• Home
  • About
    • About
    • Policies
  • Submissions
    • Op-eds
    • News / Announcements
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

eJewish Philanthropy

Your Jewish Philanthropy Resource

  • News Bits
  • Jewish Education
  • Readers Forum
  • Research
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / In the Media / Jewish Americans Who Attend Synagogue Enjoy Better Health, Baylor University Study Finds

Jewish Americans Who Attend Synagogue Enjoy Better Health, Baylor University Study Finds

January 19, 2015 By eJP

For Jewish Americans, going to synagogue makes a difference for health, according to a study of five large Jewish urban communities by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR).

“Adults who affiliate with a Jewish religious denomination and attend synagogue report significantly better health than secular or non-practicing Jews,” says Jeff Levin, Ph.D., University Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health, professor of medical humanities and director of the Program on Religion and Population Health at ISR.

Data from the five community surveys confirm what studies among Christians have shown for many years: “People with a strong sense of religious identity and who participate in their faith seem to do better, on average, than people without an active spiritual life,” Levin said.

Levin’s study, which used data collected throughout the 2000s as part of Jewish community surveys from Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and two surveys in New York, was published in January’s Journal of Religion and Health.

“While there have been hundreds of studies of physical and mental health among Christians and members of other faiths, Jewish studies have been limited mostly to Israelis and to smaller clinical samples in the U.S. or the United Kingdom,” Levin said. “These new results are provocative because they are based on sophisticated surveys of more than 5,000 Jewish adults living in four of the largest Jewish population centers in the United States.”

Affiliated Jews of every denomination – whether Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist or Reform – reported better health than secular, non-affiliated Jews. Likewise, Jews who attended synagogue, at all, whether regularly or less frequently, reported better health than those who never went.

For Levin, an important next step would be to mount a national health survey of the Jewish population. “This would provide an opportunity to dig a lot deeper than what’s possible using data from existing community surveys, which weren’t really designed to assess health,” Levin noted. “It’s fortunate that a question or two on health was included in these surveys, but we can do a lot better.”

A sophisticated national survey also could serve as a needs assessment that would provide valuable information for Jewish organizations seeking to address the health and life needs of American Jews, Levin said.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: In the Media, The American Jewish Scene

Click here to Email This Post Email This Post to friends or colleagues!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Glenn Easton says

    January 19, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    Amen!

  2. Richard says

    January 20, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    Excellent.

Primary Sidebar

Join The Conversation

What's the best way to follow important issues affecting the Jewish philanthropic world? Our Daily Update keeps you on top of the latest news, trends and opinions shaping the landscape, providing an invaluable source for inspiration and learning.
Sign Up Now
For Email Marketing you can trust.

Continue The Conversation

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Recent Comments

  • Bruce Powell on An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Sara Rigler on Announcement: Catherine Reed named CEO of American Friends of Magen David Adom
  • Donna Burkat on The Blessings in 2020’s Losses
  • swindmueller on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times
  • Alan Henkin on Where Do We Go From Here?
    Reflections On 2021
    A Jewish Response to These Uncertain Times

Most Read Recent Posts

  • What Title for Henrietta Szold?
  • Jewish Agency Accuses Evangelical Contractors of “Numerous Violations” but Denies They Evangelized New Immigrants
  • An Invitation To Transparency: Reflections on an Open Salary Spreadsheet
  • Why One Zoom Class Has Generated a Following
  • The Blessings in 2020’s Losses

Categories

The Way Back Machine

Footer

What We Do

eJewish Philanthropy highlights news, resources and thought pieces on issues facing our Jewish philanthropic world in order to create dialogue and advance the conversation. Learn more.

Top 40 Philanthropy Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2020

Copyright © 2021 · eJewish Philanthropy · All Rights Reserved