In an initiative with historic implications for the international Jewish community, the Orthodox Union announced that it will conduct a landmark two-month survey of married couples in both North America and Israel to determine the level of marital satisfaction within the community. The survey will provide information to both the OU and its communities regarding programs and services that can be developed to strengthen the bond between husband and wife.
The Aleinu Marriage Satisfaction Survey, to be conducted online between January 15-March 31, will be anonymous and take less than ten minutes to complete. OU synagogues are being asked to call on married couples to individually complete the survey and provide each spouse’s perspective on their marriage.
Strengthening the Jewish family is a major priority of the Orthodox Union. Its “Positive Jewish Parenting” programs have been presented in many communities coast to coast. Seven highly successful “Positive Jewish Marriage” retreats, four on the east coast and three in California – intended for couples wanting to strengthen good marriages — have been motivating factors in pursuing this research.
Given the numerous discussions and counseling that rabbis have with families, a separate survey is also being conducted for rabbis in areas of couple involvement.
“The survey should be a milestone in providing information on strengthening the Jewish family,” declared OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb.
According to Emanuel J. Adler, Chair of the OU Synagogue and Community Services Commission, “This survey is a natural complement to our popular and valuable marriage retreats and other family-based programming. We hope that it will generate information of great utility in our continued efforts to benefit that most basic and sacred Jewish institution –the Jewish home.”
Adds OU National Director of Community Services and Special Projects, Frank Buchweitz, “The results of the survey will be carefully studied and shared with the Jewish community with the intention of creating a whole new generation of programming aimed at protecting and improving our greatest asset, the men and women whose marriages are the core of Klal Yisrael.”
The international survey is based on a project developed by the Aleinu Family Resource Center, a program of Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, and the Rabbinical Council of California. The initial survey was conducted with California rabbis and congregants to gather information on the state of marriage in local Orthodox communities. The results were analyzed by OTX, a research institute in the behavioral sciences, which will also analyze the results of this survey.
Surveys may be completed at: https://www.ou.org:443/community/.
For further information on the survey and OU programs, contact Frank Buchweitz at 212-613-8188 or frank@ou.org.