Two findings on intermarriage highlight the “New York Jewish Community Study of 2011.” First, there is a huge amount of intermarriage, and it is continuing; between 2006 and 2011, half of the non-Orthodox couples formed were intermarried couples. Second, measured by the study’s index of Jewish engagement, the intermarried score low, but those that do engage act comparably to the in-married. The critical question is, what attracts interfaith families to engage Jewishly?
The study does not identify what attracts and repels interfaith families, but InterfaithFamily’s holiday survey results do. We ask what leads interfaith families to join Jewish organizations and synagogues — and what keeps them away. Our surveys are not “scientific.” Respondents are self-selected and may respond to more than one survey. But our recent report on nearly 700 responses, all from people in interfaith relationships who are raising Jewish children and are members of Jewish organizations, provide the best available data on what matters to them:
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