the political changes in the Soviet Union prompted
the United States to decide to phase out refugee sta-
tus for Soviet Jews, reducing the numbers it would
accept in the 1990’s.
Jewish Americans and Israel The survival of Israel
remained a central concern for Jewish American
leaders throughout the 1980’s, but Israel’s relation-
ship with Jewish Americans grew more complicated.
Israel drew criticism from around the world for its in-
vasion of Lebanon in 1982 and for alleged human
rights abuses during the Palestinian Intifada upris-
ing that began in 1987. Some members of the Jewish
American community added their voices to this criti-
cism, as did many Israeli Jews. Both in Israel and in
the United States, Jews on the left sympathized with
the plight of Palestinians and argued that Israel’s ac-
tions compromised its Jewish values, while Jews on
the right defended those actions as necessary for Is-
rael’s self-defense and to enforce order within its
borders. A serious political division began to assert
itself within the Jewish American community, as well
as between that community and the Israeli govern-
ment. The conflict between the Jewish American
community and Israel’s government came to a head
over an amendment proposed in 1985 to Israel’s
Law of Return. The amendment would have stipu-
lated that Israel would only accept converts to Juda-
ism as immigrants if they converted under Ortho-
dox auspices. At the heart of the debate over this
measure was the issue of who is and is not a Jew. The
Jewish American community, which was roughly 90
percent non-Orthodox, protested the amendment.
Demographic Concerns During the 1980’s, the
Jewish American population appeared to remain
stable at just under 6 million, or roughly 2.5 percent
of the U.S. population. Two demographic trends
generated significant concern among Jewish Ameri-
can leaders: rising rates of intermarriage between
Jews and non-Jews and declining fertility rates among
Jewish families. Taken together, these trends
prompted concern for the community’s long-term
survival. Intermarriage caused concern, among
other reasons, because few children from “mixed”
marriages appeared to identify as Jews. The general
trend was clear: The community was aging and was
poised to grow smaller.
Jewish Americans and American Culture Whatever
uncertainties surrounded the Jewish American com-
munity’s demographic future, Jews made significant
contributions to American culture and to Jewish cul-
ture in America during the 1980’s. In 1986, author
and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel received the No-
bel Peace Prize. Realizing that the firsthand wit-
nesses to the Holocaust were aging, Jewish Ameri-
cans launched new efforts to promote Holocaust
education and remembrance among succeeding
generations. Jewish studies programs proliferated
on American college and university campuses, and
they included not only courses in the Jewish religion
but also in Holocaust studies, Yiddish studies, and
contemporary humanities and social sciences. The
National Yiddish Book Center, founded in 1980 in
Amherst, Massachusetts, soon became the fastest-
growing Jewish American cultural organization. On
stage and screen, such artists as Neil Simon, Harvey
Fierstein, Woody Allen, Wendy Wasserstein, and oth-
ers created successful works about Jewish themes
that won wide popularity among the general Ameri-
can population as well.
Impact During the 1980’s, the Jewish American
community experienced greater religious equality
for women and greater religious polarization, ab-
sorbed thousands of immigrants from the Soviet
Union, and continued its commitment to Israel as the
Jewish state struggled with new external and internal
challenges. Jews continued to make major contribu-
tions to American culture. In the 1980’s, many did so
using openly Jewish themes and subject matter. At the
same time, the freedom and acceptance that Jewish
Americans experienced, unprecedented in the long
history of the Jewish Diaspora, challenged the com-
munity’s boundaries and sense of identity. By 1989,
Jewish Americans faced uncertainty regarding their
unity as a religious community, and many leaders
voiced concern that their demographic decline
threatened the community’s long-term survival.
Further Reading
American Jewish Year Book. Vols. 81-90. New York:
American Jewish Committee, 1980-1989.
Sachar, Howard M.A Histor y of the Jews in America.
New York: Knopf, 1992.
Sarna, Jonathan.American Judaism: A Histor y. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2004.
Whitfield, Stephen J.In Search of American Jewish Cul-
ture. Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis University Press/
University Press of New England, 1999.
Ben Furnish550 Jewish Americans The Eighties in America