Abstract
Reports of impending Jewish demographic implosion are mistaken, Sheskin contends in this chapter. While American Jews are somewhat older and less fertile than the population as a whole, surveys indicate significant numerical growth over the past several decades, thanks in part to immigration from the former Soviet Union and, it appears, from the readiness of offspring of intermarried couples to identify as Jewish. To be sure, there has been a noticeable decline in religious practice—a development related to a proportional shift in the Jewish population from the Northeast and Midwest to the South and West. Nevertheless, the strength of Jewish cultural and educational institutions gives the lie to the belief that Judaism in America is in a continuous downward spiral. All in all, Sheskin is cautiously optimistic that the future of the American Jewish community is secure.