The number of ethnic Jews with no religious identification is growing considerably.
man affairs with understandings and explanations based on systematic empirical observation. Although the sec- ularization thesis had to be qualified beginning in the 1970s because of the rise of religious fundamentalism in the United States and elsewhere, secularization contin- ues apace. This results in a more polarized religious land- scape between those who identify with a particular reli- gion and those who do not. In this context, non-religious Jewish organizations, both formal and informal, have proliferated in Canada, partly to meet the growing demand of secular Jews. And it is not just secular Jews who belong to secular organizations. Jews
by religion populate them, too. Think of Jewish communi- ty centres, libraries, film festivals, literary award lecture se- ries, baseball, basketball, and hockey teams, concert series, khavurot (discussion groups), Hebrew and Yiddish con- versation circles, organizations leading the fight against antisemitism, and university courses on secular Jewish subjects including ancient and modern Jewish languages, Jewish history, Jewish art, and the sociology of the Jews. Since I call United Bakers in Toronto my uptown office — I frequently meet people there to discuss academics and politics over pea soup and a whole wheat bagel — I’m even tempted to include Jewish restaurants on this list.
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