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U.S. Jewish numbers stable, still a cause for concern The Orthodox, who make up
nlike the Christian slice, the Jewish piece of the American religious pie isn’t shrinking,
according to a study from the Pew Research Center. This would appear good news
for a people who have—for the past half-century at least—foretold dra- matic shrinking of their numbers. Prominent Jewish scholars pointed to other demographic trends, such as the rising rate of intermarriage, 17 percent before 1970 and 58 per- cent in the last decade. In response, there are confer-
ences and committees dedicated to keeping Jewish people Jewish: scholarships for Jewish preschools, free trips to Israel for Jewish young adults, synagogue programs to help interfaith couples raise Jewish children and even subsidized fer- tility treatments for Jewish couples struggling to have a baby. Steven M. Cohen, a professor
of Jewish social policy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, said new stability in num- bers “hides a changing contour of American Jewry,” namely there is growth at the ends of the spec- trum—the Orthodox (very obser- vant) Jews and those who reject the religious aspect of being Jewish.
about 10 percent of American Jews, produce an average of 4.1 children per Jewish adult, far above the U.S. average of 2.2. The core of the mid- dle ground—Reform and Conser- vative Jews, who generally do not adhere to Jewish law as closely as the Orthodox—are not produc- ing enough children to replace themselves. And fewer than half of young Jewish adults identify as either Reform or Conservative, compared with a solid majority of Jews ages 50 and older. “The Orthodox are having chil-
dren and everybody else forgot how to do it,” said Jonathan Sarna, pro- fessor of Jewish history at Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass. “That is a kind of danger sign for the future.” At the same time the data shows
pride within the tribe. A growing number of people with one Jewish parent are calling themselves Jew- ish, and a Pew study from last sum- mer showed Jews to be the most- liked religious group in America, notwithstanding some indications of continuing anti-Semitism. Or as Alan Cooperman, Pew’s direc- tor of religion research, put it, “In some ways, being Jewish is cool in America today.”
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Chant is chart-worthy
A Gregorian chant CD, Benedicta, by Benedictine monks in Norcia, Italy, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s clas- sical music chart in June. This isn’t the first time monastic chant has seen secular appeal—a CD called Chant became a pop-culture sensation 21 years ago. “We look for things that are little gems,” said co-founder of the De Montfort Music label, Monica Fitzgibbons, who wanted to record the Norcia monks since first hear- ing them in 2007. The monastery’s leader, Cassian Folsom, studied voice at Indiana University, Bloomington, before becoming a monk, and other monks are musically trained as well. Another factor is the average age of the monks—33.
ABLE to attend Bible camp?
Everyone is able. That’s the message of Joy Ranch, an ELCA Bible camp in Watertown, S.D., designed to welcome people of all abilities. Not only should all kids have the chance to do all the usual camp activities, said Kyle Debertin, director, but every kid “should be able to wave good-bye to mom and dad and say hello to new friends.” This summer Joy Ranch launched Camp-ABLE, a camp experience for kids with disabilities that they attended without a family caregiver. It was able to do so with its own summer staff and nursing students from South Dakota State University in Brookings. Brian Krause, pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Arcadia, Ohio, and Erin Diericx, New Testament scholar and devotional writer from Lecanto, Fla., both of whom have cerebral palsy, developed a Bible study that helped the campers explore faith and disability.
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