The ironies abound in a major new survey of Jewish America released this past week beginning with the name of the well-regarded polling organization that’s behind it — Pew — because one of the study’s primary takeaways is that there are ever less Jews in synagogue pews these days. And tragically ever more of them can be found in church pews whether to attend their child’s intermarriage or years later a grandchild’s baptism.
There isn’t all that much in the Pew report’s 200 data-packed pages to surprise those with in-depth knowledge of the American Jewish scene. Some might even question whether frum Jews ought to be interested in its dismal indeed ominous portrait of a non-Orthodox community in the throes of a religious death spiral which is so removed from the much brighter current — and hopefully future state — of Orthodoxy.
As a window into the Orthodox world however the Pew survey with its narrow focus on numbers and responses to a set of one-dimensional questions fails miserably at conveying to the world beyond ours even a glimmer of the vibrancy of Orthodoxy the sheer robustness of our lived reality.
But wait: These are our brothers and sisters they’re talking about. Even if we feel largely helpless in averting their impending implosion isn’t the very least we can do is to stop and take notice of their plight?
Create a free account to keep reading.
