The Impact of Jewish Education and an "Israel Experience" on the Jewish Identity of American Jewish Youth

Publication Date: January 1992

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author(s): David Mittelberg

Research Area: Culture and religion; Education

Keywords: American Jews; Jewish education; Identity formation

Type: Report

Coverage: Massachusetts

Abstract:

In Studies in Contemporary Jewry 8, 194-218. The primary goal of the present analysis is not to settle the scholarly debate around the question of the contribution of Jewish education to Jewish identity, but rather, to go beyond it by examining two basic issues: First, the circumstances under which Jewish education (both part-time and day school) has an impact on Jewish identification; and second, the role of a visit to Israel as an independent factor making its own unique contribution to Jewish identity beyond both denomination and Jewish schooling. The study is based on data derived from the 1985 Demographic Study of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston.