What can one do with so many new Jews?

So here it is, another chapter in the great debate on the number of Jews in America. The much anticipated study conducted by Brandeis University has been published, and as expected, it rediscovers many lost American Jews. "The total number of Jews in the United States, using definitions that parallel NJPS' 'core Jewish population' is likely greater than 6 million individuals and, possibly, as high as 6.4 million? An additional group, perhaps 1 million more than the 6 to 6.5 million estimated to be Jewish by NJPS criteria, might be considered Jewish based on their Jewish family backgrounds. In most cases, these individuals are the children of intermarried parents. Including these individuals would bring our total estimate to somewhere between 7 and 7.5 million individuals."

Some of the professionals will probably keep this number-debate alive, but for the rest of us, it is a case closed: more Jews, a lot more. Does it matter? "Estimates of the population size are useful, not only as abstract descriptions, but because they aid understanding of the community and suggest directions for policy," the study says. Here are some of the findings and conclusions I found to be most interesting.


1. The newly found Jews are virtually all non-Orthodox. This suggests that the proportion of Orthodox Jews is substantially lower than had been assumed. This, the study suggests, might be a reason for renewed discussion on the issue of "core versus the periphery". In other words: if there are so many "less-committed" Jews out there, maybe it can serve as another reason to invest in the entire community and not just in those who might present the greater opportunity - namely, outreach. Len Saxe, who led the new study, is also the one who concluded that 60 percent of Boston's intermarried homes were raising their children as Jews. Many viewed the Boston study as proof that outreach pays off.

2. How do we define someone as Jewish? "Jewish identity is more complex than religious affiliation," the study says. It does not suggest changing the criteria, but merely that "new research is needed about Jewish identity." This can have some profound implications on the definition of being Jewish in America.

3. We are younger than one might have thought! "A large portion of 18-29 year olds were not properly counted". Finding new ways to attract these youngsters and re-connect them with Judaism is one of the most challenging aspects of Jewish activism. Those of you who didn't pay much attention to our new Previous Guests web page and are interested in this topic (young Judaism) can take the opportunity to re-read my dialog with Mireille Silcoff. "Maybe I am sounding like a serial simplifier here," she wrote, "but... I really believe that if a young Jew just likes being a Jew, and has a positive sense of himself as a Jew, he will want to keep on being a Jew, and might want to marry one too."

4. And the most obvious of the conclusions: One might be happy about the discovery of these new members of the tribe, but this also means that "To the extent that the population has been underestimated, we may have also overestimated the success of programs and the degree to which they adequately serve the population."