Worldwide Jewry Approaches Pre-1939 Levels: Dirshu

Dirshu, a worldwide organization working to replenish individual Judaic scholarship lost during the Holocaust, says that, 70 years to the month after the liberation of Nazi death camps in Eastern Europe, the worldwide Jewish population will soon meet and exceed, for the very first time, pre-Second-World-War levels.

Orthodox and other observant Jews are leading the population surge, indicating that the level of Judaic devotion is deepening among individual Jews.

There were approximately 16 millions Jews living worldwide in 1939, the year Germany invaded Poland. Dirshu and others estimate that the total worldwide Jewish diaspora will reach 15 million souls in the coming months, and will exceed 16 million soon thereafter. Most of that increase is occurring in Israel and the United States.

“The world has witnessed a miracle of resilience over the past 70 years, and we should pause this month with thanks and humility to celebrate the tenacity of the Jewish people in getting to this point,” said Dirshu founder Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter, the son of Eastern European Holocaust survivors. “What’s even more extraordinary is the unmistakable trend among Jews to deepen their individual faith by returning to their historic texts for daily guidance. By studying our ancient texts, Jews are rediscovering who they are, fortifying their gains as a people and ensuring a strong future for themselves and their families.”

A 2013 Pew Research Poll showed that 27% of American Jews younger than age 18 now live in Orthodox households, whereas only 11% of American Jews between the ages of 18 and 29 years old report living in Orthodox homes. The average overall birth rate among Jews in the U.S. is 1.86 children per woman, but in Orthodox families those number multiply significantly, according to the National Jewish Population Survey, with estimates ranging from 3.3 children per woman in “modern Orthodox” families; 6.6 percent children per women in ultra-Orthodox families, and up to 7.9 children per woman in Chassidic families.

{CB Frommer-Matzav.com Newscenter}