A new study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, or the JPR, initially obtained by the Jerusalem Post reveals data on mixed marriages of Jews with people of other ethnicities and religions, mainly in Europe and North America. According to the study, published this week by the Rabbinical Center of Europe of the world's largest Jewish communities, the highest rate of intermarriage among Jews is in Russia, followed by Hungary, Germany, and the US which stands with a surprising 45% intermarriage.

The study, titled "Intermarriage of Jews and Non-Jews: The State, the trends and the meaning", edited by Dr. Daniel Statsky from the JPR in London, dives into how Jewish communities outside of Israel are shrinking due to intermarriage. There are not many studies conducted on the subject, and therefore this is an important and innovative study. According to an exclusive database, the rate of intermarriage varies widely by country. The study found that among the largest Jewish communities in the world, Israel has the lowest rate of intermarriage among Jews with only 5% of Israeli Jews marrying non-Jews.

Among the other data gathered by the study,  in Belgium, there is 14% intermarriage in the Jewish community, in Australia 20%, in Great Britain 22%, in Canada 23%, in France 24%, in Austria 30%, in the US 45%, in Germany 46%, in Hungary 55% and in Russia an overwhelming 63%.

In addition, the JPR presented the levels of intermarriage according to the various religious streams currently in Europe. In Europe, the rate of intermarriage of ethnically Jewish people of Jews of the reform and progressive movement is at 35%, and of traditional and conservative Jews at 11%. Among Orthodox Jews in Europe, only 3% marry non-Jews.

The CEO of the Rabbinical Council of Europe, Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg, commented on the findings and added that "the study is a real wake-up call to all European rabbis and Jewish communities around the world to strengthen the activity to assimilate the diverse values โ€‹โ€‹of Judaism among the youth, as well as among the entire Jewish population."

In Traditional Jewish law, an ethnic Jew can only be considered part of the community if one's mother is Jewish; in other words, the constant growth of intermarriage in Jewish communities outside of Israel means the decline in the numbers of the Jewish population, whether those involved intended so or not.

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