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This publication has a two-fold purpose: to inform a wide readership interested in the condition of North American Jewry about the largest segment of synagogue-affiliated Jews in the United States and Canada; and to serve as a self-study document for the Conservative movement and its leaders. This report presents findings from five distinct, yet interrelated, research projects: * The National Jewish Population Survey of 1990. * A congregational survey of approximately half of the affiliates of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. * A membership survey about the characteristics and Jewish commitments of over 1,700 synagogue members of randomly selected congregations. * A survey of recent bar and bat mitzvah celebrants conducted in order to learn about the Jewish identity and experiences of nearly 1,500 young people. * Two separate ethnographic studies studying two congregations in the Northeast two in the Midwest.

Steven Cohen responds to David Adler's critique (Sh'ma vol.26/no.511) that his earlier article on intermarriage and Jewish continuity (December 1994 issue of Moment) was racist and judgmental. The Jewish people's historical emphasis on group solidarity, as expressed through marrying Jews and making friends with Jews, is not racist, but tribalist, and applies entirely to the private sphere. Judgment is part and parcel of a long rabbinic tradition that enjoins us not only to judge, but to reproach and reprove. We may disagree about what makes a Jew strong or good (or weak or bad). But such distinctions exist and we ought to articulate our judgment as to who or what exemplifies those characteristics. American Judaism must not lose its transcendental power, its claim to authenticity, its majestic links to the past and the future, and its ability to provide nurturing, meaningful communities. It must find a stance that is somewhat strict, somewhat demanding, and somewhat at variance with the current Zeitgeist, a task that definitely demands both judgment and judgmentalism.

The article deconstructs the debate among the educationists between advocates of near-inreach (who would focus resources on the moderately affiliated in order to enrich and nurture the activist core of involved Jews) and advocates of far-outreach (who would focus resources on the least involved, especially intermarried Jews and their children). It presents certain socio-religious phenomena, like the rightward shift even among liberal Jews that results in a leaner and meaner Judaism, the steady rate of highly active Jews, the decline of the public sphere of Judaism as opposed to the private, and the evidence that moderately strict (in terms of religious expectations on their members) religious groups are more successful at maintaining and expanding their high commitment core than lenient ones, to argue that, in line with the near-inreach advocates, the Jewish community needs to set, articulate, and maintain high standards and expectations in terms of communal participation and in terms of some substantive areas, of which the most prominent are ritual observance, Torah learning, and social justice.

In this statement, adopted by the National Council and Board of Governors of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the AJC insists that whatever denominational differences divide the Jewish people, it is essential to ensure that the different denominations can work together to remain one people worldwide. In Israel, the AJC advocates official recognition of the Reform and Conservative movements. The AJC further suggests that the denominations work together to agree on conversion standards acceptable to all, so that lack of interdenominational marriage-eligibility does not cause a schism.

The authors argue that, rather than focusing resources on outreach to Jews on the margins of Jewish life, the community ought to focus its resources on bolstering the activities of the core of affiliated Jews.

In the name of the newest goal, continuity, old institutions are said to be in the need of transformation. Under this banner, a wide range of projects have been initiated, each holding out the promise of change. This paper focuses less on the programmatic content of the different efforts than on the theories of change which underlie them. What do we know about change in Jewish education? What distinguishes change efforts that are successful from those that are less so? If one wanted to be successful in changing an institution, how might one go about it?

The article presents updates (as of the end of 1994) on the Jewish population of various countries. The population estimates given below reflect a prolonged and ongoing effort to study scientifically the demography of contemporary world Jewry. Data collection and comparative research have benefited from the collaboration of scholars and institutions in many countries, including replies to direct inquiries regarding current estimates.

This article presents a profile of Israelis in the United States based on a wide range of demographic and sociological studies. The authors focus on three related topics: the demographics of the immigrant population - its size and composition in terms of age, family structure, occupational and ethnic characteristics; the motivation of those who choose to leave Israel; and the Israelis' adoption of American life. The authors ask whether the Israelis are becoming a visible American-Jewish subgroup, or if they remain a marginal group who see their presence only as a temporary sojourn?