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A new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that non-Jewish Americans don’t know much about Judaism. However, they favor the Jews more than any other religion.
The survey was presented to a group of diverse Americans with 32 questions about religion, ranging from Christianity and other religions, including Judaism. The test was conducted this year, February 4-19 and included nearly 11,000 respondents. Ten of the questions referred to Judaism in some way.
The takeaway from the survey is as follows:
Americans don’t know a lot about Judaism.
None of the questions on Judaism received a majority of correct answers:
- 29 percent of respondents knew that the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) begins on Friday night.
- 27 percent knew Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) was associated with Judaism.
- 24 percent knew that Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.
- 13 percent knew Maimonides was a Jewish scholar.
The older generation did better on the questions than the younger generation. 40% of those 65 and older knew that Jewish Sabbath begins Friday night, compared to 18% of respondents aged 18-29.
Americans as a whole also didn’t know how many Jews live in the country. Almost no one knew that Jews are less than 5% of Americans.
Jews are well-liked by Americans.
According to other surveys taken, Jews seem to be the most liked out of the other religious people. The survey asked people to rate religious groups on a thermometer scale, from 1-100. Jews got an average of 63, the highest of any group. 41% rated Jews at 67 or higher, while 8% rated Jews 33 or lower.
Atheists and Muslims are least liked, both scored an average thermometer score of 49.
The knowledge questions on Judaism
The questions below have been paraphrased for brevity and were the ones relating to Judaism as presented by the Pew poll.
• Which Bible figure is most closely associated with leading the Exodus from Egypt?
Moses, Daniel, Elijah, Joseph
• Which figure is most closely associated with killing an enemy with a stone?
David, Isaiah, Joshua, Solomon
• Who is most closely associated with the willingness to sacrifice his son to obey God?
Abraham, Jacob, Cain, Levi
• Who is most closely associated with saving Jews from murder by appealing to king?
Esther, Ruth, Sarah, Rebecca
• Which of these is NOT in the Ten Commandments?
Golden rule, no adultery, no stealing, keep Sabbath holy
• What best describes Rosh Hashana?
New Year, Day of Atonement, candles lit for eight nights, end of Torah reading
• Which religious tradition is Kabbalah most closely associated with?
Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Zoroastrianism
• What was the religion of Maimonides?
Jewish, Mormon, Catholic, Buddhist, Hindu
• When does the Jewish Sabbath begin?
Friday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
• How many adults in the U.S. are Jewish?
Less than 5%, one-in-ten, one-in-four, half or more
