New Report Reveals Jewish Activities During Teenage Years Often Set The Stage For Or Against Intermarriage

American Jewish Committee
Tuesday, 29 July 1997

A new survey on intermarriage reveals that Jewish dating patterns, peer group influences, and Jewish involvement during adolescence are of critical importance in stemming the tide of intermarriage. Jews who date mostly other Jews in high school have by far the lowest rate of mixed marriage later in life. Similarly, those whose high school friends were mostly Jewish married endogamously at a significantly higher rate that those whose friends were mostly non-Jews.

The survey also finds that the prospects for effective outreach to intermarried couples are significant but, at the same time, quite limited. Fourteen percent of "Judaic mixed married" families - namely, families where the balance of religious observance is clearly and solely in favor of Judaism - show a real interest or openness to outreach, making them the best candidates for such efforts. Most mixed marrieds, however, are not interested in Jewish communal outreach to them.

The study - "Re-examining Intermarriage: Trends, Textures, Strategies" - is a joint research project of the William Petschek National Jewish Family Center of the American Jewish Committee and the Susan and David Wilstein Institute of Jewish Policy Studies. The 90-page report was written by Bruce A. Phillips, professor of Jewish Communal Service at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and a noted demographer and social scientist who directed the research. Editorial assistance was provided by Rabbi Bernard Barsky.

The report is based upon the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) --which found that 52 percent of American Jews married between 1985 and 1990 chose unconverted gentile partners -- and subsequent interviews with the NJPS sample of intermarried couples and additional sample groups in 1993 (Survey on Mixed Marriage) and 1995 (Survey of Gentile Spouses).

In their preface to the report, Dr. Steven Bayme, AJC Director of Jewish Communal Affairs, and Dr. David M. Gordis, Director of the Wilstein Institute, noted: "It is clear now from this study that the Jewish community's continued investment in education for its teenagers - apart from the core reason of creating Jewishly literate Jews - will have an impact in reducing the incidence of intermarriage. The adolescent years demand this special focus because questions of dating, marriage and family become critical. Jewish education during the high school years nurtures Jewish dating patterns, and these are probably the strongest predictor of Jewish in-marriage…Establishing patterns of Jewish dating during adolescence, and inculcating norms of endogamy, therefore appear to be critical in Jewish communal efforts to lower the incidence of intermarriage."

Further, they stated, this study "identifies variables which have a direct bearing on the incidence of intermarriage. It suggests that communal investment in programs and experiences that correlate with substantially lower intermarriage rates is likely to have a significant impact on those rates. Furthermore, since the study demonstrates that only a minority of intermarried couples appears receptive to Jewish communal outreach efforts, it offers for the first time a rational basis for the community to determine which of these activities are most effective and how best to pursue them."

The report examines the underlying causes of intermarriage, describes the texture of the mixed married family and assays the prospects for successful outreach to that population, and offers policy recommendations. Among some of the major findings:

**The adult children of mixed marriages are overwhelmingly mixed married themselves. The adult children of two Jewish parents are less likely to be mixed married.

**Jewish observance in the home and parental involvement in Jewish communal affairs, formal and non-formal Jewish education, and the influence of adolescent peer groups are associated with reduced rates of intermarriage.

**Longer duration and greater intensity of Jewish education reduces the occurrence of mixed marriage. Of the two factors, however, duration had the greater impact.

**Non-formal Jewish education - Jewish day and sleep-away camps, youth groups, community center youth programs, and Israel group programs for teenagers - also has a major impact on mixed marriage.

**The most common type of mixed marriage, accounting for 31 percent of all mixed marriages, is the "dual religion" couple, where the couple strives to maintain a balance of religious traditions in the household.

**The children of "Judaic mixed marriage" are the most Jewish of all children of intermarrieds, but they are less Jewish than children of endogamous couples. They are most likely to be raised as Jews, but fewer than half of them (44 percent) are. The rest are raised either in no religion (32 percent) , or as both Christians and Jews (23 percent).Thus, even in the most Jewish type of mixed marriage, one out of four children is being raised jointly as Jewish and Christian.

In examining the inevitability of mixed marriage and the prospects for outreach, the report states: "Proponents of outreach look to link the intermarried family to the Jewish community….Proponents of in-reach worry that outreach programs encourage further mixed marriage. They give the highest priority to committed Jews at the core of the Jewish community…Instead of trying to bring intermarried couples back, they want to stabilize or even reduce the rate of mixed marriage….The outreachers claim that mixed marriage is the inevitable product of modernity….In-reachers claim that mixed marriage is not inevitable.

"Our research supports the in-reach position. Jewish socialization experiences have been shown to reduce mixed marriage. The greater the number of interventions, the lower the rate of mixed marriage. Interventions even reduced mixed marriage among children of mixed marriage."

The report did caution, however, that "mixed marriage will remain a permanent feature of the American Jewish experience, even with unlimited interventions. That is the impact of Jewish participation in the open society. Secondly, proponents of in-reach have focused on too-narrow a range of interventions. Moreover, they have favored the most expensive ones, such as day school

subvention and trips to Israel. They should broaden their advocacy to include youth groups, summer camping, and supplemental schools. They should also focus more intently on the teen years."

The report also provides some support for the outreach position, with the following three cautionary notes: (1) Even some of the most Jewish of the mixed married couples maintain Christian observances in their homes. (2) The role of gentile partners in making decisions about the family tends to be overlooked by researchers and policy makers alike. Although gentile spouses showed some degree of openness to Jewish outreach, they were less enthusiastic than their Jewish partners. The burden of Jewish connection falls on the Jewish partners, who must ultimately go it alone. (3) Some outreach programs in which mixed married couples showed substantial interest may not be acceptable to the Jewish community - for example, a program to teach about both religions in the home.

"Intermarriage represents a major challenge to Jewish communal stability and continuity," Drs. Bayme and Gordis conclude. "Most Jews, whatever their denomination or ideology, view the high rate of intermarriage as a major problem. This study suggests that the Jewish community can respond to the challenge effectively both through the strengthening of those experiences and programs which are demonstrably linked to a greater inclination to marry within the faith, and by reaching out to those intermarrieds who are most likely to maintain their ties to the Jewish people."

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org