Jews on the move: implications for American Jewry and for local communities.

Abstract

"Internal migration has most likely become the major dynamic responsible for the growth or decline of many Jewish communities and for the redistribution of the American-Jewish population across the United States in a pattern quite different from that characterizing American Jewry earlier in the century.... The analysis which follows will be restricted to an assessment of migration into the State of Rhode Island.... This paper begins with an overall description of the migration patterns of the population, set against some background information on migration to Rhode Island generally. Following this, attention will focus on how the migrants to the State, classified by duration of residence, differ from non-migrants with respect to socio-economic characteristics. Finally, migrants and non-migrants will be compared on selected behavioural indicators designed to measure integration into the religious and social life of the community."