American Jews in the year 2000 will have the same attributes they have today–an interest in a good education and a responsible job, affiliation with Jewish religious and social organizations, Jewish schooling for their children–despite the increase in intermarriage with non-Jews from the current 6-8 percent. This is because “Jewish identity is strong (and) there is a conscious effort to maintain Jewish survival,” explains Rabbi Ronald M. Goldstein, of Temple Beth Zion, Buffalo, N.Y., who makes the observations and conclusions in the article “American Jewish Archives,” published by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati.
Although “out marriage” is on the rise–in Washington, D.C., notes Rabbi Goldstein, It is estimated at 18 percent–the Jewish education of children nationwide is at about the 75 percent level. In addition, according to the writer, 75 percent of East coast Jews, and 40 percent of the less-densely-Jewish West coast, have religious-group affiliations; virtually all American Jews have ties with a Jewish organization of some kind, and third-generation Jews who are not now synagogue members may well change their minds after marriage and children.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
