Editing Orthodox Judaism (section)

== Demographics ==
[[File:Beit yaaaak.JPG|thumb|Haredi schoolgirls at the [[Western Wall]] in [[Jerusalem]]|upright=1.2]]
Professors [[Daniel Elazar]] and Rela Mintz Geffen, according to calculations in 1990, found there to be at least 2,000,000 observant Orthodox Jews worldwide in 2012, and at least 2,000,000 additional members and supporters who identified as such. This estimate held Orthodoxy to be the largest Jewish group.<ref name="EG">{{Cite book |last1=Elazar |first1=Daniel J. |author-link=Daniel J. Elazar |first2=Rela Mintz |last2=Geffen |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=6Lg6BmMTZGIC |page=105}} |pages=105–106 |title=The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities |date=2012-02-01 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-9202-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Elazar |first=Daniel J. |author-link=Daniel J. Elazar |url=http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/demographics.htm |title=How Strong is Orthodox Judaism – Really? The Demographics of Jewish Religious Identification |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |year=1991}}</ref>

In the [[State of Israel]], where the total Jewish population is about 6.5&nbsp;million, 22% of all Jewish respondents to a 2016 [[Pew Research Center|Pew]] survey declared themselves as observant Orthodox (9% ''[[Haredim]]'', 13% ''Datiim'', "religious"). 29% described themselves as "[[Masortim|traditional]]", a label implying less observance, but identification with Orthodoxy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Center |first=Pew Research |date=8 March 2016 |title=Israel's Religiously Divided Society |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2016/03/08/israels-religiously-divided-society/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref>

The [[List of Orthodox Jewish communities in the United States|Orthodox community of the United States]] is the second-largest in the world, concentrated in the [[northeastern United States|Northeast]] and specifically in [[Jews in New York|New York]] and [[Jews in New Jersey|New Jersey]].<ref name="Heilman">{{Cite book |last1=Heilman |first1=Samuel C. |author-link=Samuel Heilman |first2=Steven M. |last2=Cohen |authorlink2=Steven M. Cohen |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=jPnEKhX6icIC}} |title=Cosmopolitans and Parochials: Modern Orthodox Jews in America |date=1989-10-11 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-32495-1}}</ref> A 2013 Pew survey found that 10% of respondents identified as Orthodox, among a total Jewish population of at least 5.5&nbsp;million. 3% were Modern Orthodox, 6% were Haredi, and 1% were "other" ([[Sephardic]], liberal Orthodox, etc.)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Center |first=Pew Research |date=1 October 2013 |title=A Portrait of Jewish Americans |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/10/01/jewish-american-beliefs-attitudes-culture-survey/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project}}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, of 79,597 households with at least one Jewish member that held synagogue membership in 2016, 66% affiliated with Orthodox synagogues: 53% in "centrist Orthodox", and 13% in "strictly Orthodox" (further 3% were Sephardi, which technically eschews the title "Orthodox").<ref>{{cite web |first1=Donatella Casale |last1=Mashiah |first2=Jonathan |last2=Boyd |url=https://www.jpr.org.uk/documents/Synagogue_membership_in_the_United_Kingdom_in_2016.pdf |title=Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106204832/https://www.jpr.org.uk/documents/Synagogue_membership_in_the_United_Kingdom_in_2016.pdf |archive-date=6 January 2019 |publisher=Institute for Jewish Policy Research |date=July 2017}}</ref>

The Orthodox have higher [[birth rate]]s than others. Haredi communities have some of the world's highest birth rates, averaging six children per household. A nearly non-existent rate of intermarriage with members of other faiths (Orthodox vehemently oppose the phenomenon) contributes to their growing share of the world's Jewish population. Among American Jewish children, the Orthodox share is an estimated 61% in New York, including 49% Haredi. Similar patterns are observed in other countries. With present trends sustained, Orthodox Jews are projected to numerically dominate British Jewry by 2031, and American Jewry by 2058.<ref name="EG" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-06-12 |title=Orthodox Will Dominate American Jewry In Coming Decades |url=https://forward.com/news/402663/orthodox-will-dominate-american-jewry-in-coming-decades-as-population/ |access-date=2024-03-11 |website=The Forward}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 October 2015 |title=Half of Britain's Jews 'will soon be strictly Orthodox' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/haredi-half-of-britain-s-jews-will-soon-be-strictly-orthodox-says-new-study-a6696046.html |access-date=2024-03-11 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>See also: {{cite web |url=http://jppi.org.il/uploads/Haredi_Demography_The_United_States_and_the_United_Kingdom.pdf |title=Haredi Demography – The United States and the United Kingdom |publisher=[[JPPI]]}}</ref> However, large numbers of members leave their communities and observant lifestyle. Among the 2013 Pew respondents, 17% of those under 30 who were raised Orthodox disaffiliated (in earlier generations, this trend was far more prevalent, and 77% of those over 65 left).<ref name=":2" />