Hello and welcome to the April edition of the Documensch Newsletter.
This month saw antisemitism used as a cudgel by the Trump administration to punish more of America’s elite universities and to arrest, deport, and terrorize foreign students and their allies. Harvard was the first to fight back aggressively, leading more universities to counter the administration’s extreme demands. Jewish students are protesting Trump’s moves while Jewish organizations are showing strong signs of resistance with 10 key groups signing a letter refusing to forsake democracy in the name of Jewish safety. The American Jewish communal world is watching what’s unfolding with a mix of horror and enthusiasm, depending on who you talk to.
American Jews are not united in this moment, except when it comes to a more general disapproval of Trump’s handling of antisemtism. A recent survey found 72% of American Jewish voters disapprove of Trump’s approach to the problem.
Through it all, we archive, we read, and we talk with folks who can help us understand this moment and how it fits into broader contexts. This month we highlight the recent move of our archival holdings to the Stanford Library servers. To help us sort through this moment for Jewish communal life, we spoke with Steven Windmueller about the themes, research, and priorities we should consider as we navigate this precarious moment for American Jewry. Finally, we offer an April Research Roundup of all the reports by and about the American Jewish world.
As always, reach out with feedback, suggestions of articles we should consider sharing, or ideas for documents we should consider archiving. We can be reached at bermanarchive@stanford.edu.
-Ari
We’ve Moved to Stanford’s Library
Big news behind the scenes of the Berman Archive. This month, we completed our successful move of our complete archive into Stanford’s Digital Repository. From a custom coded database to a new institutional home, we hope this move will improve your browsing experience and ensure the longterm integrity of our 21,000+ holdings dating back to the early 1900s. You can access the database from the search bar on our homepage, or directly on Stanford’s Library site. To go along with our move, we’re adding a consulting archivist to our team to help us with our collections strategy moving forward. Much more to come, but in the meantime, give our new archive a look.
The Longview of American Jewish Life
This month we’ve seen continued tumult and discomfort in the Jewish communal space, as antisemitism is used as a pretext by the Trump Administration to punish the nation’s elite universities through funding cuts, departmental oversight, and through the extreme abduction of foreign students who have been vocal against Israel. We wanted some perspective, so we reached out to Steven Windmueller, Professor Emeritus of Communal Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles, and an expert who has been studying and writing about the Jewish community for decades. Here’s our interview.
Berman Archive: You have been a leader in Jewish communal work for decades. What is motivating your work right now?
Steven Windmueller: On the one hand I am motivated by the exciting new opportunities afforded American Jewry that are redefining Jewish life, (the many factors here include the rise of boutique Judaism, “privatized Judaism,” and the emergence of “national synagogues”). I am also deeply concerned about the longterm impact involving Diaspora-Israel relations (the generational wars and more). The sharp rise in antisemitism and anti-Zionism is particularly troubling. American Jewry is rapidly and significantly changing, and this will result in the need to reexamine everything from how we engage, organize, and lead a 21st Century American Jewish community! Jewish political behavior is also undergoing a major transition, as Jews struggle to identify and advance their interests amidst a divided society.
What are some recent data points or pieces of research that have informed your understanding of American Jewry?
Five research studies are informing my thinking:
- The recently completed Cohen Center Jewish Population Studies of Jewish Communities.
- The 2024 ADL Study on Anti-Semitism with its specific findings dealing with Generation Z.
- The Foundation for Jewish Camping Study, pointing to the impact of Jewish camping on building Jewish identity.
- New studies on Jewish students, including BBYO’s 2024 Study.
- The recent release of books on the American Jewish future, among them: Tablets Shattered by Joshua Leifer, Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging by Rabbi Joshua Stanton, and The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today by Jack Wertheimer.
What has most surprised you about American Jewish communal life in the post Oct 7 era, Biden era, and now Trump 2.0 era?
As my writings reflect, I am particularly focused on three core political trends:
- “Jewish Political Homelessness”: While some Jews may have found their “safe” political space, many American Jews are in search of a political home that both advances support for Israel while also defending liberal Jewish values and interests at home.
- The Growing Divide Between American Jewry and Israel: in part generational. The deep differences around Israel are having a profound impact on our community, even within families, as Jews differ over their support and connection with Israel.
- The Trump Effect: How President Trump is employing his “fight against antisemitism” as a political tool in his war on liberal institutions. The danger of such a political play can lead to a devastating and challenging backlash against America’s Jews.
Read the Full Interview
Research Roundup
In addition to the research and writings shared by Steven Windmueller in this month’s interview, much research by and about the American Jewish Community dropped this month. Here’s a roundup. An evergreen reminder: our role here is not to weigh in on which studies we find credible and which we wished were stronger. We find all of these documents insightful both for what they reveal and what they say implicitly about the concerns of American Jewish organizations and American Jews more generally.
PEW Research Center has released a series of reports and analyses on Americans’ opinion of Israel, the overall American religious landscape, and religious switching into and out of Judaism.
The Nexus Project released Fighting Antisemitism, Protecting Democracy: A Strategy for the Trump Era.
The ADL released its 2024 Audit of Antisemtic Incidents.
The Jim Joseph Foundation released new research on Reinventing Hebrew School.
