrat, Republican,
Conservative, Orthodox or
Reform. They’re not getting
involved at the same rate as
previous generations.
Additionally, in many com-
munities, we are seeing a lev-
eling off of the intermarriage
rate. In fact, the intermarriage
rate is a little lower for those
under 35 than those 35 to 49
in some communities.
Another interesting trend
(though I can’t say it’s nation-
wide because I’ve only tested
it in three or four communi-
ties) is that the percentage
of people under age 35 who
currently are married is much
lower than it was 20 years
ago. People are waiting longer
before they are getting mar-
ried. However, that is not the
trend in the Orthodox commu-
nity, and Detroit has a higher
percent of Orthodox than most
U.S. Jewish communities.
Another trend: In terms
of Jewish identity, we see
the community going in two
distinct directions. We find
some people becoming “more
Jewish” for lack of a better
phrase, and others heading in
the opposite direction, but still
being Jewish. When we look
at the 2013 Pew Research
Center study of American
Jews, 95 percent of the peo-
ple in that study were proud
to be Jewish, but there’s also
a high percentage who aren’t
doing much about it.
In contrast to some dismal
findings in other communities,
in our 2005 study of Detroit,
96 percent of Jewish house-
holds had some involvement
in Jewish activities in the past
year. So, in that regard, Detroit
really does stand out. It will
be interesting to see what
the numbers tell us this time
around. •
A longer version of this interview is
available on myjewishdetroit.org,
where Vivian Henoch is editor.