What are the various cost constraints with being Jewish in America?  Prof. Carmel Chiswick, a research professor of economics at George Washington University, uses the lens of economics to reveal the various constraints facing a religious minority in the United States and how this affects Jewish culture.  We walk through her book Judaism in Transition: How Economic Choices Shape Religious Tradition.

We start the conversation with a general overview of Jews in America, including the size of the population, their immigration history, and other demographic features.  It is pointed out that Jews are both an ethnic group, and a group with a distinct religion.  We chat a bit about how Jewish (in terms of religion) Jews are in America.  Prof. Chiswick then discusses the difference between Great Tradition and small tradition Judaism.  The former focuses on the essential religious components of Judaism, including the Torah,  Talmud, Mishnah and several key holy days.  Small tradition Judaism, on the other hand, is a reflection of different cultural practices and emphases that can vary across different groups of Jews (e.g., Spehardi or Ashkenazi) and across time.  This is mixed with some personal reflection on her own life growing up Jewish, which gives this academic topic a much more personal touch.  Carmel explains why she chose to write her book with these personal stories, noting that she uses economics everyday to understand her own daily choices.

We then begin a discussion of how economics is used to explain Jewish behavior and traditions.  Carmel gives us a good introduction of how actions not only have a financial cost but a time cost as well, resulting in what economists call the “full price” (or “real cost”).  She points out that there are a variety of constraints on Jews in America that affect how they make decisions about worship and other aspects of life.  For example, as an individual becomes wealthier, the cost of their time also increases and this has an impact on how synagogue worship has been conducted given that Jews have been an upwardly mobile community.  We also talk about the issue of human capital and education and the constrained choices that have to be made here.  Carmel reflects upon her family’s decision whether to send their children to Hebrew or public school, as well as the reliance upon summer camps and other activities that are designed to preserve Jewish religious culture in an environment where time becomes more valuable for professional parents.

Carmel next lays out some of the contemporary challenges facing Jews in America.  Most notable among these challenges are the new demographic categories that are emerging, principally “young adult singles” and “empty nesters.”  With marriage ages increasing quite substantially over the past few decades, there is a growing population of individuals in their 20s and early 30s who are not married, do not have children, and who do not feel as connected to the synagogue.  Whereas people often connect with religious institutions when they have children, and synagogues often cater to the needs of this group, the decade or so wherein individuals are not married or having children becomes a time when they can drift away from their faith.  We also discuss the issue of intermarriage and how that might affect the Jewish population in the future.  Interestingly, the rise of “young adult singles” also gives rise to another demographic group known as “empty nesters” who are not actively raising kids yet are not grandparents either.  Once again, this becomes a life cycle point where people do not feel as connected to the synagogue.  (Note: These issues arise again in next week’s podcast with Daniel Libenson, who discusses some attempts to deal with this new environment.)

We finish off with some of Carmel’s personal observations on what she has learned in her years studying the economics of religion, being Jewish in America, and writing her highly readable book.  Recorded: April 7, 2015.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Carmel Chiswick’s bio at the George Washington University.

Judaism in Transition: How Economic Choices Shape Religious Tradition, by Carmel U. Chiswick.

Association for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Culture (ASREC).

RELATED PODCASTS

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.

Daniel Libenson on the Jewish Future.

Linda Weiser Friedman on Jewish Humor.

Colleen Haight on Jewish Peddlers in 19th Century America.

Larry Iannaccone on Sacrifice, Stigma, and the Economics of Religion.

Jeff Levin on Judaism and Health.

Mark Glickman on the Cairo Genizah.

Mark Koyama on the Economics of Jewish Expulsions.

Ken Wald on the Puzzling Politics of American Jews.

Ellie Estrin on the Traditions of Chanukah.

Rajdeep Singh on American Sikhs and Religious Liberty.

How has American Judaism changed over the course of the past two centuries?  Using an economic approach that focuses on the importance of wage rates and time costs, Prof. Carmel Chiswick — University of Illinois, Chicago and the George Washington University — examines how the socio-economic context of the 19th century had a major impact on how immigrant Jews practiced their religion in America.  Prof. Chiswick explains that higher wage rates and the subsequent higher opportunity cost of time led to a shortening of Jewish services, less emphasis on traditional religious education, a preference for secular higher education, and the need to import rabbis, cantors and other religious specialists from Europe.  We trace how this influenced the growth of Reform and Conservative Judaism.  The conversation then turns attention to the role of education in Jewish progress.  While there is some degree of trade-off between religious and secular education, we later examine how traditional religious education (especially study of the Talmud) can act as a complement to secular studies.  Other topics explored include the issue of inter-marriage, the relaxation of dietary restrictions, Chabad, and how the creation of modern Israel had a big impact on American Jews.  We finish by speculating about the future of American Jewry and its impact on Judaism worldwide.  Recorded: April 26, 2011.

RELATED LINKS

Carmel Chiswick’s website at the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Carmel Chiswisk’s website at the George Washington University.

The Economics of American Judaism by Carmel U. Chiswick.

The following links are not directly related to the content of the podcast, but were mentioned at the beginning of the episode.  They represent folks who have helped direct traffic to our podcast series in recent months.  A big thanks to them!

LDS Living.

The Western Tradition blog.

Michael McBride’s The Religious Marketplace.

Brad R.E. Wright’s blog.

Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion.

Internet Imagineering (Neil Luft and crew).

RELATED LINKS

Sacred Treasure, The Cairo Genizah: The Amazing Discoveries of Forgotten Jewish History in an Egyptian Attic, by Rabbi Mark Glickman (Jewish Lights Publishing).  Also available in audio format.

Rabbi Mark Glickman’s columns at The Seattle Times.

Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University.

RELATED PODCASTS

Carmel Chiswick on the Economics of American Judaism.