The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-11
OUR HEBREW POPULATION.
Figures That show Nearly 100000
IsraeIites in the United states.

Asraelttes In the United states.
New York Sun.
An enumeration Of the religious prefer
ences of the inhabitants of the United
States forms no part of a federal census.
and for this reason the membership of re-
ligious divisions can only be guessed at or
estimator vaguely. According TO the church
records of accommodations and membership
in the census of 1890 the number of He
brews in the United States was estimated
at 10000, but this estimate provoked the
criticism of so many writers that several
other computations have been made on the
subject. and the American Jewish Histori-
cal Society authorized the publication OF
figures designed to show that the total
number of Hebrew inhabitants of the coun-
try is nearer 100000 than 10000.
In the year 1880 there We're 269 Jewish
synagogues in the United States, and their
membership was 1868. 1t is customary TO
figure the membership of a synagogue as
being about one-seventh of its attendance,
and on that basis the Hebrew population
OF the United States in 1880 would have
100000. From 1880 to 1890 there was gain
OF about 80 per cent, bringing the total 10
the estimate of 10000. and like proper
ton of gain would bring the present He
brew population of the country to about
WOOO0 The inaccuracy of the estimate Is,
Il Is claimed, shown by the, facts following:
There are ffty-four Jewish synagogues In
New York city, sixteen IN Brooklyn and
one on Staten Island, total of seventy-one
one-third of the whole number returned in
the United States in 1880, and If such num-
Der represented at that 1900 He
brew Inhabitants, the total Hebrew
population in this city at present
would be about 25.0O0 Actually the num-
Der of Hebrew inhabitants in the former
city of New York is in excess of 10000, ana
it is evident enough that computations
tased on the number or accommodations
of the synagogues are misleading. twenty
years ago. before the flood of Russian ana
Polish immigration had set toward the
United States. systematic attempts to OBJ
tain definite statistical information were
made by he Board of Delegates of Amer
lean Israelites, with the assistance or the
Union OF American Hebrew Congregations.
Incomplete reports at that time showed the
Hebrew population as 1S9 i56 BY 1880 these
figures had increased to 800. 257. Since 1850
the Hebrew immigration TO the United
States has been, it Is claimed in excess or
100000, and the addition of these figures to
what the Hebrew population had been pre-
viousy brings up the total to 630,0oo. SUP
ject to the normal increase, which is fully
% per cent. and which will make the total
nearly 500 900
New York has a larger Hebrew popula-
ton than any other State. probably MO,VOO.
The figures for some of the other States
are: Illinois, S5.000 Pennsylvania, 1000;
Ohio, $4,000; California 30, 900; Maryland,
60 900: New Jersey, $4,000; Louisiana, %, 100.
and Massa chusetts 10000. In three New
England States-Maine New Hampshire
and Vermont-the Hebrew population is m
significant in numbers in Georgia ana Ala
bama it is large and growing in the big
cities.