2021-22 Study of Jewish Louisville
Matthew Boxer, Matthew A. Brookner, Janet Krasner Aronson, Benita Danzing, Ilana Friedman, Raquel de Magidin de Kramer, Daniel Mangoubi, Adam Martin, Ellie Pasternack, Leonard Saxe, and Jill Smith
September 2022
The 2021-22 Study of Jewish Louisville provides a comprehensive portrait of the community's 14,200 Jews; their families; their Jewish attitudes, behaviors, and affiliations; their health and financial welfare; and other measures of their engagement in Jewish life. Findings should help the Louisville Jewish community make critical decisions about the next decade of Jewish life in the region.
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Among the findings:
- The Louisville Jewish community numbers approximately 18,300 adults and children, of whom 14,200 are Jewish and living in 7,100 households.
- Thirty-seven percent of Jewish adults in Louisville do not identify with any particular denomination of Judaism. One percent identify as Orthodox, 23% as Conservative, 26% as Reform, and 12% identify with other denominations.
- Forty-six percent of Jewish households and 39% of Jewish individuals live in the Central region (bound by interstates 64 and 264, and the Ohio River). Twenty-seven percent of Jewish households and 30% of Jewish individuals reside in the Northeast region (eastern Jefferson County and Oldham County), and the remaining 27% of Jewish households and 31% of Jewish individuals reside in the remainder of the Louisville area.
- Twenty-one percent of Jewish adults moved to the area in the past decade, including 13% who have lived in the area for fewer than five years.
- Four distinct patterns of behavior emerge from the data:
- Minimally Involved (32% of Jewish adults): Characterized by involvement in few elements of Jewish life.
- Holiday (41% of Jewish adults): Characterized by having their highest level of participation in holiday observances and other activities that do not necessarily require involvement in organizations.
- Ritual (14% of Jewish adults): Characterized by high involvement in holiday, synagogue, and ritual behaviors.
- Involved (13%) of Jewish adults): Characterized by high involvement in most elements of Jewish life.
- Among the 3,300 children who live in Jewish households in Louisville, 2,200 (67%) are being raised Jewish, either exclusively or with another religion.
- Thirty-one percent of Jewish households in Louisville include at least one person who is limited in their work, school, or activities by some sort of health issue, special need, or disability.
- Fourteen percent of Jewish households in Louisville say they cannot make ends meet (2%) or are just managing to make ends meet (12%).
- Twenty-six percent of Jewish households in Louisville include someone who belongs to a synagogue, independent minyan or chavurah, Chabad, or another Jewish worship community.
- Fifty-two percent of Jewish adults in Louisville attended at least one Jewish program in the past year.
- Eighty-three percent of Jewish adults in Louisville feel at least some connection to the local Jewish community, including 18% who feel this connection a great deal.
- The four most common barriers to participation in the Jewish community cited by Jewish adults in Louisville are not knowing many people (41%), a lack of confidence in Jewish knowledge (29%), a lack of interesting activities (21%), and the cost of participation (20%).
- Thirty-nine percent of Jewish adults in Louisville have been to Israel at least once. Eighty percent of Jewish adults in Louisville feel some sense of emotional attachment to Israel, including 20% who feel very attached.