The Pew comparison that seeks to equate the two growing communities also states: “Roughly three-quarters of both Orthodox Jews (74%) and white evangelicals (75%) report that they attend religious services at least once a month.” Of course, the word for a Jewish man who comes to his Orthodox shul only once a month is “secular.” This is a case where statistics misrepresent rather than clarify reality. It would be much more accurate to ask the evangelists how many times a day they come to church—seeing as the majority of Orthodox Jewish men pray in shul at least once a day. Obviously, lumping the two groups together as praying in their house of worship at least once a month offers a seriously flawed description of their realities.
Likewise the next comparison the Pew analysis makes leaves out some fundamental details, when it suggests that “eight-in-ten or more Orthodox Jews (84%) and white evangelicals (82%) say that Israel was given to the Jewish people by God – more than twice the share of other American Jews (35%) who express this belief.” The problem is, again, in semantics. The evangelicals believe Israel was given to the Jews so that they would eventually embrace Jesus as their savior—hardly something the Orthodox hold as an article of faith. On the other hand, a large portion of the ultra-Orthodox believe that while it is true that God gave the land to the Jews, the same Jews should wait for the Messiah to call on them to come over.
As to the competition between Orthodox Judaism and other Jewish denominations: according to the new Pew report, “seven-in-ten adults who currently identify as Orthodox Jews (70%) were raised as Orthodox. Upwards of one-in-ten Orthodox Jews (12%) say they were brought up in the Conservative movement, and 5% were raised as Reform Jews. An additional 8% say they were raised in the Jewish faith but in some other stream of American Judaism (such as Reconstructionist) or gave other answers, such as saying they were raised in a Sephardic Jewish tradition.”
The initial, 2013 report stated that “about half (52%) of Americans who were raised as Orthodox Jews have left Orthodoxy, though most still identify as Jewish.” Which suggests that the resilience of the Orthodox community in the US is even more astonishing than the simple, comparative numbers imply. Imagine: a community that’s lost more than half its membership over the years, still managed to regenerate itself to the point of being the most competitive Jewish denomination.
The most poignant negative aspect of the chances of the Orthodox, especially the ultra-Orthodox, to compete for their livelihood in the modern world, is their lack of access to secular education. This is the great bottleneck, according to the new Pew report, which may destine many ultra-Orthodox to a life of poverty. “Orthodox Jews – especially Haredi Jews – tend to receive less formal, secular education than do other Jews. A third of Orthodox Jewish adults have a high school education or less, compared with just 15% of other Jews. And 30% of both Conservative and Reform Jews have post-graduate university degrees, compared with 17% of Orthodox Jews.”
On the other hand, “Modern Orthodox Jews are more similar to Conservative and Reform Jews than they are to Haredi Jews. Three-in-ten Modern Orthodox Jews (29%) have post-graduate degrees, and an additional 36% have bachelor’s degrees; among Haredi Jews, just 10% have post-graduate degrees, and an additional 15% have bachelor’s degrees.”
Finally, this may be what counts the most in the future thriving of Orthodox Jewish communities: “Virtually all Orthodox Jews in the survey say they have a strong sense of belonging to the Jewish people, while 73% of other Jews say the same. Similarly, more Orthodox Jews than other Jews say that being Jewish is very important to them and that they have a special responsibility to care for Jews in need.”
