More to Jews than woody Allen movies.

• Position: Your Life - Jewish life

For years there seemed to be two choices in Jewish life: a person either was an observant Jew or a cultural Jew, the type whose engagement begins and ends with watching Woody Allen movies and noshing on corned beef and rye sandwiches, but a poll conducted by the Workmen's Circle/Arbeter Ring---a national Jewish cultural, educational, and activist organization---reveals that many Jews today fit into another category, that of the engaged and congregationally unaffiliated.

This group, according to the survey, makes up about 1,000,000 of the 6,000,000 Jews in the U.S. These individuals say that being Jewish is very important in their lives and that they actively seek Jewish expression and engagement outside of a synagogue.

These characteristics put them in marked contrast to other categories of non-Orthodox Jews: the engaged and congregationally affiliated; the congregationally affiliated but unengaged (those who join synagogues but rarely attend); and the unengaged and congregationally unaffiliated.

While the engaged and congregationally unaffiliated are not synagogue members--they typically attend religious services only once or twice a year on average--4hey still show numerous signs of Jewish engagement. They also tend to be attached to Israel and demonstrate noticeably strong commitments to economic justice and social equality.

Moreover, they are exceptional in their progressive political views. Of note, nearly twice as many of the engaged and congregationally unaffiliated Jews compared to others see economic justice issues as important, identify themselves as pro-labor, and feel the current Federal tax system is unfair.

Furthermore, these individuals tend not to describe themselves as religious, secular, or anti-religious. Rather, they typically identify themselves as cultural Jews and view their Jewish identity as more fluid than others have in previous generations. They frequently self-define as "spiritual."

Indeed, these Jews are part of a larger national trend, as portrayed in...