Indicators of Jewish Identity: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Understanding American Jewry

Publication Date: November 1999

Publisher: Mandel Foundation (Jerusalem)

Author(s): Bethamie Horowitz

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Culture; Identity Formation; Jewish identification; Demography

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The author argues that rates of antisemitic incidents and rates of intermarriage are no longer an adequate barometer of the American Jewish condition. She reviews the relevant literature in order to examine possible definitions of identity and measures of it. The author categorizes these measurements of Jewish identity into four sub-groups: measures of individual identity, measures of social cohesion, structural indicators based on Jewish population density, and the changing relationship between the "Jewish" and the "American".