Jewish researchers dispute some Pew religion survey data

By Sue Fishkoff
Published on February 28, 2008

American Jews are adopting and discarding their Jewish identities with increasing rapidity in a country that is becoming less white and less Christian, according to a new study of religious affiliation in the United States.But just hours after the study's publication Monday, Jewish demographers already were disputing some of the findings on Jews, contending that the sample is too small to draw meaningful conclusions.

Jewish Population on Rise in South Bay

By Julie Brown
Published on September 29, 2005

Jewish life in the South Bay has been flourishing.

According the Jewish Federation/South Bay Council, the area is one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in California. From Westchester to San Pedro, the Jewish population has increased dramatically to an estimated 40,000, and there are numerous indicators that this trend will continue.

Robin Franko, director of the South Bay Council and a lifelong South Bay resident, says that the numbers speak volumes about the thriving community.

Tough Job

By Bill Boyarsky
Published on December 9, 2004

The faint of heart should not apply for this job: Needed, a sensitive but thick-skinned person who can get along with a combative mixture

of Los Angeles' Jews, blacks, whites, Asians, Latinos, Catholics, Baptists, Muslims, students, retired people, lawyers, doctors, homeless and many, many more.

Chrismukkah Web site

By Amy Klein
Published on December 9, 2004

A menorah is topped with candy canes, a mini Christmas tree adorned with a Jewish star and a spinning dreidel pictures Frosty the Snowman on one side and the tree on another: These are just some of the "interfaith" pictures featured on the mugs on the gift section of the Chrismukkah Web site (www.chrismukkah.com). Other images – which also adorn T-shirts and holiday cards – include a reindeer with a menorah for antlers, a zayde-slash-santa and other cute combo sayings like "Oy Joy" and "Merry Mazeltov," which get across the sentiment of both Judaism and Christianity.

Market Chain Adds

By Andrea Adelson
Published on April 1, 2004

Sheryl Krok often drives from Irvine to Los Angeles on business for her cleaning products line. But before the South African immigrant returns home, Krok makes a kosher pit stop, buying a month's supply of chicken to feed her carnivorous family of five.

"Because, hello! Irvine doesn't know there are kosher Jews down here," said Krok, who would be happy to give up bulk buying.

Jews Must Draw in Interfaith Families

By Edmund Case
Published on January 23, 2003

According to the released portions of the 2000-2001 National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS), 1.5 million non-Jews live with Jews. Who are they? How do they relate to the Jewish community? How should the community respond to them?

Against the backdrop of a Jewish population that the NJPS describes as declining and graying, the decisions that interfaith couples make about the religious identity of their children are critical to the future vitality of the community. I believe that every attitude, every practice, every policy should be evaluated primarily by this standard: Will it increase the likelihood that the children of interfaith families will be raised as Jews?

Jews Stick to Their Turf

By Joel Kotkin
Published on January 2, 2003

Conventional wisdom holds that the well-heeled population is spearheading this out-migration and that this sprawling out is continuing, particularly among the better-heeled population. By rights, Jews should be joining them; they are considerably wealthier, better educated and more likely to be homeowners than most Angelenos.

Yet, unlike most white Angelenos, or middle-class minorities, for that matter, Jews are sticking to their turf, not only in Los Angeles but in other key urban centers. Today's Jewish population in L.A. County, unlike the white population, which dropped by over a million, actually grew slightly from 503,000 to around 520,000.

Population Study Poses New Challenges

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on October 10, 2002

America's Jewish population declined by 5 percent during the past 10 years, according to a new survey, a trend that is likely to continue given the community's aging population and low birth rates.

Safety in Numbers

By Rob Eshman
Published on October 10, 2002

The immediate effect of a new, painstaking, multiyear, $6 million population survey of American Jewry has been to convince Jewish professionals that whatever they've been doing is the best thing for American Jewry.

Power of the Past

By Jane Ulman
Published on August 9, 2001

My son Zack, 17, is celebrating Shabbat dinner tonight at the Bohema Restaurant in Krakow, Poland.

In fact, not only is he celebrating Shabbat, but he and his group -- 15 students from Milken Community High School in Los Angeles and 140 students from Tichon Chadash High School in Tel Aviv, plus teachers and parent chaperones (including my husband, Larry) -- are practically doubling Krakow's Jewish population, estimated at 200. It is a population that, at its height in the late 1930s, numbered more than 60,000.

Centennial Celebration

By Michael Aushenker
Published on November 4, 1999

Before there was Vista Del Mar Child Care, the Jewish Home for the Aging, or the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles -- there was B'nai B'rith International. And what the aforementioned institutions have in common with the world's largest Jewish organization is that they wouldn't have existed without it.