By Elliott Abrams, Fellow Middle Eastern Studies at Council on Foreign Relations

Summary

In an essay written for the Wall Street Journal (Oct 24, 2024), Elliott Abrams highlighted that American Jews have focused less on Jewish education, knowledge of Hebrew, and fewer visits to Israel than any other major diaspora community. He believes that if these trends continue there will be fewer Jews who strongly support Israel, are involved with Jewish life, and are interested in passing their identity to their children and grandchildren.

He wrote, “The numbers tell the story. About a third of those raised Jewish, or with at least one Jewish parent, no longer identify as such. A 2020 Pew Research Center report found that of the 2.4 million children living in a household with at least one Jewish parent, half are being raised exclusively as Jews. For the non-Orthodox, the intermarriage rate is more than 70%. Only 45% of those who practice their Jewish faith say it’s “very important” to them that their grandchildren be Jewish. Only 4% of Jews who no longer practice their faith say the same. Roughly 45% of American Jews have visited Israel at least once—and 48% of those under 30 say they’re “very” or even “somewhat” attached to Israel.

Campus antisemitism is unlikely to slow the decline in support for Israel among the younger cohort.

Unlike in the past when antisemitism kept Jews out of many neighborhoods, hotels, clubs, and companies, this kind of antisemitism has disappeared. During this era, the Jewish community lived somewhat apart.

Abrams feels that if non-Orthodox Jews want to preserve their Jewish identity, they need to pursue the following three goals:

  1. Better Jewish education,
  2. Expansion of Jewish summer camping, which gives kids between 2 and 8 weeks of living in a fully Jewish environment, and
  3. More time in Israel

Abrams summarized: “American Jews and Israel have needed each other more in the past year than they have for decades. The natural forces of assimilation will, however, continue to erode the size and vitality of the American Jewish community unless we intentionally cultivate countervailing forces. Spending time in Israel—a state that faces new and dangerous threats every day—is essential to supporting an ally and developing a sense of peoplehood and identity.

As Theodore Herzl wrote, “If you will it, it is no dream.” It is a worthy and necessary task for the year ahead.