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Regional Variations in Jewish Connections	-Download NJPS Report PDF -Download PowerPoint Summary
Jews vary significantly across the four regions of the country, reflecting the distinctive regional contexts in which they live.

Jews in the Northeast tend to have stronger and more consistent Jewish connections than Jews in other regions (see Table 8).

Northeastern Jews participate in many Jewish rituals more frequently than other Jews, including fasting on Yom Kippur,* lighting Shabbat* and Chanukah candles, keeping kosher in their homes,* and holding or attending a Passover seder. They also attend Jewish religious services* more often, have more close friends who are Jewish, contribute more often to Jewish causes aside from federation, and are more likely to have visited Israel and to belong to a JCC.*

Midwestern Jews are distinctive for their high rates of communal involvement, including federation giving,* synagogue membership,* other Jewish organizational memberships,* volunteering under Jewish auspices* and participation in adult Jewish education programs.*

Jews in the South are the least distinctive, frequently falling near the national average in terms of Jewish connections.

Finally, Jews in the West stand in sharp contrast to other Jews, especially those in the Northeast. Western Jews report the lowest levels of in-group friendships, many ritual practices, synagogue membership* and attendance,* charitable giving to federation* and other Jewish causes, and JCC* and other Jewish organizational memberships.*

* Topics with asterisks refer to respondents who answered the survey's long form, representing a population of 4.3 million Jewish adults and children.

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