The New Geo-Demographics of American Jewry

Publication Date: July 1993

Publisher: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Author(s): Daniel J. Elazar

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Cities and Suburbs; Jewish Organizations; Migration; Synagogues

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The author argues that American Jewry is on the verge of an organizational upheaval of an extent not seen for nearly a hundred years. He explains that a massive geographic shift concurrent with a rise in assimilation among the Jewish population has necessitated a massive restructuring of the community. The author contends that developing patterns of settlement emerging in the late 1970s offered Jews new opportunities for settling outside of Jewish neighborhoods or in very dispersed ones. He explains that this shift has been problematic for the Jewish Federations and concludes that the Federations must reconceptualize themselves to get away from the kind of centralization upon which they were previously based.