The Negative Numbers are not Surprising

Publication Date: January 2008

Publisher: Institute of Contemporary Jewry

Author(s): Stephen H. Hoffman

Research Area: Culture and religion; Population and demographics

Keywords: Jewish Outreach; Jewish Organizations; Immigration; Intermarriage

Type: Speech

Abstract:

The speaker responds to the first Annual Assessment produced by the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute. His address concerns rates of intermarriage in the United States and immigration to Israel. He calls upon the Israeli government to deal more equitably with immigrants from the former Soviet Union who are not considered Jewish by the State. He argues that by including them, rather than making them feel unwelcome, the immigrants will identify with the core national Jewish values expressed in the State, as well as feel concern about the fate of the Jewish people and the larger fate of the Jewish world.