Stop the presses — Florida Jews are not all old! New Voices magazine has the story on the Jewish student boom in the Sunshine State (hat tip to Reform Judaism magazine):
We can all picture the Florida Jew.
70 years old and retired, with the heavy Brooklyn accent and the polo shirt you wouldn’t wish on anybody: not the kind of Jew you’d expect at Hillel on Friday nights and a football game on Saturday, who listens to Guster and has a running win-streak in beer pong.
Think again.
According to Reform Judaism Magazine, five Florida universities are among the top 20 public colleges in America with the most Jews: the University of Florida (UF) ranked second and the University of Central Florida fourth, with Florida International University, the University Southern Florida and Florida State University (FSU) not far behind.
In 2008, the Census Bureau recorded that Florida’s Members of the Tribe make up 3.6% of the US Jewish population. Coincidence or not, a majority of these Jewish households are sending their children to Florida public universities.
Full story here.
