By Bill Narvey

Assimilation is the greatest threat to the viability of the Jewish community worldwide and to Judaism itself.

Though Orthodox Jewry has managed to fairly well withstand the forces of assimilation, that has not been the case for non-Orthodox Jewry which comprises the substantial majority of world Jews.

One of the consequences of assimilation for Jews is that Judaism and Jewish identity, culture and traditions have had declining relevance. As with the Western Christian world, Jews are increasingly turning away from faith in God, religion and religio-ethnic institutions and communities to faith in logic, reason and self sufficiency.

While Christianity can afford to lose millions of adherents and not be under any threat, Judaism does not have such security in vast numbers.

We have seen assimilation lead to increased intermarriage which can tend to lessen the connection to Jewishness in the marital home and for the children of such union.

One of the most devastating effects of assimilation is that Jews have tended to adopt Western trends of planned parenthood and smaller families. A quick check on the internet pulls up many sites that note the world Jewish population stands at just over 13 million and the very troubling statistic that the Jewish world birthrate is 0. In some nations, such as America, the Jewish population is in steep decline, with all indications being that the decline will continue.

One would have expected that Jews would be reacting with great alarm to the affects of assimilation and be moved to mount an aggressive counteroffensive. Unfortunately, that that does not appear to be the case.

Synagogues and various Jewish organizations do promote opportunities, especially for Jewish youth to be exposed to Judaism by participating in various synagogue and organization sponsored activities. In the main, however these activities are participated in by those Jews and their children who feel at least some identity and connection with their Jewishness.

While notice of such activities may reach many, there is no aggressive campaign to follow up with personal appeals to participate in programs and activities offered. These efforts also are limiting for they do not target for inclusion, Jews who are on the verge of or have already become disassociated from their Jewish roots.

It must be apparent by now that the kind of efforts that have been repeatedly engaged in by Synagogues and organizations to strengthen Jewish identity and connection are simply not working well as increasing numbers of Jews are becoming more estranged from their Jewishness, Judaism and their Jewish communities. The result is that the life blood of the world Jewish community and Judaism continues to slowly, but inexorably seep away.

The maddening thing is that even knowing what is happening, few if any rabbis, organizations or other Jewish community leaders are doing much if anything to stop the hemorrhaging by raising the dire threat of assimilation to the forefront of all Jews’ minds and to re-evaluate and change Jewish oriented programs and activities to make them more relevant and attractive to those Jews whose participation is sought, thereby improving the chances that such efforts will be more effective.

While rabbis and Jewish community leaders, who have the ability to reach the largest Jewish audiences well know that assimilation is an increasingly devastating dilemma for Jews and for Judaism’s long-term survival, it is a topic they rarely raise in open public discussion.

The deservedly maligned lengths to which political correctness has been taken, coupled with concern and sensitivity for the feelings of some Jews who may be uncomfortable, hurt, or offended by openly talking about assimilation and what to do about it, has led to rabbis and community leaders to hold their tongues on the subject.

The duties and obligations of rabbis and Jewish community leaders to provide leadership to protect and preserve Judaism, to enhance and strengthen Jewish life and to provide guidance and inspiration for all Jews to follow their lead, are obvious. In times of crisis and make no mistake, Judaism, Jews and Jewish life are in crisis due to the erosive effect of assimilation, those duties and obligations fall heaviest upon rabbis and Jewish community leaders.

That leadership for non-Orthodox Jewry as regards assimilation has been sorely lacking.

The destructive force of assimilation and its component parts including weakening of Jewish identity, intermarriage and low birthrates that should be confronted and dealt with openly in Jewish public discourse, have instead become dirty words to be spoken of only in private and in hushed tones with trusted friends.

All that must change!

Hope for Judaism’s survival must be reality based and not bound up in some vague Pollyannaish faith that even if the threat posed by assimilation is swept under the rug, somehow things will eventually still turn out alright.

Religious and community Jewish leaders must therefore take the lead to openly discuss assimilation with the Jewish community and to get the entire Jewish community behind them as they lead the way towards better and more effective counter measures and solutions.

It bears repeating that the critical and extraordinary threat to their survival that Jews face, is largely contributed to by low birth rates. As difficult as it may be to deal with the issue of birth rates, rabbis and other Jewish leaders, given the gravity of the problem have no choice but to recognize that daring to deal openly with this issue is an absolute must.

It is therefore as necessary as it is appropriate for non-Orthodox Jewish community leaders to speak openly of God’s edict in the Torah “to be fruitful and multiply” and to encourage Jews to obey that law as best they can. That law has never had greater relevance and importance than it does today.

All measures to combat assimilation will necessarily entail inspiring Jews to believe in a greater sense of meaning and purpose to their Judaism and Jewish heritage. That can only be done by rabbis and Jewish leaders aggressively taking steps to make Judaism, Jewish life, and institutions more attractive, relevant and fulfilling to the everyday lives of Jews and that includes putting forth maximum efforts to draw disaffected Jews back into the fold.

These duties and obligations to resist and push back the forces of assimilation are not however reserved just for rabbis and community leaders. These duties and obligations fall on each and every Jew who cares about the viability and survival of Judaism.

All Jews must therefore come to see and understand that the word assimilation is not a dirty word to be unspoken or only whispered, but rather that it is a word that identifies and defines a mortal enemy of world Jewry that must be met head-on and defeated.

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Related: Society, Judaism

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