American Jewish Explosion

by Joshua (Gedalyah Chaim) Reback

Seven years ago in his New York Times article, A Jewish Recount, JJ Goldberg attacked the United Jewish Communities for promoting population surveys that misrepresented the American Jewish population as declining. He cited inconsistent standards for defining a Jew in demographic surveys, only assessing religious attitudes of subcultures in the community, and inflating the number of intermarriages in the country. The motivation, in his eyes, was to shock American Jews into greater observance.

He was right then, and he is right now. Worse yet, this policy of alarm has not produced results in reversing the assimilation trends that were then exaggerated but still a profound problem.

Without delving too much into how the American Jewish community needs to adjust its approach to demographics, it is important to note these myths have hurt the policymakers of dozens of Jewish organizations. Most importantly, the underestimation of the community's size and utter failure to recognize even scant aspects of people's personal ethnic identities have hurt religious leadership's ability to accommodate the growing demand for conversions in the United States from children of mixed marriages, which are high with or without statistical inflation.

I am personally one of those Jews who has a Jewish Father, but whose Mother does not come from that background. Speaking with Rabbis at major English-speaking post-college Yeshivas and Midrashot in Jerusalem, they estimate their students may comprise as high a figure as 20% hailing from mixed marriages in which the Mother is not Jewish, whether or not they had yet completed conversions.

This figure is dramatic. And other students, with no Jewish heritage at all, are joining them. The internet age has increased interest in new religions. Information can be sought with a simple click, and it is happening en masse. It is driving greater interest in Jewish practice, without the need to call Rabbis in distant cities.

The Jewish Learning Initiative, a combined program of the Orthodox Union and Hillel to serve Orthodox college students, has seen all its Rabbis supervise at least one student learning for conversion since the program's inception several years ago. Children of mixed marriages are essential elements to Jewish activism, be it on campus or in the plethora of non-profits dotting the country.

And yet, the Rabbinical Council of America is unable to perceive just how large a constituency this represents, nor just how large the interest in resolving their identity crises is. Since the adoption of the Geirus Policy & Standards in 2008, roughly 300 people have converted to Orthodox Judaism in the US. This is happening in a country with as many as 6.7 million Jews and where well over 10 million people could be eligible for immigration to Israel under the Law of Return. There are only 12 courts authorized to perform conversion in the United States.

This lack of resources demonstrates a gross unpreparedness to meet the needs of the American Jewish community. It is a guarantee that if the Orthodox community is unwilling to meet this immense demand, the Reform and Conservative Movements will fill the void. This is certainly true in light of years of successful outreach programs throughout Orthodoxy and a general shift to traditionalism and the right throughout all of Judaism's major denominations. The low number of courts is borderline scandalous.


Jewish demographic distribution in the United States

This should bring attention to the calls by former RCA head Rabbi Marc Angel to re-delegate the conversion process to local rabbis, lest a centralized leadership become inefficient, unreliable or even corrupt as was the case with the Eternal Jewish Family.

One does not need to be an expert to sit on a conversion court, though a Rabbi is certainly preferable to a layman. But the proscription these very recent regulations has initiated does little to serve the interests of the American Jewish community and pays lip service to the voice that says Rabbis' personal validity and integrity as judges should be inherently flimsy and feeble. It stymies Jewish religious growth at the same time it undermines the authority of the community's Rabbis.

The GPS may bring more universal standards to deal in conversion, but is limited in scope. The new system can easily be preserved, if only the RCA recognized the need to establish more formal courts in more locations throughout the country. The American Orthodox community needs to be ready, because demand is only growing.