That Pew study showing all those Jews of no religion has sent shockwaves through the official Jewish community. From a November fundraising appeal from Samuel Norich, president and publisher of the Forward. I thought the Forward was, uh, forward… [No link, I’m typing this from the original.]
Dear —-
By now, you have probably have heard the statistics: 32% of Jews under age 30 say they have no religion, and the majority of those without religion have Christmas trees. Fully two-thirds of the Jews with no religion are raising their children without any Jewish identity at all. After reading the latest survey of American Jews, historian Jack Wertheimer told the Forward, “It’s the story of a community contracting.”
If young Jews were choosing some kind of secular engagement over a religious one, Jewishness itself would not be at risk. But even ethnic and cultural identifiers are disappearing. America’s full acceptance of its Jewish citizens has led many more to leave their Jewish identity entirely behind.
What is to be done? The Forward has been out front in raising that question and looking for answers. For us, it’s personal — we feel a direct responsibility to our community and its continued vitality….
Suggestion to the Forward: Ask some of those Jews why they are making the choices they’re making. See if those choices are blind, as Norich suggests, or if in fact they fulfill spiritual yearnings, i.e, seeking a life of greater meaning and purpose in this globalized era. Ask if a tribal definition of community is satisfying to these young people or is consistent with their values. Ask Catholics (like Marielle Segarra, who told us she had left that church this morning on public radio) and Protestants (including my wife, who prefers meditation to church) whether their original communities provided spiritual fulfillment in this era. Ask Brant Rosen and Lynn Gottlieb about universalism as a Jewish value. And ask Rebecca Vilkomerson how synagogues’ connection to Israel is affecting American Jewish identity.
I think this article is spot on. This is the melting pot. How many Irish-Americans or Italian-Americans or German-Americans have any ethnic connection other than in name? I see this as Jewish-Americans just becoming another flavor of American. Bad for tribalists and those who want to put that group in isolation from mainstream society, but a positive development for that society.
If you want to be a religious or secular Jew, you’re free to be a religious or secular Jew. For those who choose to be neither, that’s nobody’s loss but their own.
None of this justifies the need for or the existence of a supremacist “Jewish State”.
How long before Norich and his ilk actually start complaining about the lack of anti-Semitism in America? Clearly, failure to discriminate against Jews is part of a plot to destroy the Jewish people!
So next time Hoppy or the rest accuse any of us of anti-semitism our response should be “if we were we’d be doing you a favour?” Gotta love the contortions of tribalism – “hate us you’re bad, indifferent’s just another type of hate and love us you’re even worse.”
The say so of authoritarian gatekeepers of Jewish identity is losing its grip. A Jewish reformation in the US seems to be well under way – not least because of the war mongoring and moral corruption wrt I/P in the ranks of the gatekeepers.