The Jewish Family: An Institution in Transition

Publication Date: January 1997

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Rela Mintz Geffen

Research Area: Culture and religion; Social conditions

Keywords: Family; Jewish Organizations; Jewish Continuity

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Even nominal affiliation of born Jews cannot be taken for granted today by lay and professional leaders who seek to plan for the Jewish community of the next century. Nuclear and extended families form the base of Jewish communal life. Definitions of the normative Jewish family based on outmoded notions still shape the rhetoric and structures of many Jewish communal institutions. To adequately serve the Jewish American family today a better fit must be re-established between the reality of the lives and needs of individual Jews and the community that seeks to enfold them.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, v.73 no.2/3, Winter/Spring 1996/1997.