Jewish pronatalism: Policy and praxis

Pronatalism is the practice and ideology of encouraging biological reproduction. While many religions as well as national and ethnic identities can be described as pronatalist, scholarship about reproduction among Jews often describes Jews and Judaism as foundationally and absolutely pronatalist. This article demonstrates the nuances of existing pronatalism in Jewish policy and practice, and highlights diverse reproductive practices and strategies among Jews in order to demonstrate that pronatalism is not the sum total of Jewish reproductive policy, advocacy, or praxis. Section 2 provides a brief overview of some of the biblical and rabbinic sources that many view as religious roots for Jewish prontalism. The sections 3.1 and 3.2 focus on Jewish pronatalism in Israel and America. Throughout this article, we will see how pronatalism has been applied and internalized through ethnic, racial, and able‐bodied lenses. While pronatalism is undoubtedly a strong cultural and religious force, this article provides a nuanced picture of reproduction among Jews by considering reproductive practices and strategies of Jewish women to be in conversation with pronatalist policies and ideologies. By decentering pronatalism in the study of reproduction and attitudes toward reproduction, we see that demographic continuity is just one of many considerations in Jewish reproductive practices.