Jews who care about the continuation of the Jewish people have long watched with deep concern the rising rates of intermarriage. The percentage of Jewish children in America who are raised with a knowledge, understanding and love of their religion is tiny, and it grows dramatically smaller still when one of the parents is not, or does not become, Jewish.
Right now, the rate of intermarriage among American Jews is close to 60 percent, while the percentage is far higher if you remove the cohort of Orthodox Jews.
What about Jewish intermarriage in Europe?
A new report coming from two Jewish European groups, the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE), reveals that in Europe, the intermarriage rate stands at 80 percent. Of the Europeans who consider themselves to be Jewish, 25 percent – 1.5 million – reported they are afraid to wear visibly Jewish symbols in public.
Just as is the case in the United States, the percentage of Jews who attend high holiday services is dramatically higher than the percentage who attend weekly services. But even though the percent of high holiday services is twice that of weekly service goers, only 30 percent of European Jews will even attend high holiday services.