Poll: Half of Jews belong to synagogue

A poll of American Jews shows 51 percent report membership in a synagogue, but only 14 percent consider “religious observance” the most important factor in their Jewish identity — less than those who stressed social justice or simply being “part of the Jewish people.”

The American Jewish Committee survey showed 31 percent identified with Judaism’s Conservative branch, 29 percent with Reform, 7 percent with Orthodoxy, 2 percent with Reconstructionism and 30 percent as “just Jewish.” Asked which is the greater threat to American Jewish life, two-thirds picked anti-Semitism over intermarriage. Almost all said anti-Semitism in America is “very serious” or “somewhat of a problem.”