To Save the US Jewish Community, We Need Personal Relationships

The most recent Pew study of American Jews showed that around 70% of non-Orthodox Jews currently intermarry and assimilate. Sadly, almost all of these Jews know nothing about their religion and heritage, or the reasons they should only marry fellow Jews and practice Judaism. Many Orthodox Jews today take pride in the fact that Orthodoxy is growing while Reform and Conservative Judaism are shrinking rapidly. This is the wrong attitude to take. Instead, Orthodox Jews need to see the current situation as an emergency in which everyone needs to make an effort to convince their fellow Jews to continue the Jewish tradition before they become assimilated and their descendants are lost to the Jewish people.