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Date: 2025
Abstract: This landmark study uses statistical modelling and data generated by the JPR 2022 National Jewish Identity Survey to examine the long-term impact of several early Jewish educational and family experiences on various Jewish identity outcomes. The study authors have sought to quantify the extent to which different programmes and experiences shape Jewishness in the long run. The report was funded by and prepared for the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) as part of its ‘Forge the Future’ programme. Some of the key findings in this report: The type of Jewish upbringing people receive in their childhood home—especially Orthodox or Traditional upbringing—is the most important and enduring predictor of Jewish identity outcomes, and far more so than any single programme. In the long run, involvement in a Jewish youth movement is statistically more impactful than attending a Jewish school or a short-term Israel programme. Indeed, not only are peer-led experiences the most impactful, they are also the cheapest to run. The impact of educational programmes is slightly greater on those who were aged 18–39 than those who were aged 40–59 whereas the impact of upbringing is greater on the 40–59 year olds. This suggests that the impact of educational experiences in childhood ‘wears off’ over time, whereas Jewish upbringing is more enduring. Parents need to recognise their key role in fomenting Jewish identity outcomes through the home; the task cannot be outsourced, however good the programmes seem to be. But the amount of impact even upbringing has on Jewish identity outcomes is surprisingly limited. There are simply too many unknown and random variables that impact Jewish identity formation. Ultimately, none of the experiences we examined dramatically shift long-term Jewish identity trajectories; there are no silver bullets and no short cuts. It is far better therefore to conceptualise the task of Jewish identity development in terms of a Jewish ecosystem of interrelated learning opportunities.
Date: 2025
Abstract: This chapter analyzes developments that profoundly transformed French Judaism over decades. The former paradigm of French Judaism, dating back to the nineteenth century, was of Judaism united and unified under the auspices of the Consistory, the central religious institution Napoleon created. In this model of "Israelitism," the symbiosis between Jewish and French affiliations was based on Judaism as a faith and French citizenship. International links were established towards the end of the 19th century, notably through the Alliance israélite universelle and intellectuals supporting the Zionist project, but it was the post-1945 world that witnessed a gradual departure from this confessional model. A new Franco-Judaism emerged in the 1970s-1980s, combining Jewish and French identities in new ways: solidarity with Israel, an attachment to diasporic Jewish cultures, an increasingly public affirmation of Jewishness, and advocacy against forms of Holocaust denial. It marked a definitive rupture with the older paradigm of Israelitism. This chapter also focuses on the development of religious pluralism and the increasing internationalization of French Judaism. It examines the four branches of French Jewish Orthodoxy (ultra-Orthodoxy, Chabad, Religious Zionism, and Modern Orthodoxy), as well as the more liberal Reform and Massorti movements. It provides a broad overview of the environments and actors constituting this reconfiguration of a new French Judaism, henceforth anchored in pluralism and internationalization.
Author(s): Picard, Jacques
Date: 2013
Author(s): Samson, Maxim GM
Date: 2019
Date: 2017
Abstract: This study, which was produced by JPR on behalf of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, takes an in-depth statistical look at synagogue membership figures in the UK. Synagogue membership data have been gathered and analysed consistently over several decades, and constitute the best measure of Jewish communal affiliation in the UK that exists. They provide the only consistent indicator of patterns of Jewish affiliation and belonging over time, and are thus of particular interest to community leaders and planners.

The report, authored by JPR researchers Dr Donatella Casale Mashiah and Dr Jonathan Boyd, finds that despite the fact that there are now 454 synagogues in the UK – the largest number ever recorded – synagogue membership numbers have dropped below 80,000 households for the first time since records began. Indeed, there has been a 20% decline over a quarter of a century, and a 4% decline since the last such report was published in 2010.

However, the overall decline masks important developments at a denominational level. Critically, the sector that has declined most sharply is central Orthodoxy – broadly understood as the United Synagogue, the Federation and various independent modern Orthodox synagogues dotted around the country – which collectively have seen a 37% drop since 1990. This decline is partly due to disaffection, but it has also been driven considerably by natural decrease – more members dying than being born.

In contrast, membership of strictly Orthodox synagogues is growing. Indeed, it has grown dramatically over time – by 139% since 1990. A generation ago, the strictly Orthodox comprised 4.5% of all synagogue members households; today they comprise 13.5%. This growth is driven almost exclusively by demographic forces – particularly, high birth rates in this sector of the community.

Taken as a whole, Liberal, Reform and Masorti figures have been fairly stable over time. Liberal and Reform have both declined slightly since 1990, whereas Masorti has grown, albeit from a lower base. But this overall picture of stability is somewhat misleading: in reality, Liberal and Reform synagogues are both losing members at a similar rate to the central Orthodox ones, but unlike those central Orthodox ones, they are also attracting members from their religious ‘right’ to offset those losses.
Date: 2007