The Pew Survey Reanalyzed: More Bad News, but a Glimmer of Hope

A year has now elapsed since the Pew Research Center released its “Portrait of Jewish Americans,” based on the first national survey of its kind in over a decade. Conducted by a leading “fact tank,” as Pew describes itself, and based on the responses of over 5,000 individuals identifying themselves as Jews or claiming some other connection, real or imagined, with Jewishness, the report sparked numerous articles summarizing its key findings and commenting on their significance. It also prompted intense discussions within Jewish institutions, from synagogues to Jewish federations and communal agencies.

But as the weeks and months passed, and as few if any new policies emerged to address the Pew findings, the conversation petered out. Today, the study’s major conclusions—on the relentless growth in rates of intermarriage, on the falling birthrates and attenuating affiliations of non-Orthodox Jews, and much more of a distressing nature—seem to have receded far into the background of American Jewish consciousness.

This muted reaction stands in marked contrast to the communal response to the National Jewish Population Study conducted in 1990. In the face of that earlier survey’s disclosure of marked weaknesses in Jewish life, local and national organizations formed task forces to chart new policy directions, including new initiatives in Jewish education of which the founding of Birthright Israel became the best known and among the most positively consequential. Nothing comparable has been put in place since the appearance of the Pew report; nor is there evidence of anything significant on the horizon.