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The Cost of Immersion

JL;DR SUMMARY Elliott Abrams, in his latest book "If You Will It: Rebuilding Jewish Peoplehood for the 21st Century," critiques the current strategies for Jewish continuity in America, moving away from religious revival towards promoting Jewish peoplehood as a key identity anchor. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityIntermarriageJewish ContinuityJewish PeoplehoodDay SchoolsElliott AbramsJewish DemographyIsrael ProgramsImmersion ExperiencesCamps

Places mentioned

Brandeis, Massachusetts, United States
"As a result, as my research with colleagues at Brandeis has shown, the children of intermarried parents who grew up in the 1990s and 2000s were more likely than prior cohorts to receive Jewish education and more likely to identify as Jews in adulthood."
United States
"the Pew Research Center (and several other estimates), the Jewish population in the United States climbed throughout the 2000s and 2010s to reach 7.5 million in 2020."
Denver, Colorado, United States
"A camp counselor plays cards with a camper in one of the bunkhouses at Camp Shwayder. (Courtesy of RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images.)"
Orange County, California, United States
"A camper takes aim on the archery range at Camp Silver Gan Israel day camp. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images.)"
Manhattan, New York, United States
"Tuition for day schools runs in the $30,000 to $40,000 range annually (the Emet Classical Academy, recently founded by the Tikvah Fund in Manhattan, costs over $40,000)."
Israel
"American Jewry is on its way to becoming a satellite of Israel, and it will need strong ties to the Jewish state to survive and flourish in the future."
Gaza, Palestinian Territories
"Although the current Gaza War has caused many American Jews to rally to Israels cause, it has also catalyzed anti-Zionism on the political left and, as the war drags on, growing discomfort among centrists."
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Retrieved 2025-07-16 05:31:00 UTC
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