Family Values and the Jews

Publication Date: January 1994

Publisher: American Jewish Committee

Author(s): Jack Wertheimer

Research Area: Culture and religion; Social conditions

Keywords: Jewish Continuity; Jewish Identification; Marriage; Family

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Ever since the release of the finding that rates of intermarriage have surged in recent decades, leaders of the major American Jewish organizations have agonized over a crisis of "Jewish continuity" in this country. Yet in all the talk about Jewish continuity, little attention has been paid to the Jewish family. Quite apart from the high incidence of intermarriage, survey research provides ample evidence of rising rates of divorce and/or deferred marriage among Jews; of massive geographical dislocation which affects family cohesion; and of other symptoms, mainly stemming from the sexual revolution, that severely affect the Jewish family's ability to nurture a strong Jewish identity in its youth.

In Commentary Magazine vol. 97 no.1, pp. 30-34 (January 1994).