Posted on 08/01/2007 4:49:41 PM PDT by Alouette
Haredim are set to account for a majority of Jews in the UK and US by the second half of the century, according to new research by a British academic.
University of Manchester historian Dr. Yaakov Wise says the increase in Britain's ultra-religious Jewry has now reversed the decline in the overall Jewish population, which he says has been shrinking by 1 to 2 percent per year since the 1950s.
According to Wise, Europe's haredi population is growing more rapidly than at any time since before WWII. Almost three out of every four British Jewish births, he says, are ultra-Orthodox, and the community now accounts for around 45,500, or 17 percent, of a total UK Jewish population of around 275,000.
"If current trends continue there is going to be a profound cultural and political change among British and American Jews, and it's already well on the way," Wise says. "This is in spite of demographic studies which show that the non-ultra-Orthodox Jewish population is flat or falling."
"My work, and that of Prof. Sergio Della Pergola [of the Hebrew University], reveal a similar picture in Israel. By the year 2020, the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel will double to one million and make up 17% of the total population. A recent Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics report also found that a third of all Jewish students will be studying at haredi schools by 2012, prompting emergency meetings at the Education Ministry," Wise says.
Wise's study shows that in Greater Manchester, approximately half of all Jewish children under five years old are haredi. The numbers are also growing in Greater London, where the ultra-Orthodox community now accounts for 18% of Jews, up from less than 10% in the early 1990s.
"You can see evidence for this in communities across the UK. In Greater Manchester, for example, the ultra-Orthodox number 8,500, which is almost a third of the 28,000 Jews in the region. This is up from around one-quarter 10 years ago," he says.
The same pattern holds for the US, Wise says.
"In America, too, where the Jewish population is stable or declining, ultra-Orthodox Jewish numbers are growing rapidly. Prof. Joshua Comenetz at the University of Florida says the ultra-Orthodox population doubles every 20 years, which he says may make the Jewish community not only more religiously observant but more politically conservative," Wise says.
Comenetz estimated the US haredi population in 2000 at about 360,000, 7.2% of the approximately five million Jews in the country. As of 2006, demographers estimate that this number had grown to 468,000, or 9.4% of the Jewish population, Wise says.
The UK figures were based on census data and regular monitoring of Jewish births by academics in both Manchester and Leeds.
Let's put it this way: I've never heard of Haredim flying aircraft into buildings, or sawing off the heads of unbelievers, or trying to force conversion on anyone.
If it's a problem, I am definitely a part of this "problem." I am responsible for 9 Jews + their 19 kids = 28 Jews created by Alouette.
BIG PROBLEM for the liberals.
I’ve read that 90% of the Jews that have immigrated to the US are Ashkenazi Jews. (The high IQ ones)
And they are doing all they can to keep he jewish population stable :)
God bless them all !
The earliest Jewish settlers to America were Sephardim from Spain and Portugal. They were the aristocrats.
The Ashkenazi immigrants did not outnumber them until the mass migrations from Germany and central Europe in the 1840’s.
Yep. My kids live in the U.S. too. Don’t blame me.
I remember a school trip to Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I. It was fascinating, as was their cemetary.
“Cemetery.” Shoot, I was a state spelling champion in 1984! Old age has caught up with me.
Ahem.
When I was visiting Moscow last April, I saw an Orthodox family with about 5 young children coming out of church on Easter Sunday.
It is especially difficult to raise a large family in Moscow because apartments are so cramped and small and housing is very, very expensive.
I guess the education bureaucrats in Israel are just as stoopid as the ones in the US. Losing control over any significant number of young impressionable minds simply terrifies them. My evil side would enjoy hearing that a Hamas rocket had dropped in on one of these "emergency meetings" to remind the educrats of what constitutes a real emergency.
Nice going, Mom!
What do you think was the meaning of this? If they were Christian converts, they would be under no obligation to dress recognizeably as Orthodox Jews. If they were observant Jews, why would they be there on Easter, especially with the children and all the explanations required?
Are you two talking about the same kind of Orthodox? LOL.
I realize that, I was asking because of concerns in Israel that fewer Israelis will serve in the IDF.
They were Russian Orthodox Christians, obviously, as they were coming out of church.
Sorry for the confusion.
LOL!! The confusion was mine. I have lived in or near Jewish neighborhoods all my life, and I forgot about others called “orthodox!”
Funny thing is, I’m thinking of one couple in particular, the Jewish guy, pretty liberal, but he’s told me specifically that since college he’s discovered places where he’s more conservative than his upbringing. I think he’s slowly emrbacing some inner libertarian ;)
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