MAY 13 • 2021 | 23
Orthodox, 17% to 3% respective-
ly. One-in-10 U.S. Jewish adults
under 30 are ultra-Orthodox
(11%), compared with 1% of
Jews 65 and older.
At the same time, 40% of
Jewish adults under 30 identify
as Jewish culturally, but describe
themselves religiously as atheist,
agnostic or “nothing in particu-
lar” rather than as Jewish. This
is compared to 27% of all Jewish
adults who do not identify with
the Jewish religion.
The survey also shows that
two branches of Judaism that
have long predominated in
the U.S. have less of a hold on
young Jews than on their elders.
Roughly four-in-10 Jewish adults
under 30 identify with either
Reform (29%) or Conservative
Judaism (8%), compared with
seven-in-10 Jews older than 65.
According to the survey:
“In other words, the youngest
U.S. Jews count among their
ranks both a relatively large
share of traditionally observant,
Orthodox Jews and an even
larger group of people who see
themselves as Jewish for cultural,
ethnic or family reasons but do
not identify with Judaism — as a
religion — at all.
”
And even though people in
both groups participate, at least
sometimes, in the same cultural
activities, such as cooking tra-
ditional Jewish foods, visiting
Jewish historical sites and listen-
ing to Jewish or Israeli music, the
two groups report feeling little
in common with each other, the
study notes.
The survey’s authors say
these generational shifts toward
both Orthodoxy and secular
Jewishness have the potential, in
time, to reshape American Jewry.
DENOMINATION TRENDS
In the 2020 survey, 37%
of American Jews identi-
fy as Reform and 17% as
Conservative, essentially
unchanged from 2013. The share
of all Jewish adults who describe
themselves as Orthodox is also
about the same in 2020 (9%) as it
was in 2013 (10%).
Other branches, such as the
Reconstructionist movement
and Humanistic Judaism, total
about 4%, very similar to in
2013 (6%). And the share of
Jewish adults who do not identi-
fy with any particular stream or
institutional branch of Judaism
is now 32%, roughly on par
with the 2013 survey (30%).
Conservative and Reform
Jews tend to be less religiously
observant in traditional ways,
like keeping kosher and regular-
ly attending religious services,
but many participate in Jewish
cultural activities, and most are
at least somewhat attached to
Israel. Demographically, they
have high levels of education,
small families, higher rates of
intermarriage than the Orthodox
and skew older (median age
of 62 for Conservative, 53 for
Reform).
Those who consider them-
selves culturally but not reli-
giously Jewish, have low levels
of synagogue membership and
attendance with comparatively
weak attachments to Israel, feel-
ings of belonging to the Jewish
people and engagement in com-
munal Jewish life. They tend to
be politically liberal and highly
educated, with relatively high
rates of intermarriage and a low
median age (38 years).
The survey’s authors also
conclude that although the data
show some signs of religious
divergence and political polar-
ization among U.S. Jews, it also
finds large areas of consensus.
For instance, more than 80%
of U.S. Jews say that they feel at
least some sense of belonging
to the Jewish people, and 75%
say that “being Jewish” is either
very or somewhat important to
them.