Charles Shahar

Last updated
Charles Shahar
Scientific career
Fields Sociology, demographics
Institutions Federation CJA

Charles Shahar is a Canadian demographer. He is the chief researcher for Federation CJA, a Canadian Jewish organization based in Montreal, Quebec. [1] Shahar has conducted studies on Canadian Jews, as well as the first comprehensive community study of Hasidic Jews in Canada. He has conducted a comprehensive series of analyses of the 2001 Census, and more recently of the 2011 National Household Survey, along various themes.

Contents

Demographic research

Charles Shahar has conducted a number of studies on the Canadian Jewish Community. The majority were conducted as a secondary analysis of Canadian census data. [2] [3]

2003 study of Montreal Hasidim

Shahar conducted the first comprehensive community study of Hasidic Jews in Canada. Shahar's 2003 study was sponsored by the Federation CJA, the Jewish Federation of Greater Montreal. The study is the first to include significant quantitative sample of a Hasidim in North America. [4]

The study focused on the Orthodox community in Outremont, Montreal. A large portion of which identify as Hasidim. The study was also the first to include a significant sample of Chabad Hasidim.

To ensure greater response rate, Shahar procured letters from local community rabbis, requesting the community to answer the survey questionnaire. The survey had an 83% response rate, high by methodological standards. [5]

Findings

Among Shahar's findings are an estimate for the number of Orthodox in Montreal, the average household size and fertility rates of specific Orthodox and Hasidic groups. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasidic Judaism</span> Religious subgroup of modern Judaism

Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism, is a religious movement within Judaism that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine, then Poland, during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affiliated with the movement, known as hassidim, reside in Israel and in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haredi Judaism</span> Ultra-orthodox branch of Judaism

Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict interpretation of religious sources and their accepted halakha and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating or modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; however, the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, although other movements of Judaism disagree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chabad</span> Hasidic dynasty of Eastern European origin

Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and it caters to secularized Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebbe</span> Orthodox rabbinic title, especially in Hasidism

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Satmar</span> Romanian Hasidic dynasty

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Neo-Hasidism, Neochassidut, or Neo-Chassidus, is an approach to Judaism in which people learn beliefs and practices of Hasidic Judaism, and incorporate it into their own lives or prayer communities, yet without formally joining a Hasidic group. Over the 20th century neo-Hasidism was popularized by the works of writers such as Hillel Zeitlin, Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Lawrence Kushner, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Arthur Green.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litvaks</span> Ethnic group of Europe

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Federation CJA is a Canadian Jewish organization that raises and distributes funds by facilitating and overseeing the delivery of services and programs.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meshulim Feish Lowy</span>

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