Research and news about American Jews
Updated 11/13/25
COMMUNITY RESEARCH
Rabbi Research: The Atra Center for Rabbinic Innovation just released a comprehensive study of the rabbinate in the US. Notable for its breadth and rigor, the report counts 4,144 rabbis in the US (excluding Haredi). Read more about the report in the Forward and JTA. [11/13/25]
Studying Sephardic Inclusion: JIMENA* just released two new reports about the state of inclusion efforts in day schools and camps in New York and Los Angeles.
*In the Berman Archive: Read our recent interview with JIMENA Executive Director Sarah Levin about their research efforts. [11/10/25]
Democracy & Safety: The Shofar Report by the Nexus Project aims to combat antisemitism in a new way—by connecting the fight for democracy with the fight for Jewish safety. “People think that we need to fight antisemitism and then, as a separate matter, you need to fight the weaponization of antisemitism,” says Nexus National Director Jonathan Jacoby. And we’re saying fighting the weaponization of antisemitism is a strategy for fighting antisemitism.”
[10/14/25]
Surveying Antisemitic Experiences: The ADL and Jewish Federations of North America released a survey charting the ongoing rise in antisemitic experiences of American Jews. The Forward offered some analysis. [10/6/25]
The G-word: Washington Post released a poll (conducted before the most recent ceasefire) this month showing nearly four in 10 US Jews say Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, among other findings. The Times of Israel has a summary. [10/6/25]
Queer Elders: Mapping Jewish San Francisco recently launched a very compelling exhibit on the lives and legacies of Jewish queer elders*.
*In the Archive: 1997 essay in Response: A Contemporary Jewish Review, about the influences and inspirations for Adrienne Rich’s poetry and her impact on Jewish and LGBT culture. [10/1/25]
Teaching American Jewish History: As part of its Hidden Voices curricular effort, NYC public schools will be getting a new tool this year to help teach about American Jews. Created with the help of many Jewish Studies scholars and educators, Hidden Voices: Jewish Americans in United States History is a robust supplement to the required social studies K-12 curriculum. [9/15/25]
Hopeless? Hopeful?: M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education released The Hope Study, finding Jewish community professionals are experiencing a crisis of hope. [9/1/25]
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Rainbow Connection: In Jewish Culture and History, Teresa Bernheimer explores how discussions of the rainbow traverse centuries and cross boundaries of language, genre, and religious tradition. [11/5/25]
Back in the USSR: A new article in Holocaust and Genocide Studies explores the wartime and postwar experiences of some of the Polish Jews who remained in one of the Soviet republics. [11/3/25]
Nu Narratives: The Journal of Modern Jewish Studies offers an analysis of Thane Rosenbaum’s novels Second Hand Smoke and The Golems of Gotham, second-generation Holocaust narratives that reframe the collective memory of the Holocaust to include its aftermath on the later generations. [10/20/25]
Underground Couriers: The East European Jewish Affairs posted a few new articles this month, including one on the role of the Kashariyot (female couriers) in Poland’s ghetto undergrounds during the Holocaust. [10/16/25]
Mapping the Holocaust: Two interesting mapping projects were published in Holocaust and Genocide Studies this month. “Expanding Holocaust Cartography: Memory Maps as Testimonies” focuses on maps of victims of the Treblinka death camp and the hand-drawn maps appearing in postwar memorial books to highlight maps’ ambiguous standing as archival sources, as well as the unique histories they communicate. “Mapping the Emotional Landscapes of the Holocaust: Visualizing Space and Place in Survivor Trajectories” explores experiments with more multifaceted mapping of Holocaust space and place to include the emotional dimensions of spatial experience. [10/10/25]
Renaissance Mensch: Jewish Culture and History published “Jacob Marcaria: A Jewish Printer in Renaissance Italy.” Marcaria was a member of the rabbinical court in Venice, a physician, a matchmaker, and an intellectual personality of the time. [10/6/25]
Assessing Assumptions: In the Journal of Jewish Education Esther S. Friedman examines a professional development initiative designed to help Tanakh teachers surface and reflect on their assumptions about students’ beliefs. [10/2/25]
NEWS OF NOTE
Rabbis & Politics: Aaron Dorfman, Executive Director of a A More Perfect Union, writes about the complicated costs of rabbis making political endorsements: “Even though publicly supporting a particular candidate might feel urgent in the moment, endorsements cost us something essential. They oversimplify moral leadership. They divide communities. And they come with political pressures that erode trust and integrity.” [11/7/25]
Exit Strategy: The Heritage Foundation’s antisemitism effort is losing Jewish supporters and partner organizations because of its blatant alignment with antisemitic, white nationalist figures. [11/4/25]
HIAS, Now & Then: Beth Oppenheim, the new CEO of HIAS, was interviewed by eJewishPhilanthropy this week. HIAS has focused on helping refugees* around the world since 1881 and has struggled in recent years amidst an adverse funding and political environment.
*In the Berman Archive: In a 1915 edition of Jewish Charities, there’s an in-depth account of the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America (now HIAS). 110 years ago, the organization was engaged in the work of helping Jewish immigrants amidst an ever shifting, tumultuous political backdrop. [10/30/25]
All Eyes on NYC: As we approach election day next week, the Jewish world is laser focused on the issues that matter most: whether or not the next mayor of New York City will be good for the Jews. This race has been covered from every conceivable angle by the press, Jewish and otherwise. Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy has elicited fawning, brow furrowing, fear, and letters. He’s against Zionism but for teaching about it in NYC schools and he has an excellent bagel order (poppy seed + scallion cream cheese). Happy voting, New York. [10/29/25]
The Jewish Museum* on 5th Avenue in New York City just unveiled its extensive renovations, giving the landmark museum a fresh take on its gallery space, featuring everything from abstract expressionist paintings to torah scrolls scorched in the Revolutionary War.
*In the Berman Archive: In 1991 Ruth Seldin wrote about the rise of the American Jewish museum. The piece quotes Joan Rosenbaum, then the director of the Jewish Museum of New York. [10/22/25]
Goodbye ROI: For 20 Years, the ROI fellowship was a landmark project by the Schusterman Family Foundation* supporting cohorts of American Jews pursuing social justice and entrepreneurial goals through grants, summits in Israel and an active network of fellows. The influential programming is coming to an end.
*In the Berman Archive: An article by Charles and Lynn Schusterman in Sh’ma about a transition the foundation was making in 1997, after 10 years in operation. [10/21/25]
