A Tale of Two Jewries: The "Inconvenient Truth" for American Jews

Publication Date: November 2006

Publisher: Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life; Jewish Life Network

Author(s): Steven M. Cohen

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Jewish identification; American Jews

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Whatever the current course of trends and developments in American Jewry, how should policy-makers respond to the current and likely future tendencies? Which policies can support, sustain, and expand the areas of Jewish cultural and religious vitality and renewal? What exactly are the real dangers and the real opportunities for American Jewry - and how can they be respectively avoided and exploited? To examine these and related questions, this paper relies heavily upon the 2000-01 NJPS, utilizing analyses run specifically for this paper as well as previously published studies by the author and others.