1960's Religion | The Assimilation of the Jews

Decline of Anti-Semitism.

The postwar expansion of the American economy and the movement to the suburbs coincided with a decline in anti-Semitism. Jews, almost all now in their second or third generation in the United States, were able to move up professionally and out geographically. Their success made them the model ethnic group, offering other immigrants an example of what could be done in the United States. In spite of Zionist hopes, few Americans chose to go to the new Jewish state of Israel. By the 1960s many were Americans who happened to be Jews, and successful Americans at that.

Vanishing Judaism?

While they were a successful group, what did it mean to be a Jew in America? Very little, some Jews feared. By 1964 surveys indicated that weekly religious attendance at synagogue or temple was only 17 percent, compared to the 42 percent weekly church attendance among Christians. Some Jewish observers wondered if...