Jewish Affiliation Research Articles

Did the Nazis determine who is a Jew? Jewish identity, Holocaust remembrance and the true story behind Israel’s law of return

ABSTRACT The idea that the Nazis dictated (retrospectively) who should be considered a Jew in the State of Israel is widespread. Apparent similarities between Nuremberg and Israel’s Law of Return have reinforced the claim that anti-Semitism is the basis for defining Israel’s Jewishness. This study’s primary goal is to refute this prevailing false understanding by demonstrating how Israel’s Jewishness was not based on the reversal of Nazi laws but on positive organic Jewish outlooks. The second goal is to present the original narratives and show how the fallacious Nuremberg myth has evolved. During the 1950s, Israel’s founding fathers addressed the ‘Who is Jew’ question in terms of positive secular Jewish nationalism. The next generation (1970) adopted more religious definitions while being attentive to the evolving inter-marriage reality. In both cases, policy makers saw neither anti-Semitic persecution nor the Holocaust as the basis for defining Jewish affiliation. Only from the 1990s on, due to the need to legitimize the massive immigration of non-Jews, did the ‘Nuremberg myth’ begin to take root. In addition, the emergence of the Holocaust as a global moral imperative icon and a major source of Jewish and Israeli identification, contributed to the acceptance of the myth.

A Gentle Caveat: The Slippery Slope of Familial Belonging - Reviewed: Kinship, Law and Politics: An Anatomy of Belonging. By Joseph E. David. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp. 156. $110.00 (cloth); $88.00 (digital). ISBN: 9781108606967.

AbstractIn Kinship, Law and Politics: An Anatomy of Belonging Joseph David offers an erudite and duly nuanced analysis of Judaism as the faith of a people bound by kinship and a faith grounded in religious law, of consanguineous and spiritual belonging. In the premodern period and prior to the onset of secularization, the relation of kinship and spiritual belonging was determined by religious law in dialogue with evolving social realities. With the eclipse of religious authority, as David astutely notes, the traditional codes of Jewish belonging were desacralized, allowing for competing ethical and social values, and visions of the good. To remedy the consequent fracturing of Jewish affiliation, David calls for a revalorization of Jewish kinship, focused on familial affection and mutual regard, which he celebrates as an ethos of care. To cast the ethos of care in purely phenomenological terms, however, courts a blurring of the ethical and axiological boundaries between ideological communities—Left and Right—that offer bonds of mutual care, solidarity, and distinctive visions of the good. Moreover, as regards Judaism, one might find contemporary institutional expressions of Jewish kinship, religious or otherwise, to be incompatible with one’s understanding of the tradition’s teachings and values and choose not to belong.

Religious affiliation and COVID-19-related mortality: a retrospective cohort study of prelockdown and postlockdown risks in England and Wales

BackgroundCOVID-19 mortality risk is associated with demographic and behavioural factors; furthermore, religious gatherings have been linked with the spread of COVID-19. We sought to understand the variation in risk of...

Associations of sociodemographic and clinical factors with perinatal depression among Israeli women: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundPerinatal depression is a common problem that affects about 18% of women worldwide, though the heterogeneity between countries is great. The aims of this study were to assess the prevalence of perinatal depressive symptoms in a national sample of women in Israel, and to investigate associations of these symptoms with demographic, medical and lifestyle factors.MethodsThe study included all members of Maccabi Health Services, the second largest health maintenance organization in Israel, who filled the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) during 2015–2016. Crude odds ratios (ORs) and adjusted ORs (aORs) are presented for associations of sociodemographic, medical and lifestyle factors with perinatal depressive symptoms, according to a score ≥ 10 on the EPDS.ResultsOf 27,520 women who filled the EPDS, 1346 (4.9%) met the criteria for perinatal depression. In a logistic regression analysis we found the following factors associated with perinatal depression: the use of antidepressant medications (aOR = 2.34, 95% CI 1.94–2.82, P < 0.001 and aOR = 3.44; 95% CI 2.99–3.97, P < 0.001 for ≤3 months and > 3 months respectively), a diagnosis of chronic diabetes mellitus (aOR = 2.04; 95% CI 1.22–3.43, P = 0.007), Arab background (aOR = 2.28; 95% CI 1.82–2.86, P < 0.001), current and past smoking (aOR = 1.62; 95% CI 1.35–1.94, P < 0.001 and aOR = 1.36; 95% CI 1.05–1.76, P = 0.021, respectively), and anaemia (aOR = 1.17; 95% CI 1.04–1.32, P = 0.011). Orthodox Jewish affiliation and residence in the periphery of the country were associated with lower perinatal depression (aOR = 0.48; 95% CI 0.36–0.63, P < 0.001 and aOR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.57–0.92, P = 0.007, respectively).ConclusionsThe prevalence of perinatal depression in this study was 4.9%. Perinatal depression was associated with a number of demographic, medical and lifestyle factors, including the use of antidepressant medication, chronic diabetes mellitus, Arab background, current or past smoking, and anaemia. These risk factors may help identify women at risk of perinatal depression.

Clarifying Mitochondrial DNA Subclades of T2e from Mideast to Mexico

We report on two of the oldest mitochondrial DNA clusters in existence with Jewish affiliation. Both are in haplogroup T2e1. Four unrelated individuals from the Mexico mtDNA project were found to have the control region mutations that characterize a Sephardic signature previously reported (motif 16114T-16192T within T2e). Full genomic sequencing found the identical coding region mutations as Sephardic individuals which provides genetic evidence for founders of Northern Mexico that were both female and Sephardic Jewish. This is in contrast to a more common finding of European male, but local female founders and additionally lends biological support to anecdotes and historical reports of Crypto-Jewish founding of the Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas regions of Mexico and influx to Southern Texas, USA. The haplotype is nested in an old tree with mutations at positions 2308 and 15499, presently of uncertain geographic origin. The second cluster, a Bulgarian Sephardic founding lineage (9181G within T2e) previously reported, was found here in a population of largely Americans of European descent, but only among Jewish individuals. The non-synonymous mutation in ATPase 6 was found among both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews from diverse regions of Czech Republic, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Romania. Full genomic sequencing found great coding region variability with several haplotypes and suggested a Near East origin at least 3000 years old. This predates the split between Jewish groups, but more recent admixture between Sephardim and Ashkenazim cannot be ruled out. Together the two Jewish-affiliated clusters account for all the genetic distance found in branch T2e1 and much of T2e. The findings suggest reexamination of the origins of mitochondrial DNA haplogroup T2e as Levantine or early back migration to the Near East. New subclades of T2e are identified.

Toward a Kashrut Nation in American Jewish Cookbooks, 1990-2000

This essay examines five significant cookbooks published between 1990 and 2000 to determine the relation between the sharp increase in emphasis during the 1990s on kashrut, on the Jewish dietary laws, in the introductions and recipes of commercially published American Jewish cookbooks, and the concomitant "discovery," during the same period and in many of the same books, of a distinctively Jewish cuisine. I argue that these cookbooks fashioned a symbolic Jewish interpretive community, a kashrut nation, which justified and explained Jewish cuisine and forwarded a collective identity roomy enough for most American Jews. Such a kashrut nation also makes clear how contemporary anxiety about Jewish affiliation and Jewish continuity was assuaged through a renewed interest in cookbooks, and in the end illustrates how U.S. cultural and economic power was drafted in service of selling, and branding, a new Jewish cultural production.

:Contested Rituals: Circumcision, Kosher Butchering, and Jewish Political Life in Germany, 1843–1933

In this book, Robin Judd provides a history of two central blood rituals practiced by Jews in Germany during the nine decades between 1843 and 1933. Her decision to synthesize the histories of circumcision and kosher butchering is very clever. The parallels are uncanny, as both rituals define Jewish affiliation and require special ways of cutting flesh. Moreover, as various German governments extended control over religious life, both rituals underwent scrutiny by those who questioned their medical and physical consequences. Judd pays close attention to how Jewish organizations defended these rituals when state officials, animal protectionists, and antisemites campaigned to regulate or even forbid them. Her work brings neglected episodes in medical, civic, and religious history into sharp focus and thereby helps us better understand Jewish life during these crucial nine decades. This is no mean feat, considering the great attention historians have paid to understanding how much and what kind of agency Jews possessed in Germany before the Nazi era.

Binge Drinking in Jewish and Non-Jewish White College Students

Background In the United States, religious commitment, as measured by service attendance, has an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption, heavy use, and problem use. This association, however, has not been found consistently in Jewish Americans. The present study examined the relationship between religious variables and binge drinking in Jewish and non-Jewish white college students. In addition, the association among genetic, cultural, and religious variables and binge drinking was examined in the Jewish sample alone. Methods Participants were 132 Jewish and 147 non-Jewish white college students. All participants completed the Time-Line Follow-Back, had blood drawn for genotyping at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus ADH2, and reported their religious affiliation and the number of religious services attended in the past year. Jewish subjects also completed the Jewish Identity Scale. Results As hypothesized, more frequent religious service attendance related to lower rates of binge drinking in non-Jews but was not related to binge drinking in Jews. Within the Jewish sample, individuals who were religiously affiliated had approximately one third the risk of binge drinking as those who were secularly affiliated, but identification with Jewish culture was not related to binge drinking. In the total sample, individuals who possessed a variant alcohol dehydrogenase allele ADH2*2 were approximately half as likely to binge drink as those who did not possess this allele. Conclusions These results are consistent with previous studies that find an inverse relationship between religious service attendance and heavy alcohol use in Christian but not Jewish college students. Findings within the Jewish sample support theories that suggest religious, not just cultural, Jewish affiliation relates to lower levels of alcohol behavior. More research is needed to identify additional factors, including other religious, cultural, genetic, and biological influences, that protect Jewish Americans from heavy drinking.

Binge Drinking in Jewish and Non‐Jewish White College Students

Background In the United States, religious commitment, as measured by service attendance, has an inverse relationship with alcohol consumption, heavy use, and problem use. This association, however, has not been found consistently in Jewish Americans. The present study examined the relationship between religious variables and binge drinking in Jewish and non‐Jewish white college students. In addition, the association among genetic, cultural, and religious variables and binge drinking was examined in the Jewish sample alone.Methods Participants were 132 Jewish and 147 non‐Jewish white college students. All participants completed the Time‐Line Follow‐Back, had blood drawn for genotyping at the alcohol dehydrogenase locus ADH2, and reported their religious affiliation and the number of religious services attended in the past year. Jewish subjects also completed the Jewish Identity Scale.Results As hypothesized, more frequent religious service attendance related to lower rates of binge drinking in non‐Jews but was not related to binge drinking in Jews. Within the Jewish sample, individuals who were religiously affiliated had approximately one third the risk of binge drinking as those who were secularly affiliated, but identification with Jewish culture was not related to binge drinking. In the total sample, individuals who possessed a variant alcohol dehydrogenase allele ADH2*2 were approximately half as likely to binge drink as those who did not possess this allele.Conclusions These results are consistent with previous studies that find an inverse relationship between religious service attendance and heavy alcohol use in Christian but not Jewish college students. Findings within the Jewish sample support theories that suggest religious, not just cultural, Jewish affiliation relates to lower levels of alcohol behavior. More research is needed to identify additional factors, including other religious, cultural, genetic, and biological influences, that protect Jewish Americans from heavy drinking.

Jewish affiliation in relation to suicide rates.

Jewish doctrine proscribes the taking of one's life, an admonishment which is apparently adhered to in the USA. A significant negative correlation (-.26) was found between 50 states' proportionate Jewish population and their suicide rates.

Juifs français et Allemands dans la grande guerre

French and German Jews in the First World War, Philippe-Efraïm Landau. During the First World War, most Jews in both France and Germany took up the cause of their nation. For each community, the entry intro war carried a patriotic hope. By defending their fatherland, each camp's spokesmen believed they were reinforcing their national integration, beyond the specific and religious Jewish affiliation. In both countries, the war was perceived as a just cause, in France streng-thening democracy, the emancipation of Jews and human rights, and in Germany developing Germanity, a component of Judaism. Like all citizens, on both sides of the Rhine the Jews were nationalistic and bellicose.

Nursing home compliance with the Patient Self-Determination Act: does Jewish affiliation make a difference?

This paper reports on a mail survey of Jewish nursing homes nationally regarding their compliance with the federal Patient Self-Determination Act that became effective in December, 1991. Data is presented about the extent to which institutions' religious affiliation has influenced their advance directive policies and the procedures they have adopted to implement those policies. A content analysis of written advance directive policies used in Jewish nursing homes is presented also.

Parents' Religious Affiliation and Family Support for Student Activism

The influence of the family on the protest-proneness of college youth has been a focus of concern of several observers (e.g., 2, 4 ) . The available data indicate that student leftpolitical activists are not rebelling against core family values; rather, through their attempts to effect social reform, these individuals seem to be living out the sociopolitical convictions of their parents or other family members (3, 5, 6, 7 ) . Another consistent finding in this regard is that persons indicating Jewish affiliation or coming from Jewish homes are disproportionately represented among activist-oriented youth (e.g., 1, 6, 7 ) . Together, these trends suggest that the families of Jewish students are more inclined to support, or less disposed to proscribe, left-political activism than the families of Christian students. As part of a larger scudy of student activism, 78 introductory psychology volunteers who had indicated either Christian ( N = 72, 51 Protestant and 21 Catholic) or Jewish ( N = 6 ) affiliation for both parents completed a measure of the degree of support for activism they perceived to exist in their immediate family climates? Since no difference was found between the family support for activism scores of the Protestant and Catholic Ss, their data were combined. Despite the small Jewish sample, those students' family support scores (M = 8.67, SD = 1.4) were significantly higher than the scores ( M = 7.08, SD = 1.8) of their counterparts of Christian background ( t = 2.13, d f = 76, p < .05, twotailed). This finding of a perceived relative absence of family disapproval for engaging in political activism among 6 Jewish students is congruent with Flacks ( I ) and Lipset's ( 4 ) bclicf that Jtwish homes are more permissive than Christian ones. In addition, the present results suygcst indirectly that student political activists are behaving in accordance with, rather rhan In opposition to, the expectations of family members.

Familial Aspects Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

One hundred thirteen instances of familial inflammatory bowel disease have been recorded. In a series of 646 patients with inflammatory bowel disease observed since 1963, 113 gave acceptable evidence of inflammatory bowel disease among members of their families, a prevalence of 17.5%. To validate this observation, 150 patients were selected at random and matched as to age, sex, and religion with 150 healthy controls. A positive family history of inflammatoiy bowel disease was obtained in 4% of the matched control group and in 11% of the 150 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, a statistically significant difference. There were no significant differences between “familial” and “nonfamilial” groups with respect to sex, race, marital status, occupation, educational level, medical or surgical treatment, complications, or associated conditions. The data suggest that the proband with a positive family history of inflammatory bowel disease was more likely of Jewish affiliation and had developed the disease between the ages of 10 and 19 years.