JewsByChoice.Org

I read an article today from World Jewish Digest about the popularity of Jews and Judaism in the U.S., and I thought it would be worth a mention here. It’s a really interesting piece that discusses how we’re handling this newfound popularity. I mean, just look at Madonna and all those celebrities who are hopping on the pro-Semite bandwagon. I also think that “pro-Semite” is an interesting construction; the term was coined by authors Mark Penn and Kinney Zalesne.

So we begin,

To be sure, it wasn’t very long ago that Jews in the U.S. were reviled the old-fashioned way. In 1939, a survey by Elmo Roper, one of the nation’s most prominent pollsters, found that only 39 percent of Americans felt that Jews should be treated like other people. A full majority - 53 percent - believed that “Jews are different and should be restricted.” Ten percent actually believed that Jews should be deported. In the 1940’s, several national surveys found that Jews were considered a greater threat to the welfare of the United States than any other national, religious or racial group.

Then, just a few years ago, in 2006, a U.S. Gallup survey asked a random sample of Americans how they feel about people of different religious/spiritual groups in the U.S. Ranked the lowest? Scientologists! Ranked the highest? Jews! This can be seen in non-Jews adopting Jewish traditions — ritual circumcision, the chuppah, the b’nai mitzvah, etc. Jewish dating sites are utilized by Jews and non-Jews alike. I even found a posting on Craigslist last week for a guy who said he wasn’t Jewish, but tends to date Jewish women and was looking for a nice Jewish girl to settle down with.

The authors suggest that it would be a positive move on the part of the Jewish community to considering studying and reaching out to the non-Jewish community. Why?

We are spending a lot of time and money these days studying and surveying young Jews. Why not study the Pro-Semites, too?

Because the truth is, if the Jewish community wants to secure Jewish identity into the future, it needs to design its outreach for the non-Jews. Not because we actually want to proselytize to non-Jews or to convert them, but because most young Jews in America today are more like their non-Jewish peers than ever before.

I think this is something worth thinking about, and I’d be curious to hear what readers have to say about it. Judaism is known for its non-proselytizing nature, of course, and sometimes it appears as if Judaism and the Jewish community seek to block themselves from the outside world. As the left moves further left, the right continues to move right — in some cases even teaching that complete exclusion from the outside world is the best way to maintain Jewish religion and culture. But in general, I like to think that the Jewish community generally is welcoming. I guess I can’t really say how I feel about the idea of “outreach” to the non-Jewish, pro-Semite community. But I think that in some ways, I agree with these two of the four typical reactions of Jews to the idea of popularity:

1) Popularity will kill us. Sure, it’s nice not to be discriminated against, but to be actively sought after by non-Jews? Intermarriage rates are high enough, and the kids of those marriages rarely end up Jewish. It’s bad enough that Jews are so often attracted to non-Jews, but with non- Jews actively seeking us out, too, the intermarriage problem will only get worse. Or, as historian Jonathan Sarna has put it, “If they don’t hate us to death, they’ll love us to death.”

4) Popularity conceals a subversive agenda. Finally, we tend to fear that non-Jews’ engagement in our way of life - especially when it comes to support for Israel - is actually an attempt to convert us to their way of life. Many Jews, aware that the Christian vision of Jesus’ second coming involves not just redemption for Christians but also conversion of the Jews, are wary that behind Christian Zionists’ support for Israel may lie a hidden agenda.

I have to say the latter seems to resonate with me the most. I think people might be surprised at how much money Christian groups pour into Birthright trip funding for Jews. (I read a shocking article a few years back about the breakdown of funds that go into the Birthright trips, and I’ll try to relocate this article to back up my statement.)

So give the article a read, and share your thoughts on the newfound Jewish “popularity.” Shalom, friends!