We also need to care for ourselves

Abstract

In my response to the Jewish Action symposium on the 2013 Pew study,4 I focused on our responsibility to the larger American Jewish community, but here my interest is in our Orthodox community. To my mind, the current study shows that es iz nisht azoy git for Orthodoxy either... ¶ I am not sure how to interpret these numbers. What, in fact, does it mean to consider oneself "Orthodox?" But most disturbing and upsetting to me is the finding in this study that 33 percent of Jews raised as Orthodox do not continue to identify with Orthodoxy as adults. I want to repeat this. Fully one third of children (our children) whom we raise (in our homes) as Orthodox leave Orthodoxy! I personally am aware of a number of such cases and in each one of them the parents of these children are wonderful and positive role models; they have done all they could possibly do to raise their children as committed and observant Jews. But, communally, we need to devote much more attention to this than we have been giving it until now.