It was the don't worry they'll all be gone in 100 years bit that I took exception to..in post 5.
There are 900 reform synagogues in US today up from 0 in 1885. So someone was projecting the absurd, and implying Reform movement is a problem that is solving itself.
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Still there are keys to Jewish attendance issue that were addressed in this thread.. that you only find synagogues in cities so Jews in rural areas have to make due at home and that many ceremonies are performed at home.. sabbath observations and passover and almost every holiday can celebrated at home.. with family.. so folks go for things like study and weddings and bar mitzvahs ceremonies.
As I said before, low birthrates come from prosperity. This is a long recorded demographic trend. And Gramma and Grandpa certainly are the keys to having and maintaining large families that and farms and such. People trade material wealth and comforts for children when they can because kids are a pain no way around it. They are a blessing but anyone who has raised one knows how it ages you..
Frankly, life cannot be a race to see who can have the most kids because in the end.. we get outcomes that fall out of uncontrolled population explosion. What has tipped the scales has been feminism and abortion intervening to take women out of child production altogether.. (One could argue that there is nothing feminine at all about feminism anymore)
I wish I could have had more children. I only had one child. I would have given anything to be able to have a larger family. Having a child changes your life. Yes you are a lot more broke, but the blessings of being a family far outweigh any material wealth.