American Jewish Research Articles

Jacob B. Ukeles. Illuminating the Path to Vibrant American Jewish Communities: Linking Data to Policy

Jacob B. Ukeles. Illuminating the Path to Vibrant American Jewish Communities: Linking Data to Policy

Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps, by Benor, Sarah Bunin, Jonathan Krasner, & Sharon Avni

Hebrew Infusion: Language and Community at American Jewish Summer Camps, by Benor, Sarah Bunin, Jonathan Krasner, & Sharon Avni

Tikkun Olam

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the revitalization of the women’s suffrage movement in the United States (U.S.), and rising antisemitism in Eastern Europe during the same period prompted a rapid increase in the U.S. Jewish population. The simultaneity of these historic events naturally proposes an inquiry into the role of Judaism and the growing Jewish community in the U.S. women’s suffrage movement. Jewish teachings about the equality and dignity of humankind positioned the Jewish community to support women’s suffrage. Traditions of tzedek (pursuing justice) and tikkun olam (repairing the world) were central to the practical religion of American Jews and motivated them to pursue active roles in orchestrating this social change. Furthermore, Jewish lived religion and experiences with antisemitism evoked an empathy that inspired many Jewish individuals and communities to combat discrimination and inequality against other marginalized groups, such as by participating in the women’s suffrage movement. Contemporary American Jewry continues to uphold these traditions of activism as pursuing social change is part of performing mitzvot (commandments and good deeds) in Judaism. Thus, religion can inspire social change by empowering individuals to work towards a better world.

Jewish Americans’ identity salience and effects on attitudes toward diversity

Although Jewish people in the US are often racialized (i.e., perceived by others) as White, Jewish Americans vary in the extent to which they consider themselves White, and in how strongly they identify with being Jewish. Based on prior findings that identifying with a White ethnic subgroup (e.g., Irish, Italian) can reduce prejudice toward racial and ethnic minorities, we predicted that strongly identified Jewish Americans would exhibit less intergroup bias than weakly identified Jewish Americans. For the present research, we recruited participants whose religious affiliation was Jewish but who self-identified as racially White. In a preregistered correlational study, Jewish identification was associated with lower bias, whereas White identification was associated with greater bias, toward Whites relative to racial/ethnic minorities. The relationship between Jewish identification and intergroup bias was accounted for by high Jewish identifiers’ perceptions that they could personally contribute to diversity in groups and organizations. Across three meta-analyzed experiments, participants whose religious minority (Jewish) identity was made salient exhibited less intergroup bias than did control participants, and in one preregistered experiment, perceived personal contributions to diversity mediated the effect of condition on intergroup bias. Implications for the forms of ethnic identity that predict more versus less intergroup bias in an increasingly multicultural society are discussed.

Turning Sour into Sweet, Darkness into Light

Abstract 9½ Mystics: The Kabbala Today by Rabbi Herbert Weiner introduced the idea of mystical search to a generation of American Jews who were turned off by traditional synagogue Judaism and unsure of how to relate to the emerging counterculture. He met with a number of mystics to find out if their life-secrets can have meaning even for those who do not share the full intensity of their experience. Weiner's search relied in large part on Gershom Scholem's idea that there was a dramatic contrast between rabbinic Judaism and Kabbalistic Judaism. Kabbalah was like an underground stream moving through the heart of Judaism, bringing with it transformative mythic ideas, providing inspiration and spiritual excitement. Weiner's book successfully popularised Scholem's theories of what Kabbalah was, as well as the mystical thought of previously unknown mystics such as Rav Kook. 9½ Mystics transformed the American Jewish religious landscape, especially in the Reform movement.

“Why Does Color Have to Matter?”: Color-Blind Racism and Political Polarization Among Jewish Americans

“Why Does Color Have to Matter?”: Color-Blind Racism and Political Polarization Among Jewish Americans

Drew Binsky’s Journey Through The Muslim World: Transforming Global Perceptions of Islam Through People-To-People Diplomacy

This study explores Drew Binsky's journey in the Muslim world and how it has the potential to influence global perceptions of Islam positively. Drew Binsky is a renowned travel vlogger who has explored various countries, delving into their cultures, traditions, and daily lives. Drew Binsky has engaged with Muslim communities in different countries throughout his journeys, sharing these experiences through vlogs and social media platforms. Despite being Jewish and born in the United States, his perception of Islam and Muslims has transformed after visiting and interacting with Muslim communities. Uploaded and shared on social media platforms, particularly YouTube, these experiences contribute to offering an alternative perspective on Islam to the global audience, challenging long-standing misconceptions perpetuated by mainstream global media, scholars, and Islamophobic politicians. The study employed the People-to-People Diplomacy approach to discuss Binsky's efforts through the videos uploaded on his YouTube channel. Research findings indicate that despite being an American Jew, Binsky holds a positive view of Islam and has shared his perspective through videos watched by millions, appreciated not only by Muslim viewers but also by non-Muslim audiences.

Beyond Zionism and Anti-Zionism: A Future of the American Jewish Left and the Negation of the ‘Negation of the Diaspora’

This essay engages the challenges and future of the New Jewish Anti-Zionist Left in America. How has anti-Zionism become an expression of progressive Jewishness and in what ways is this anti-Zionism itself a product of the Zionization of American Judaism in the past half century? The essay then turns to ask the ways progressive Jewish America can move past anti-Zionism and in doing so move past Zionization and begin to construct a New Radical Jewish Diasporism that would include new forms of religious/spiritual expression not bound by fidelity to Israel. This final section is more a prolegomenon for a possible future for the Jewish Left today to revive a new form of Radical Diasporism that is both not Zionist, and not anti-Zionist.

Jerome A. Chanes and Mark Silk, Eds., The Future of Judaism in America

Jerome A. Chanes and Mark Silk, Eds., The Future of Judaism in America

Identity Loss and Reconstruction in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Day

Mordecai Richler, a contemporary Canadian Jewish writer, reveals the identity confusion faced by Jewish immigrants in their integration into Canadian society through the description of the life experience of the protagonist Duddy Kravitz in his novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959). Meanwhile, in the novel Day (1961), Elie Wiesel, a contemporary American Jewish writer born in Romania, examines how Holocaust survivors lose their identities and attempt to seek identity reconstruction within the context of traumatic memories and guilt through the perspective of the protagonist, Eliezer. This article aims to interpret the manifestations and reasons for identity loss and the possibility of identity reconstruction of the protagonists Duddy Kravitz and Eliezer based on identity theory. Through interpretation, it can be concluded that Duddy is marginalized by mainstream society and blamed for anti-Semitism within the Jewish community, resulting in a significant identity crisis. However, his success in purchasing land offers the possibility for him to escape marginalization and achieve identity reconstruction in mainstream society. Similarly, Eliezer, as a Holocaust survivor, experiences identity loss under the influence of traumatic memories and feelings of guilt, leading to questioning the existence of God and a death wish. Nevertheless, in the later part of the novel, he transitions from an unnamed narrator to “Eliezer”, and the ashes left after his portrait is burned symbolize his completeness, allowing him to regain self-identity.

Rescuing the History of American Jewish Dissent on Israel

Rescuing the History of American Jewish Dissent on Israel

Protecting the Deli: Jewish Nostalgia and Social Justice in E. Lockhart's Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero

ABSTRACT: In this article, I analyze E. Lockhart's comic Whistle: A New Gotham City Hero (Burbank, CA: DC Comics, 2021) as a distinctively American Jewish text. I argue that Whistle draws upon nostalgia for an imagined Jewish past by creating an alternative present infused with the material culture of American Jewishness. In so doing, I show how the comic develops features of mainstream American Jewishness—such as eating at Jewish delis, holding a nostalgic attachment to American Jewish history, and working for social justice—in the construction of a superhero narrative. I explore how Whistle's visual depiction of Jewish food and space construct an authentically Jewish environment. Lastly, I suggest that, as a superhero comic book written for teenage readers, Whistle promotes nostalgia and the pursuit of social justice as components of American Jewishness.

New Scholarship on Zionism and the American Jewish Community

New Scholarship on Zionism and the American Jewish Community

Ethno-Religious Engagement, Minority Experiences, and Strengthening American Jewish Identity

Despite the complexity of and threats to American Jewish identity, little is known regarding how it is strengthened in adulthood. The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to understand the types of activities and minority experiences that strengthen Jewish identity and how this may differ from those with higher religious and cultural identification. Participants included 546 Jewish adults from 39 states who completed a survey covering topics related to Jewish activities, minority experiences, belongingness, continuity, Jewish identity, and demographics. Results indicated that regardless of cultural or religious identification, there were many similarly endorsed activities and minority experiences, even negative ones, that strengthen Jewish identity among adults. Implications for multicultural counseling competency when working with American Jews and ethno-religious identity are discussed.

Why is this (K)night Different: Passover, Blood, War, and the Conflict Between Jewish and American Identity in Jo Sinclair’s Wasteland and Dara Horn’s All Other Nights

ABSTRACT For hundreds of years, non-Jews have accused Jews of dual identity. Living in the diaspora, Jews were often accused of loyalty to their own religion or people, which sometimes collided with allegiance to the country they lived in. In the U.S. Americans sometimes suspected Jews of preferring their own well-being when having a conflict of interests. In times of war, American non-Jews sometimes perceived Jews as unpatriotic, evading drafts or profiteers. Jews, for their part, highlighted their contribution to America, minimizing their own differences. However, among themselves, they sometimes struggled with a clash between their two identities. This paper analyzes two Jewish American novels that take place during wars – Jo Sinclair’s Wasteland and Dana Horn’s All Other Nights. While the former is set in WWII and the latter in the Civil War, both dramatize the conflict between American and Jewish identity. Examining the tropes of war, blood, and Passover, shared by both novels, I demonstrate that whereas Wasteland sweeps anti-Semitism under the carpet, depicting the conflict as easy to resolve and embracing the army, All Other Nights accentuates the clash between Jewishness and Americanness especially through the army, raising questions about American Jewry which are extremely relevant today.

Segregated in Life and Death: Arnold R. Rich and the Racial Science of Tuberculosis

summary: Arnold Rich (1893–1968) was an acclaimed pathologist and the first Jewish department chair at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. In his landmark text, The Pathogenesis of Tuberculosis , Rich continued to advance the concept of racial susceptibility to tuberculosis a decade after mainstream medicine recognized that environmental factors fueled the disease. While Rich fits into the historical narrative that embedded categories of race facilitated scientific racism, two characteristics unique to Rich help to explain why he persisted. First were the scientific origins of his theories. While racial theorists sought to prove racial difference through science, Rich used racial difference to prove his outlying theories of tuberculosis immunology. Second was his identity as a prewar Jewish person when America’s focus on a racial binary pressured Jewish Americans to assimilate into white culture. Rich’s life and research exemplify how examining scientific racism through an individual complicates and expands our understanding of how race is constructed in the United States.

Jewish Identity and Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis of Israeli and American Jewish Communities

Jewish Identity and Diaspora: A Comparative Analysis of Israeli and American Jewish Communities

Joseph Reimer: Making Shabbat: Celebrating and Learning at American Jewish Summer Camps

Joseph Reimer: Making Shabbat: Celebrating and Learning at American Jewish Summer Camps

Sammy Gronemann’s “Little Mirror”: Translating Tohuwabohu into Utter Chaos

Abstract Reflecting on her English translation of Sammy Gronemann’s novel Tohuwabohu (originally published in German in 1920), which was released under the title Utter Chaos in 2016, Penny Milbouer’s essay reconstructs the enthusiastic reception of the novel by Albert Einstein, a discerning and knowledgeable reader. Milbouer explores the resonance between Gronemann’s and Einstein’s perspectives on modern German Jewish identity, nationalism, and antisemitism. Her essay examines Einstein’s disillusionment with American Jews’ assimilationist tendencies and analyses reasons for the failure to recognize Gronemann’s satire. Delving into Einstein’s experiences with antisemitism in America, Milbouer describes his evolving views on Zionism, contrasting American and European Jewish identities in the “little mirror” of Gronemann’s novel. Her conclusion highlights the contemporary relevance of Gronemann’s satire and Einstein’s warnings about the persistence of antisemitism, confirming that American Jews cannot escape confronting their identity or responding to discrimination and persecution.

Celebrating Fifty Years of Jewish Pride: An Autoethnographic View on Queerness, Diaspora and Homeland in an American Gay Synagogue

Anthropologists of religion are preoccupied with questions of identity, community, performance and representation. One way they cope with these concerns is through a reflexive examination of their ethnographic positionality in the field. This provides an opportunity to engage not only with “the other”, but also to explore their own identities and background. This article presents an autoethnographic analysis of Pride Shabbat, a special service held in June to celebrate the intersection of Judaism and queerness. The service took place at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) as part of their 50th-anniversary celebration. Since the 1970s, CBST has been known as the largest gay synagogue in the world and provided diverse religious and spiritual services to the Jewish LGBTQ+ community. Based on my participation in this specific event in June 2023, I draw distinct differences between the Israeli Jewish LGBTQ community and the American Jewish LGBTQ community, such as issues related to ageism and multigenerational perceptions within the gay community, the internal dynamic for gender dominance, as well as diverse trajectories of queerness, religiosity and nationality. Symbolically, contrary to the common perception that the diaspora looks to the state of Israel for symbolic and actual existence, this inquiry sheds light on the opposite perspective; the homeland (represented by the ethnographer) absorbs and learns from the queer Jewish practices and experiences taking place within the diaspora (the American Jewish LGBTQ community). This is an opposite movement which reveals the cracks in the perception of the gay community as a transnational community, as well as the tense power relations between Israel and American Jewry.