Abstract
While much research shows the relationship between individual-level variables, such as Jewish background, education, age, and income and an individual’s Jewish identity, very little research has systematically addressed the question of community context, either general or Jewish, as a factor influencing Jewish religious or ethnic identity. This lack of research has been partially a result of the lack of an adequate data set to facilitate such analysis. Using the newly-aggregated Decade 2000 data set, with its 19,800 cases spread across 22 Jewish communities, we find that despite the anecdotal evidence and the logic that suggests that environment impacts behavior, the environmental impact on Jewish identity is clearly weak. Individual characteristics are much stronger than community context in explaining variations in the strength of Jewish identity.
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Notes
In 18 of the 22 communities, for budgetary reasons, the RDD survey was supplemented by calling households with one of over 200 Distinctive Jewish Names (DJN) listed in the most recent computerized local telephone directory (Sheskin 1998). In the Twin Cities (Sheskin 2005b), Russian Jewish first names were also used. Since the RDD sample is more representative than the DJN sample, appropriate weighting factors were applied to the DJN sample to adjust for the demographic bias of using DJNs. With these weighting factors applied, no statistically significant differences are seen between the RDD and DJN samples on any of the key variables, such as age and income.
With the exception of Detroit, Las Vegas, and Washington, telephone numbers were dialed at least four times to determine eligibility for the sample and then to participate in the survey itself. Again, with the exception of Detroit, Las Vegas, and Washington, an interviewing staff that was primarily or entirely Jewish was used to facilitate cooperation and questionnaires were completed using paper and pencil. For Detroit, Las Vegas, and Washington, Social Science Research Solutions (SSRS) (Media, PA), while using mostly non-Jewish interviewers, used Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing and 8–10 call backs.
A Designated Market Area (DMA) is a Nielsen Corporation term that reflects US market areas by the number of television households within the market borders. There are some 210 DMA’s in the US. Each community study has only one DMA (although some communities are in the same DMA). The ARIS 2001 variables were matched by DMA rather than by county, as some community studies cover multiple counties, which made the matching more difficult.
Data were supplied by the principal investigators, Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, through the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College. CT. More details about the survey can be found on their website, http://commons.trincoll.edu/aris/surveys/aris-2001/ or in Kosmin and Keysar (2006, Methodological Appendix).
In each community, a Jewish Institutions Survey was administered to local synagogues, the Jewish Community Center(s), the Jewish day schools(s), and the Jewish Federation collecting data on memberships, enrollments, and the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign.
The Jewish Federation conducts an Annual Campaign similar in purpose and method to that conducted by the United Way for the general community.
The term “Klal Yisrael” refers to solidarity with the broader worldwide community of Jews.
Interestingly, because Jews have a higher percent with secular outlook than other American religious groups (Kosmin and Keysar 2006, p. 43), multi-colinearity prevented the percent “Just Jewish” from being included when the percent nones was included for the broader community. As noted above, the correlation between percent “nones” in the DMA and percent “Just Jewish” was r = .716 (P < .001).
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Acknowledgments
We are most grateful for the support of the North American Jewish Data Bank for Harriet Hartman’s 2010 Berman Summer Research Fellowship and to the Religious Research Association for her 2010–2011 Jacquet Research Award. Naturally, responsibility for the content presented herein is the sole responsibility of the authors.
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Hartman, H., Sheskin, I.M. The (Dis)similarity of a Minority Religion to Its Broader Religious Context: The Case of American Jews. Rev Relig Res 55, 459–490 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-013-0112-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-013-0112-7