Study Says Number of Religiously Observant Jews Dropped by more than 20 Percent
Jacob Donnelly (NCC News)
August 6, 2009
SYRACUSE-- The 2008 American Religious Identification Survey found that the number of American Jews who consider themselves religiously observant has dropped by more than 20 percent. There are close to two million Jews in New York, making up almost ten percent of the population, by far the most of any state in the nation. Out of the total 5.4 million Jews in America only 3.4 million Jews say they are religiously observant.
Findings
The drop comes in response to Jews who claim they are only culturally Jewish, with little to no religious affiliation. The number of cultural Jews rose from 20 percent in 1990 to 37 percent last year as opposed to the number of Americans who said they have no religious affiliation whatsoever rose from eight to 15 percent.
Researchers attribute the trends to the high rate of intermarriage and “disaffection from Judaism” in the United States.
Religious Response
“There’s more to being Jewish than just going to a synagogue,” So says Rabbi Rachel Ain of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas. The Rabbi said she does not agree with the survey because it is too black and white, “it doesn’t leave enough gray;” what it means to be Jewish is hard to quantify because it is at both times a religion and a culture. She said the survey misses the point because the religious aspect of Judaism lingers even in the secular Jews.
Modern Jews are different from the ones from 20 years ago in that they are staying away from the traditional synagogues and are “finding other venues to express their Judaism. But I'm not convinced that that means that Jews are less religious and therefore secular," Said the Rabbi
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