The National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01, dubbed \”Strength, Challenge and Diversity,\” offers key findings on demographics, intermarriage, Jewish \”connections\” — that is, communal behavioral trends — and such \”special\” topics as the elderly, immigration and poverty.
The overwhelming evidence from statements by the PLO leadership was that it viewed the Oslo process as a tactical necessity to realize its ultimate strategic goal of recovering the entire territory of British Mandatory Palestine — including the area of Israel.
A timeline of the most significant developments since the Oslo accords were signed 10 years ago this month.
\”I would prefer to marry someone who\’s Jewish,\” Cindy Chupack said, because most Jews have a \”built-in sense of humor, just because we\’ve had to develop one; it\’s one of our survival instincts or something.\” She finds humor really sexy, and likes Jewish family values, \”but we haven\’t cornered the market on that,\” she said.
The Oslo agreement was the first agreement ever signed between the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), intended to put an end to the national struggle that is the heart of the larger Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Olso agreement was the natural continuation of the framework agreements signed at the 1978 Camp David summit between Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, which also provided the basis for the 1991 Madrid Conference.
There is a real chance that ours will be the last Zionist generation. There may yet be a Jewish State here, but it will be a different sort, strange and ugly.
So what is Ron Wolfson\’s opinion when it comes to those $100 and $150 price tags on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur seats? Are the charges really necessary? Is the cost too high?
Two suicide bombings struck the Jewish State Tuesday, killing at least 15 victims and wounding dozens. The two attacks left the U.S.-backed \”road map\” peace plan in tatters and marked a new surge of deadly violence in the nearly 3-year-old intifada.
The Jewish population is aging and shrinking, its birthrate is falling, intermarriage is rising and most Jews do not engage in communal or religious pursuits.
Yet a majority attend a Passover seder and celebrate Chanukah, Jewish education is booming, and many Jews consider being Jewish important and feel strong ties to Israel.
These are not dueling headlines, but parallel portraits contained in the long-awaited National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01. Federations and Jewish communal leaders use these studies every decade for policy and planning decisions.
When Oslo was signed, Labor leaders Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres were careful not to commit themselves to Palestinian statehood for fear of sparking a public outcry. Now, 10 years later, over 60 percent of Israelis — including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of the Likud — back the two-state solution.
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