Jewish American outmarriage
Jewish American outmarriage refers to the trend of Jewish individuals marrying non-Jewish partners, which has seen a notable increase since the 1960s. Historically, outmarriage was not uncommon, particularly in the early years of Jewish settlement in America when the community was small and dispersed. In the 19th century, the outmarriage rate was around 28 percent due to the limited number of Jewish partners available. However, as the Jewish population grew significantly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the rate of outmarriage dropped dramatically, reaching only 2 percent during a period marked by rising anti-Semitism.
The landscape began to change again in the 1960s, when societal shifts, increased economic success, and the decline of anti-Semitism made interfaith relationships more prevalent. By the early 1970s, more than 30 percent of new marriages among Jews involved a non-Jewish partner. This trend has raised concerns within the Jewish community regarding demographic sustainability, especially given a decline in the Jewish birthrate. Some believe that the situation is not dire, as many non-Jewish spouses convert to Judaism and raise their children within the faith. In response, various branches of Judaism have adapted their approaches to conversion and outreach, reflecting a broader trend towards inclusivity and recognition of individual choice in religious affiliation.
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Jewish American outmarriage
The striking increase in the number of marriages between Jews and non-Jews since 1960 has worried many American Jews. However, outmarriage is not a new phenomenon for Jews. In the colonial and early national period of US history, the number of Jews in the population was small, immigrants were mostly men, and Jews were widely dispersed across the countryside. Jewish men therefore found it hard to find prospective brides within the Jewish population, and in 1840, when about fifteen thousand Jews were in the United States, the estimated rate of outmarriage was 28 percent.
The rate dropped significantly when the American Jewish community began to grow rapidly, as first German Jews and then Eastern European Jews arrived in substantial numbers. By 1900, approximately one million Jews lived in the United States, most in cities with extensive communal organizations, which made Jewish marriage partners easier to find. Increasing anti-Semitism from 1890 to 1940 made Jews less acceptable to Gentiles as marriage partners. In the years from 1890 to 1920, only 2 percent of Jews were involved in outmarriage; the rate increased slowly to about 6 percent in the 1950s.
A tremendous increase in outmarriage occurred during the 1960s. Although less than 10 percent of all American Jews were outmarried in 1971, a National Jewish Population Survey that year revealed that in the previous decade, more than 30 percent of new marriages were outmarriages. Jewish economic success after World War II, as well as the increasing number of young Jews who attended prestigious colleges, made it more likely that Jews would meet attractive non-Jews socially. Economic and social success, as well as the postwar decline in anti-Semitism, made Jews more attractive marriage partners.
Particularly worrying to Jews was the belief, held by most demographers, that the American Jewish birthrate had fallen below replacement level. If not enough children were born to keep the population level and one-third or more of those born left the community, a steady decline in numbers seemed inevitable. Pessimists foresaw the total disappearance of Jewish Americans. Others were more optimistic, claiming that because about one-third of non-Jewish spouses converted to Judaism and raised their children as Jews, the situation was not a disaster.
Faced with this problem, the more liberal branches of Judaism began to promote conversion to Judaism of non-Jewish marriage partners. The Reform movement established an outreach commission to support the conversion program. The Conservative movement did not engage in outreach but did urge rabbis to encourage conversion of marriage partners. Although the Orthodox rabbis accepted conversion in principle, they did not believe Reform and Conservative rabbis were competent to carry out this procedure and would not accept their converts, raising the possibility of a split within Judaism.
Rather than converts, Reform and Conservative groups began to speak of “Jews by Choice,” a term that in a sense fit all Jews in the United States where religious liberty and individual freedom gave all persons the right to decide their own religious affiliation.
Bibliography
Carlisle, Rodney P. The Jewish Americans. New York : Facts On File, 2011. Print.
Fishman, Sylvia Barack. Double or Nothing? Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage. Lebanon: UP of New England, 2005. Print.
Fishman, Sylvia Barack. Jewish Life and American Culture. Albany: State U of New York P, 2000. Print.
Goldberg, J. J. The Jewish Americans. New York: Mallard, 1992. Print.
Thompson, Jennifer A. Jewish on Their Own Terms: How Intermarried Couples Are Changing American Judaism. Piscataway: Rutgers UP, 2014. Print.
Wenger, Beth S. The Jewish Americans: Three Centuries of Jewish Voices in America. New York: Doubleday, 2007. Print.