Brandeis study finds U.S. Jews number between 6m to 6.4m
Study finds about 1 million more Jews live in the United States than was previously thought.
By Shmuel RosnerBetween 6 million and 6.4 million Jews live in the United States, about 1 million more than was previously thought, according to a study conducted by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University and released Wednesday.
The researchers said that if they had included Americans with Jewish family backgrounds but are not Jewish "by religion," the number would have reached 7.5 million.
The study appears to indicate that the non-Orthodox segment of American Jewry is far larger than previously estimated, since the researchers suspect that the vast majority of the Jews who were added to the previous count of 5.2 million are not Orthodox.
However, critics have said that the Brandeis researchers relied too heavily on the previous count, which was based on a telephone survey.
The researchers based their findings on official documents of various American agencies as well as previous studies, particularly the telephone survey.
The full Brandeis study confirms the conclusions that Brandeis researchers announced several weeks ago, when a dispute broke out over the number of American Jews in the wake of another study on the matter.
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rereading some related material i am wondering if many of those that would like to see a large quantity of jews, do this for the right reasons. maybe obvious what i will say, but taking to an extreme, if jews were the largest populational group instead of just 0.2%, that would not mean that the world would be a better place to live in, which in my humble opinion, should be one of the main target. of course we can assume that being a jew is being at the right path for that purpose, in the same way as other groups believe they can attain that just by being what they are. who is right? on the other hand, in a typically good jewish auto critic, if we are just 0.2% and so highly arrogant, imagine how much we could be with a larger population. mmmm? maybe we are in an equilibrium point? mmm?
maybe your brooklyn neighbours are not what you expect, but certainly israel's neighbours are not what you believe they are. you are mixing a colective issue with your personal issue. by the way, rightwing is just a cliche you are repeating, since the inicial zionist activists where true socialists and even more leftwise oriented, and they practiced it instead of just talking. that being said, if you consider yourself a leftwing nonzionist antiwhatever jew, for the head count mentioned in the article you are still in it.
All Jews don't support the rightwing zionist project in Israel and the Midlle East. To be a Jew one must respect other peoples integrity and live in real peace with their neighbours. Don't count me as the one who supports Israel, whatever come may.
I think this is a ploy by the orthodox public to fudge the numbers so that the largest Jewish population globally is not considered Israel. Once the majority of Jews in the world are publicly known to live in Israel, certain biblical laws come back into play. Some would say it even triggers certain heavenly laws to come back to play. Someone is up to know good.
in principle there is no way not to agree with the statement above, but on the other hand, world may be flat but it is not black and white, as some paint here. Many are the jews absolutely not halachik that clearly changed the world for the better and which we all are proud of, and certainly more than of other more observant fellow jews. I would say I prefer a jew that improves humanity and if he is also observant then better, but in that order. By the way, tolerance and inclusion is a very old jewish concept that many have forgotten and put aside, just for the sake of a black and white simplified view of the jewish world. The discussion on quantity is more of political importance because of the political weight of the community (one man, one vote principle), as well as of the relevance of critical weight in order to develop certain social activities, but of course, as mentioned before, quantity does not necessarily imply quality.
How many times do I have to keep saying it - 4 Million Jews left in the USA. And No we're not counting the REform and Conservative religion converts as Jews because those forms are not Judaism and we aren't counting their children. And we definitly are not going to count the gentile spouses of the AJC. Rav Amar, how's that bill coming along!
I don't believe it. The numbers are falling and only slowing down due to immigration from the former USSR, Israel and to a lesser degree Europe and Latin America. The Us is now into 3rd and 4rth generation descendants who at best have a Jewish Grandparent(s)
we have never in our 4,000 year history been known as a people large in number. The fact that people are obsesive about if the number of Jews is five or six million astounds me. I would much rather have one million Jews commited to a Jewish life and knowlegable in Jewish culture and history than ten million Jews that basicly know the little spiny top used at Hannukah is called a Dredel. quality over quanity people
Orthodox Jews don't have to worry about assimilation because they don't need to assimilate!
I dont know what the actual number of Jews in US is. My sister is non practicing but our parents are Jewish so she is. My wife converted and we intend to have as many kids as possible. My Jewish friend married a non Jew, but their kids are being converted at birth. Who is a Jew? Follow Halacha. How about children of 1 Jewish parent and that parent is the father. Should their children be considered Jewish?