38% of American Jews believe in life after death, Studie states

Only 38% of American Jews believe in life after death, far less than in Israel, according to a new study on spiritual practices all over the world.

This proportion was lower than the 83% of the US Christians who believe in life after death, as well as the 58% of Israeli Jews who say that there is life after death.

The determination, which was amazed with other results in the survey published on Tuesday by the Pew Research Center, which found that Jews in the USA were the least most likely to say that animals or objects can have ghosts or that characteristics of nature such as mountains or rivers have spiritual energy.

About half of the American Jews and almost two thirds of Israeli Jews said that animals can have ghosts. A much smaller fraction of Israeli Jews said that ghosts could occur in objects or in nature that are not of central importance for traditional Judaism.

Unlike in some Christian denominations, in which a belief in life after death is an organizing idea, Judaism has no teaching about what happens after death. The idea that the dead are ultimately revived by God is a central aspect of classic rabbinical theology, which is assumed by Orthodox Jews, which make up a larger proportion of Jews in Israel than in the United States.

The Jews rate higher when it comes to important Jewish practices and beliefs. For example, they were the most likely in the United States that they used religiously candles or incense, which is not surprising, since the lighting of Hanukka candles is a relatively widespread practice among Jews in the USA and global. Jews traditionally light candles on Friday evening to mark the beginning of the Shabbat and to greet big holidays.

In the United States, 42% of the Jews stated that they used candles religiously, a number that rose to 53% in Israel. While these numbers were higher than with members of other religions in every country, other surveys indicate that they could be an underpayment. A survey of 2022 in Israel, for example, showed that 78% of Israeli Jews illuminate Hanukka candles. And a Pew 2020 survey showed that more than 80% of the American Jews have Hanukka Menorah.

The study of this week also showed that 62% of Israeli Jews and 49% of American Jews carry out religious fasting – the central compliance with Yom Kippur. In the United States, compliance is more common in Muslims (80%), for which fasting in the Holy Month is Ramadan a key ritual. 27% quickly among American Christians.

The survey included more than 12,000 respondents, including an over -stop of the Jews, and was carried out in February. The total error range was 1.5%.