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Mom Matters: Shaping Religious Identity in Kids Born to Jewish Intermarriages

Sérgio Goldbaum, Lorena Hakak

Contemporary Jewry | Jul 7, 2026

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies on intermarriage within the Jewish population examine the community’s integration into broader society and the factors that shape it. This paper examines changes in intermarriage and fertility within the Jewish population in Brazil, based on data from the 1980–2010 censuses. We show that the proportion of intermarriages has been increasing in Brazil following the same trend observed in the USA. The paper also discusses the religious and ethnic identity of children born to Jewish intermarriages. The empirical analysis shows that the likelihood of children from intermarriages identifying as Jewish is higher when they have a Jewish mother and live in areas with a well-established Jewish community. Furthermore, the impact of having a Jewish mother on the religious identity of children born to mixed Jewish marriages has increased significantly over time. The results support both theoretical hypotheses regarding a Brazilian-style integration of the Jewish community into society and broader changes in family patterns affecting the entire society.

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Authors

Researchers on this paper

Sérgio Goldbaum

first | Fundação Getulio Vargas | ORCID 0000-0002-4942-9700

Lorena Hakak

last | Fundação Getulio Vargas | ORCID 0000-0002-4090-7913

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Citation

BibTeX

@article{Goldbaum2026Matters,
  title = {Mom Matters: Shaping Religious Identity in Kids Born to Jewish Intermarriages},
  author = {Sérgio Goldbaum and Lorena Hakak},
  journal = {Contemporary Jewry},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1007/s12397-026-09745-7},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-026-09745-7}
}

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