Judaism By The Numbers

Fifty-two percent.

Of all the graphs, statistics and charts associated with the voluminous 1990 National Jewish Population Study, that's the one number that stuck. It referred to the rate of intermarriage in the U.S. over the previous decade. And while demographers debated the accuracy of the number, it sent shockwaves throughout the Jewish community, leading to a major push for outreach and "Jewish continuity" programs around the country geared toward combating assimilation.

How successful have those efforts been? One gauge will be the updated figures on intermarriage, due to be released next week as part of the results of the eagerly anticipated and long-delayed 2000 National Jewish Population Study.

Has the percentage increased or decreased over the last 10 years? Has the apparent inevitability of rising intermarriage rates led to a greater acceptance among American Jewry, and a new fallback position - the attempt to appeal to non-Jewish partners to accept Judaism after marriage? Or have the high rates alarmed the community to the point of more openly and forcefully declaiming intermarriage as a direct threat to Jewish survival in the 21st century?

The so-called outreach vs. inreach debate has gone on for years and it is sure to be renewed when the new statistics are released. No doubt proponents from both sides will find ways to interpret the statistics to strengthen their argument. But whether or not the actual numbers and percentages have changed, it seems clear that American Jewish attitudes have shifted, and not in a positive way. Rather, they reflect a combination of diminished Jewish identity and misguided liberalism, tolerance and universalism.

A generation ago Jewish leaders agreed that intermarriage was harmful to the Jewish people in terms of survival, and harmful to individual Jews who would find that marrying someone from another faith could lead to disharmony and tension within the marriage, and identity confusion for their offspring. With the divorce rate already so high, went the argument, why add to the chances of failure?

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