21
The assimilation literature points to high levels of assimilation among American
Jews and suggests that younger Jews may be even more assimilated than their parents,
threatening the future of Judaism through intermarriage and lack of religious
identification (e.g. Elazar 1995; Morawska 1994). The analyses in this article support
some of these fears. Jewish teens are less immersed in the life of their religion than are
teens who affiliate with other religions. They are less likely to regularly attend services,
they read the scriptures less often, and, possibly most importantly for assimilation, they
are less likely to be close friends with the people in their religious groups. Jewish teens’
support of syncretism or the mixing of different religious forms also suggests high levels
of assimilation. Jewish teens are less likely than other teens to see their religion as
distinct and they are less likely to view only their religion as true. With the once
prominent Jewish distinctiveness finding little foothold among today’s Jewish teens, full
assimilation into Christian America may not be far off.
The brighter side of the findings for those interested in preventing full
assimilation is that exposure to Jewish life may be able to bring Jewish teens back into
the fold. Jewish teens can learn to identify more with the Jewish religion through
participation in synagogue, youth groups, summer camps, or other places where young
Jews associate with other Jews. While much literature discusses the decline of Judaism
and assimilation of American Jews, some recent research suggests that young Jews are
increasingly participating in Jewish organizations and Jewish education, which can help
slow, stop, or even reverse the trend of Jewish assimilation (Goldstein 1994). As the
results from this article demonstrate, Jewish teens who are more highly involved in
Jewish life are less supportive of syncretism and more supportive of Jewish
Convention