CJP 2005 Community Study Report

Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) and the Steinhardt Social Research Institute (SSRI) at Brandeis University have released the preliminary findings of the 2005 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study. 

The study, commissioned by CJP and developed by SSRI, concludes that there has been an increase in the Jewish  population, as well as the population of Jewish households.  The study describes a vibrant community engaged in multiple ways in Jewish life. The study also found that the majority of children in intermarried households are being raised as Jews.
 
“As a community, we have worked to be welcoming and inclusive, while rooted in Jewish tradition and learning,” said Barry Shrage,  President of Combined Jewish Philanthropies.  “To learn that most of the children in interfaith families in Boston are being raised as Jews gives new meaning to our efforts.”
 
The Boston study involved telephone interviews with more than 2,000 Jewish households, some of which were drawn at random from the entire Boston area and some of which were from lists of nearly 100 local Jewish organizations. 

“Our goal was to develop as representative and inclusive a sample as possible,” explained Leonard Saxe, SSRI Director and the primary investigator for the study.  “Although one of our goals was to estimate the size of the population, our central focus was to understand the complexity of Jewish life in Boston.”
 
Overall, the study found substantial increase in the community, with the number of Jews now at 208,500, compared to 177,000 in 1995. The number of individuals in households with at least one adult Jew reached 265,500, close to nine percent of the overall Boston population.  The population is dispersed across Greater Boston, with more than half of the population living inside or along Route 128.  More than 90 percent of the adult Jewish population over 25 years-old have completed at least four years of college. 
 
Close to one-half of the married population is intermarried.  Over half of intermarried families with children report that they are raising their children as Jewish, a percentage which is markedly higher than in other communities.  Doing so is near-universal among Jewish women in interfaith relationships, but less so for Jewish men.  The study also found that children from intermarried families being raised as Jews are as likely as those from in-married families to have received Jewish education. 

"Undoubtedly these preliminary findings about the Jewish identity of children in intermarried families will create opportunities for new dialogue," commented Michael Steinhardt, founder of the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and chairman of Jewish Life Network, an organization dedicated to creating dynamic programs in order to strengthen Jewish life and involvement. "These are the questions we need to be exploring openly to secure our Jewish future and to increase affiliation. I look forward to more in-depth analysis."

In addition, the study found that virtually all Jewish adults in the Boston community have some type of connection to Jewish life either through ritual practice, organizational membership, education of children, philanthropy and volunteering or ties to Israel.  The vast majority typically attend a Passover seder and nearly a third attend services once a month or more.  Half of the community belongs to a synagogue or other type of Jewish congregation.  More than a third of community members have visited Israel at some point in their lives.

Although the findings of the 2005 Boston community study suggests a growing and vibrant Jewish community, the study also identifies a host of challenges, most notably related to future aging and retirement.  While overall, 80 percent of the population reports being able to live comfortably, close to 30 percent of those over age 55 indicate concerns about being able to retire comfortably.  As baby boomers comprise almost 20 percent of the population, the community will almost certainly face challenges in retirement and elder services in years to come.
 
Combined Jewish Philanthropies is the central planning and fundraising arm of Boston's Jewish community, representing over 200,000 people and supporting a network of more than 200 agencies, schools, synagogues and programs in Greater Boston, Israel and abroad.  This fall, CJP has launched a strategic planning process, "Jewish Boston 2020", and will be using the findings of the 2005 Community Study to help understand community needs. 
 
The Steinhardt Social Research Institute was founded in 2005 to collect, analyze, and disseminate unbiased data about the Jewish community, religion, and ethnicity in United States.  SSRI is developing new methods to understand the American Jewish community and conducts policy analyses of issues relevant to the Jewish future.  The Institute is part of the Lown School at Brandeis University and works in collaboration with the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and the Fisher-Brandeis Institute for Leadership and Philanthropy.