After the Pew Center's 2013 study of American Jewry, the Times of Israel published an interesting fact sheet about Reform Jews in America. I underwent a Reform conversion before my Orthodox conversion, and my husband is Jewish, so numbers about intermarriage and conversion tend to interest me. Here are some points I wanted to share:
One in three American Jews identifies as Reform; the movement constitutes America’s largest Jewish religious denomination.
Half of all married Reform Jews have non-Jewish spouses. The movement has moved away from discouraging intermarriage and has focused instead on welcoming intermarried families.
Every year, at least 800-900 people undergo Reform conversions to Judaism.
9 percent of all Reform Jews were raised as non-Jews.
About 10,000 campers attend the Reform movement’s 15 summer camps!
About half of new Reform rabbis are women! The gender breakdown of newly ordained Reform rabbis is about 50-50 these days, according to HUC.
Read the article in the Times of Israel here: http://www.timesofisrael.com/9-things-to-know-about-reform-jews/