Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures American Jewish Society in the 1990s: An Introduction Barry A. Kosmin and Sidney Goldstein Foreword Andrew Greeley Preface PART I 1. Denominations in American Religious Life Chapter Preview 2. A Sociohistorical Overview of American Jewish Denominations The First Jewish Denomination: Reform Judaism The Counter Reformation: Orthodox Judaism The Centrist Denomination: Conservative Judaism Denominational Development in Historical Retrospect Denominational Differences: Homosexuality as a Case in Point The Social Psychology of American Jewish Denominationalism PART II 3. A General Description of the Adherents of American Jewish Denominations The Two Surveys The Population of Interest Characterisitcs Associated with Differing Denomiational Preferences Demographic and Socioeconomic Concomitants of Denominational Preferences Religious and Jewish Community Involvement: 1971 and 1990 Consequential Dimensions of Denominational Preference Jewish Denominations within the Context of America's Denominational Structure 4. The Components and Consequences of Jewish Involvement The Models 5. Jewish Denominational Switching: Permeable Boundaries among Jews in the United States Denominational Switching among American Jews Concomitants of Denominational Switching 6. Denominational Preferences and Intermarriage: Permeable Boundaries between Jews and Non-Jews Intermarriage and Denominational Preference Intermarriages Before and After 1970 Variables Associated with Intermarriage Raising Jewish Children Jewish Community Size and Intermarriage PART III 7. A Look toward the Future: Jewish Fertility, Births, and Denominational Preference Jewish Religiosity and Fertility A Fertility Projection: A Look at the Future 8. Summation, Conclusions, and Recommendations Summary of Major Findings The Challenge of Americanization Recommendations for the Denominations Closing Comments Appendix A. Methodology of CJF 1990 National Jewish Population Survey Joseph Waksberg Appendix B. Total Sample Errors and the Comparison of the 1971 and 1990 Surveys Appendix C. Model Indices Cited in Chapter 4 Appendix D. Computation of the Projection in Chapter 7, Table 7.2 Notes References Subject Index Name Index

About the Author

Bernard Lazerwitz is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Bar Ilan University, Israel. His previous work includes Pathways to Suicide: A Survey of Self-Destructive Behaviors (with Ronald Maris) and Americans Abroad: A Comparative Study of Emigrants from the United States (with Arnold Dashefsky, Jan DeAmicis, and Ephraim Tabory). J. Alan Winter is Professor of Sociology at Connecticut College. He is the author of Continuities in the Sociology of Religion: Creed, Congregation and Community; Clergy in Action Training (with Edgard W. Mills and Polly S. Hendrick); and is the editor of The Poor and Vital Problems for American Society (with Jerome Rabow and Marc Chesler). Arnold Dashefsky is Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life at the University of Connecticut. His previous work includes Ethnic Identification Among American Jews (with H. M. Shapiro), among others.

Reviews

The development of American Jewish denominations is viewed as more a matter of individual choice than family heritage. The characteristics of individual adherents of the three major denominations vary systematically as does one's involvement both in local Jewish communities and in the community-at-large. The authors show that as one goes from Orthodox to no preference Jews, the extent of religious expression, ethnic attachments, and Jewish community involvement declines. They project the distribution of denominational preference in 2010 and conclude with recommendations for those who wish to see Jewish identity survive and thrive in America.