Our colleague and friend Michael Medved has an analysis up at The Daily Beast that tells the remarkable story of growth in the population--from high birth rates and conversions--of Orthodox Jews in the United States. He concentrates on New York City's metro area, in some ways the hub of Jewish life in America, noting that Jewish population is increasing there for the first time in five decades. Moreover, it apparently is all due to an increase in the numbers of Orthodox believers. As a consequence the percent of all Jews who are Orthodox (rather than Reform or Conservative or secularized) has grown to 40 percent. He says that 74 percent of all Jewish schoolchildren in New York are Orthodox.
Medved goes on to point out a political implication: while Jewish voters overall supported Barack Obama by 78 percent in 2008, Orthodox supported John McCain by 70 percent. The key is the direction of change.
