By Daniel Goldschmidt. I just returned from a seven week trip throughout the United States. I was shocked by the increase in assimilation among Jews I met and by their lack of knowledge and interest in Israel.
Daniel Goldschmidt
Our travels took us to the South, East and Midwest. We visited Jews who identified as secular, reform, and conservative.
I also found the Pew Research report pewforum.org of October 2013 unbelievable until I witnessed it for myself. It reported that one in five who described themselves as being Jewish had no religious affiliation. The percent of US citizens that described themselves as being Jewish had decreased from the 1950’s by more than half to less than 2%..
In the youngest generation of Jewish adults the “Millennials” 32% described themselves as having had no religion and 62% of the entire US Jewish population stated that Judaism is mainly a matter of ancestry and culture. A major contributing factor is that 79% of Jews that said they are not religious have a spouse who is not Jewish and 37% of these couples say that they are not raising their children Jewish at all.
My former business partner in a mid size city in the US is an Evangelical Christian who recently made a pilgrimage to Israel. He was impressed by the culture, beauty, and spirit of the Israeli’s he met. Some of his customers are Jewish whom he also sees socially. He shared with me his surprise when the subject of Israel came up in conversation. None of his Jewish friends had ever visited Israel and were not interested in discussing Israel.
Most of the Jews I spoke with were not conversant with either the BDS movement, with J Street, or with the events surrounding Soda Stream.
As for the recent peace talks my Jewish friends did not understand why it was is so important that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as the Jewish State. They lacked knowledge of the geography and the small size of Israel. They also did not understand that the Western Wall (Kotel) , which is the holiest site for the Jewish people would not be included in Israel if any two state solution was based solely on the 1967 or so called “green line”.
While deplorable the lack of knowledge is understandable. The main sources of information about Israel for these American Jews are media outlets such as New York Times, CNN, and Newsweek Magazine.
But there is a counter effort. Organizations such as Taglit, a program of the Jewish Agency in Israel that provides free ten day trips for young Jews 18 to 26 of age and MASA which brings recent college graduates to Israel to teach English are making some difference.
During my trip I visited my ten year old granddaughter’s religious school class at a Conservative Synagogue. I was very impressed by the children’s knowledge of Israeli history, geography and Hebrew.
During the time in the U.S. four people were murdered at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City. Clearly it is more important than ever for Jews in the U.S. to understand and support Israel.
Speaking as a Jew born in the US and having emigrated to Israel almost four years ago I am very happy in my choice. But I am seriously concerned about the fate of the Jewish community outside the Jewish State. Daniel Goldschmidt
