Abstract
Jews who live in close proximity to many Jews, live with other Jews in their households, and have mostly Jewish social circles are more Jewishly engaged in all respects. However, for at least 60 years, fewer Jews live in densely Jewish neighborhoods. Geographic mobility has taken many Jews away from historically Jewish population centers.3 The freedom American Jews feel to live in geographic and social proximity to other Americans – non-Jewish as well as Jewish – is certainly a positive development in terms of life options and opportunities for Jews as individuals. However, the decline of cohesive communities of Jews who live close to each other complicates the natural, effortless transmission of social capital. A substantial number of American Jews reside in the “borderlands,” to use Steven M. Cohen’s evocative phrase, in terms of both their Jewish connectedness and geographical location.