Jews in America – Excerpted

5 April 2019

Tagged Birthright Israel, Charles Bronfman, Jewish philanthropy, Michael Steinhardt, Sheldon Adelson

“Birthright Israel manifests the interlacing power of identity and endowment in American Jewish life”

Birthright Israel, the nonprofit organization that Steinhardt started in 1999 with his billionaire friend Charles Bronfman to fund free trips to Israel […]

Jewish Community / Jews in America

4 April 2019

Tagged American Jewish Community, continuity crisis, Jewish continuity crisis, Jewish Demographics, Michael Steinhardt

“Cohen’s analysis focused simply on biological continuity and avoided the substantive questions inherent in any discussion of the how of the Jewish future”

Until he was brought down by revelations of decades of sexual harassment, sociologist Steven M. Cohen made a career linking intermarriage with […]

Jewish Community / Jews in America

28 February 2019

Tagged American Jewish Community, American Jewish Discourse

“Community is messy; be wary of those trying so hard to make it clean”

…while Jewish organizations should be allowed to exercise caution about their overt structural partnerships with those protesting them outside, the quick mapping […]

Jewish Community / Jewish Organizations / Jews in America

27 February 2019

Tagged American Jewish Community, American Jewish Discourse, Jewish community, Yehuda Kurtzer

There is a “political phenomenon in the Jewish community…on the disincentivizing of all forms of ‘courageous leadership’ by relatively small numbers of individuals who can drive a community agenda”

…a larger political phenomenon in the Jewish community…on the disincentivizing of all forms of “courageous leadership” by relatively small numbers of individuals […]

Jewish Community / Jewish Organizations / Jews in America

8 February 2019

Tagged American Jews, Jewish Organizations, Jewish organized community, Jews in America, Yehuda Kurtzer

“…the great divides are about how or whether American Jews feel essentially safe and at home or eternally vulnerable and vigilant…”

The basic political theory behind organized Jewish communal (read: establishment) politics in America since World War II has been to applaud and […]

Jews in America / Passover

28 March 2018

Tagged American Jewry, American Jews, Haggadah, Passover, Passover Haggadah

“Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of the obligation to imagine ourselves being redeemed from Egypt…to a proud American Jew, living with equality and freedom, it seems impossible”

Every Passover, we read the haggadah at the seder and we are reminded of the obligation to imagine ourselves being redeemed from […]

Jewish Community / Jewish Organizations / Jewish schools / Jews in America

26 March 2018

Tagged Abuse, accusations, American Jewish Community, Jewish Organizations

“Our criminal justice system punishes only the clearly guilty, and our media absolves only the clearly innocent — but that does not tell us whom our schools, synagogues and other institutions should employ”

We have to think long and hard as a community as to how we want to handle cases where abuse is alleged […]

Jewish Education / Jews in America / Philanthropy / Tzedakah

22 March 2018

Tagged financial aid, Jewish ecosystem, Jewish Life, Philanthropy

“Are there assumptions – correct or incorrect – in Jewish communal life that ‘the community’ is supposed to be the principal fiduciary in the financial needs of Jewish households?”

I’ve been thinking about the implied economy in educational institutions, especially as it is understood in the financial aid/tuition assistance process. Ostensibly, […]

Jewish Community / Jews in America

25 October 2017

Tagged American Jewish Community, Israel, Israel politics, Jewish community, political movements

“How does our community, committed to Israel as well as a host of other social justice commitments, navigate collaboration with other faith and political leaders who not only oppose one critical piece of our community’s agenda but often even militate against it?”

How does our community, committed to Israel as well as a host of other social justice commitments, navigate collaboration with other faith […]

Israel / Jews in America

4 September 2017

Tagged American Jewish identity, American Jews, Israeli Jews, Relationship Between American Jews and Israelis

“American Jewry and Israeli Jewry can both be success stories, even as the standards for thickness, moral integrity, spiritual health, political vitality, and continuity must be measured by different gauges”

By extension, it is time to take each of these communities seriously on their own terms, and not allow the successes and […]