ABSTRACT
As the third and fourth generations of Jewish Americans grow up, they will increasingly shed the “rich uncle” psychology toward Israel and will lack what is presently a readymade Jewish identification in fund-raising. There already exists evidence that younger Jews are groping for a Jewish affiliation which is not necessarily related to the State of Israel. Perhaps confusion over definitions is one of the foremost stumbling blocks preventing us from attaining a clear and enriching picture of Judaism in the Diaspora. The best evidence that Jews are not an ethnic group per se is the great conglomeration of ethnic groups that today constitute Israel, all of which are collectively known as Jews. People of Israel will be known as “Israelis” for residing in contiguous territory, owing allegiance to the state of that name, speaking Hebrew and participating in Hebrew or Israeli culture. The Napoleonic Sanhedrin and the Classical Reform movement propagated this view of Jews constituting a religious denomination.
