The Jewish High School Experience: Its Implications for the Evolution of Jewish Identity in Young Adults

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
The Jewish High School Experience: Its Implications for the Evolution of Jewish Identity in Young Adults
Abstract
A study to measure the impact of the Jewish high school experience on Jewish identity of young adults. The study surveyed 337 Jewish young adults who had graduated from Montreal area high schools during the years 1981, 1984 and 1987. Students from four Jewish and five non-Jewish schools were surveyed. The author, a demographer, found that graduates of Jewish high schools demonstrated significantly higher levels of Jewish identity in terms of several key behavioral indicators than did graduates of non-Jewish high schools. Graduates of Jewish high schools were more inclined to keep kosher at home (69%) than graduates of non-Jewish high schools (20%); were more inclined to observe the Sabbath (38% vs. 2%); were more inclined to study Jewish texts on a regular basis (30% vs. 4%); were more inclined to belong to a Jewish communal organization (36% vs. 20%); were more inclined to have the majority of close friends as Jewish (52% vs. 33%); were more inclined to give to Jewish charitable causes on an annual basis (59% vs. 40%); were more inclined to travel to Israel after high school (63% vs. 46%); and were more inclined to marry within the Jewish faith (93% vs. 70%).
Place
Montreal
Publisher
Jewish Education Council of Greater Montreal, Federation CJA
Date
1998
Language
en
Citation
Shahar, Charles. The Jewish High School Experience: Its Implications for the Evolution of Jewish Identity in Young Adults. Montreal: Jewish Education Council of Greater Montreal, Federation CJA, 1998.
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