THE VANISHING AMERICAN JEW

American Jews -- numbered at 5,200,000 strong in 2000 -- constitute the second largest and the most influential Jewish community in the World. Yet, that figure hardly provides the objective observer with any insight as to the community's future viability. To glimpse such an insight, one must examine those twin scourges of Jewish life -- Love and Hate, more formally known as Assimilation and Antisemitism.

The United Jewish Communities' "National Jewish Population Survey 2000" -- a decennial demographic study -- found that, due to a negative net birthrate (i.e., Jewish deaths exceeded Jewish births for that period), America's Jewish population had declined by 300,000 souls from 1990 to 2000. This translates to an average net loss of 82 Jews per day for that decade.

The study also discovered that, due to an ongoing intermarriage rate in excess of 50%, of all children under the age of 12 with Jewish parentage, less than half have two Jewish parents. Of the more than half with a gentile parent, (according to other surveys) only a quarter thereof will be raised as Jews. Of these, only a small minority will marry other Jews, as it will be almost impossible for an intermarried Jew, however sincere, to convince his or her child to do what he or she failed to do, namely: marry a fellow Jew.

However, Assimilation is not the only problem facing the American Jewish community. In its June 2002 "Survey Of Antisemitism In America" the Anti-Defamation League found that one third of all Americans believe that Jews have "dual loyalties" (i.e., they are potentially treasonous) and that one fifth of all Americans believe that Jews have "too much power in the U.S. today" (i.e., they are potentially dangerous). Ironically, it was once perversely believed that the multiplicity of ethnic groups inhabiting America -- constituting a plethora of inviting targets for the majority population's hostility -- would provide a bulwark against an obsessive hatred of American Jews. Instead, it seems that at least some of these immigrants simply brought their Jew-hatred with them, thereby finding at least some common ground with those Americans who had arrived before them.

The Message is clear. The American Exile will end, whether by Assimilation or Antisemitism -- more likely, by a combination of both.

When the nation-state of Israel was resurrected in 1948, it was home to a mere 5% of World Jewry. Today, it constitutes the largest Jewish community in the World, and is home to 40% of World Jewry. And Israel's Jewish community is the only one in the World with a positive net birthrate.

Due to ongoing terrorism and the enduring hostility of much of the World, Israel may not seem safe for the individual Jew. Yet, it is the only country in the World that is safe for the collective Jew.

Again, the Message is clear. If the Jewish people are to have a Future, it will only be found in Israel. American Jews can either be a part of that Future, or they can simply disappear.

At 5,200,000 strong, American Jewry will not vanish overnight. But its days are numbered; and so are its opportunities to fulfill its true destiny.

© Mark Rosenblit

[Note: According to the most recent Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life, as summarized by the Jerusalem Post on February 26, 2008: “The survey found that Jews were aligned with the national averages in terms of marital status and divorce rates, but showed that the Jewish birth rate was the lowest among religious groups, with 72 percent of those polled replying that they had no children.” -- Mark Rosenblit]

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