Jewish American

A Jewish American (also commonly American Jew) is an American (a citizen of the United States) of Jewish descent or religion who maintains a connection to the Jewish community, either through actively practicing Judaism or through cultural and historical affiliation.

Population

As of 2005, there are somewhere between 5.1 and 5.8 million Jews in the United States. Jews in the U.S. settled largely in and near the major cities, first in the Northeast and Midwest but in recent decades increasingly in the South and West. In descending order, the metropolitan areas with the highest Jewish populations are: New York City (1,750,000), Miami (535,000), Los Angeles (490,000), Philadelphia (254,000), Chicago (248,000), San Francisco (210,000), Boston (208,000), and Washington DC (165,000). Miami's Jewish community skews older than most other U.S. Jewish centers as it heavily consists of retirees from the big cities of the northeast (however, this has been offset somewhat by more recent immigration to the area by younger Jews from Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil). Several other major cities have large Jewish populations per capita, like Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and St. Louis. Also, some areas of the Sunbelt outside of Florida and California (which have always had significant Jewish communities) that have seen a large general population growth have also seen both the size and proportion of their Jewish population grow significantly. Examples of this are Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Raleigh, NC, and especially Atlanta and Las Vegas. In many cities the majority of Jewish families have moved to the suburbs.

Related Topics:
2005 - New York City - Miami - Los Angeles - Philadelphia - Chicago - San Francisco - Boston - Washington DC - Miami - Argentina - Brazil - Per capita - Cleveland - Pittsburgh - Baltimore - St. Louis - Sunbelt - Florida - California - Houston - Dallas - Phoenix - Raleigh, NC - Atlanta - Las Vegas - Suburbs

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According to the 2001 National Jewish Population Survey, 4.3 million American Jews have some sort of strong connection to the Jewish community, whether religious or cultural.

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Assimilation and Population Changes

The same social and cultural characteristics of the United States of America that facilitated the extraordinary economic, political, and social success of the American Jewish community have also contributed to assimilation, a controversial and significant issue in the modern American Jewish community. While not all Jews disapprove of intermarriage, many members of the Jewish community have become concerned that the high rate of interfaith marriage will result in the eventual disappearance of the American Jewish community.

Related Topics:
United States of America - Assimilation - Intermarriage

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Intermarriage rates have risen from roughly 6% in 1950 to approximately 40%-50% in the year 2000.http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_047702_religiouscul.htmhttp://www.jewishla.org/news/html/populationdrop.html Only about a third of intermarried couples raise their children with a Jewish religious upbringing. However, it is more common for intermarried families to raise their children as Jewish in areas with high Jewish populations, like New York City/Long Island/New Jersey/Westchester County, New York. As well, some children raised through intermarriage go through a "born-again experience" when they themselves marry and have children. This in combination with the comparatively low birthrate in the Jewish community has led to a 5% decline in the Jewish population of the United States over the last decade.http://www.jewishla.org/news/html/populationdrop.html. In addition to this, when compared with the general American population, the American Jewish community is slightly older.http://www.jewishla.org/news/html/populationdrop.html.

Related Topics:
New York City - Long Island - New Jersey - Westchester County, New York

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In contrast, some communities within American Jewry, such as Orthodox Jews, have significantly higher birth rates and lower intermarriage rates, and are growing rapidly. Daniel Pipes noted in an essay in 2005 that the proportion of Jewish synagogue members who were Orthodox rose from 11% in 1971 to 21% in 2000, while the overall Jewish community declined in number.http://www.danielpipes.org/article/2370

Related Topics:
Orthodox - Daniel Pipes - 2005 - 1971 - 2000

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