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THE GUIDE 2021/2022
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That “aha!” moment came to Cooperman, he
said, through the data showing the “religious diver-
gence” of the Jewish population, particularly among
young Jewish adults.

The 2020 survey found that younger Jews contain
among their ranks “both a higher share who are
Orthodox and a higher share who are at the very
low end of the religiosity spectrum,” Cooperman
said. “If you are familiar with the American-
Jewish community, you’ve seen the growth in
Orthodox neighborhoods, communities across the
country. It’s not surprising, but the survey does
capture that.”
In fact, 17% of Jews 18-29 self-identify as
Orthodox. At the other end of the spectrum, four
in 10 Jewish adults under 30 describe themselves
as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” but
still identify as Jewish for ethnic, cultural or family
reasons. Overall, 27% of Jewish adults who have a Jewish
parent or were raised Jewish do not identify with
Judaism as a religion, the survey found; and younger
Jews identify with the religion at a lesser rate than
older Jews. While 60% of Jewish adults under
30 identified as “Jewish by religion,” that figure
jumped to 84% for Jews 65 and older. Likewise,
37% of Jews under 30 say they are Conservative or
Reform, compared to 60% of those 65 and older.

Those numbers have not changed significantly
since 2013.

Of the three most prominent Jewish denomina-
tions, the Conservative movement is experiencing
the most attrition. While 67% of people raised
Orthodox are still Orthodox, and 66% of those
raised Reform are still Reform, just 41 % of those
raised Conservative by religion still identify with
the Conservative movement as adults. Most of those
raised Conservative (93%), however, continue to
identify as Jewish.

In general, Jews are less religious than American
adults as a whole, Pew found. While 21% of Jews say
religion is “very important,” 41% of all U.S. adults
say the same. And only 12% of Jews attend services
at least once a week, compared to 27% of the general
population. Still, regardless of formal affiliation or religi-
osity, three-quarters of U.S. Jews say that “being
Jewish” is either very or somewhat important to
them. Most Jews — 85% — say they feel either “a
great deal” or “some” sense of belonging to the
Jewish people.

For Jews who rarely, or never, attend synagogue
services, Pew asked what was keeping them away.

While conventional wisdom has suggested that
many Jews do not attend synagogue because they



don’t feel welcome or because they cannot afford
the dues, the most common reason — given by
two-thirds of the Jews surveyed — was “I’m not
religious,” and more than half said they are “just not
interested” or they have alternate ways to express
their Jewishness.

“Part of what Pew is helping us as a commu-
nity to see is that the problem is apathy,” said
Michelle Shain, assistant director of the Center for
Communal Research at the Orthodox Union in a
call with media. “It’s not that people see a closed
door. They see an open door and they aren’t inter-
ested in walking through it.”
“Being Jewish is important to
American Jews. Three-quarters
of American Jews are telling
us that being Jewish is
important, but religion is
not important for them.”
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The lack of synagogue attendance may indicate
“religion is not central to the lives of most U.S.

Jews,” but Jewish Americans are not, on the whole,
apathetic, countered Arielle Levites, managing
director of the Collaborative for Applied Studies in
Jewish Education at George Washington University
and a Philadelphia resident.

“Being Jewish is important to American Jews,”
Levites said. “Three-quarters of American Jews are
telling us that being Jewish is important, but religion
is not important for them.”
Levites, who was on the Pew study’s advisory
panel, said one number not in the report was
important: Only 2% of Jews never participated in
any religious or cultural activities.

“That reflects the durability of the American
Jewish story,” she said.

Levites also noted that while various numbers
catch the eye, they don’t tell the whole story. And
a big chunk of that story is that Jews more than the
population at large are happy with their families,
health and social lives.

“We would see American Jews as a whole are
generally satisfied with the contours of their lives,
The Shipley
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