“The work of the (non-Jewish) sociologist Peter Berger offers an illuminating context for considering the overarching situation that confronts American Judaism in general and Reform in particular. In his book, The Heretical Imperative, Berger points out that in the pluralistic … [Read More]
Manfred Gerstenfeld
“Until a few decades ago, Jewish women were literally written out of Jewish history. The Encyclopedia Judaica, published in the 1960s, contained biographies of some women, but in scholarly articles individual women and the role of women as a group … [Read More]
American support for Israel historically has rested on four main pillars: the high esteem Jews enjoy within American society; the strong base of Christianity within American culture; the kinship Americans have for a fellow democracy; and, especially since 9/11, the … [Read More]
“For the first time there are many cases of three and even four generations of Jewish families who are alive simultaneously in the United States. During the great wave of immigration of East European Jews from 1880 to 1920, families … [Read More]
Introduction Jewish men and women in the United States have become characterized by a gender imbalance that differs from most Jewish communities historically and from many other Jewish communities around the world today. In liberal Jewish America, women have become … [Read More]
Twenty-five percent of all American Jews live in the Western United States, representing a distinctive and growing voice within Jewish life. Participation and identity in these communities show different features from the rest of American Jewry, in part reflecting the … [Read More]
More than 50 American Jewish federations completed local Jewish community studies from 1993 to 2010. Below examples are cited of how the results of these studies have been utilized to guide Jewish community decision-making.1 The North American Jewish Data Bank … [Read More]
Introduction1 Jewish men and women in the United States have become characterized by a gender imbalance that differs from most Jewish communities historically and from many other Jewish communities around the world today. In liberal Jewish America, women have become … [Read More]
There is a conflict between personal interests and collective Jewish welfare. As private citizens, we seek the former; as Jewish leaders, however, our primary concern should be the latter. Jewish leadership is entrusted with strengthening the collective Jewish endeavor. The … [Read More]
In the mid-twentieth century, Marshall Sklare, the “dean of American Jewish sociology,” declared regarding Orthodoxy that “the history of their movement in this country can be written in terms of a case study of institutional decay.”1 Indeed, it was not only … [Read More]