Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, an avowed secularist, says he is “really troubled” by the state of American Jewry, arguing that if the Jews don’t “wake up,” Diaspora Jewry will be greatly diminished in less than two generations as Jews increasingly marry outside the faith.
“One of the things that really troubles me is the whole issue of Judaism, of the Jewish people in exile,” Liberman told a Limmud FSU conference in the southern city of Eilat.
Defense Minister Avigdor Libermans speaks at Limmud FSU in Eilat, December 15, 2016 (Courtesy)
“Whoever saw the last surveys by the Pew Center, the rates of assimilation, the connection between the new generation in the United States to Judaism — not just Israel. Israel, too.”
“The picture (that emerges from the survey) is very serious,” warns the leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party, who has long sought the division between religion and state in Israel.
“If we don’t wake up, in a generation and a half, there will nearly be no Jewish people in the Diaspora, apart from Orthodox communities,” he says.
— Marissa Newman
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
