Jews in U.S. are far less religious than Christians and Americans overall, at least by traditional measures

Some aspects of Jewish religious life and culture are widespread among American Jews. But other religious expressions – such as regular attendance at synagogue services and belief in God as described in the Bible – are much less common, according to a new survey.

In fact, based on these more traditional measures of religious observance, Jews in the U.S. are far less religious than U.S. Christians and Americans overall.

For example, 12% of U.S. Jewish adults say they attend religious services weekly or more often, compared with 27% of the general public and 38% of U.S. Christians. And 21% of Jewish adults say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 41% of U.S. adults overall and 57% of Christians.