Leonard Saxe

Our response to Beinart and others who share his view of a profound and growing schism between liberal American Jews and establishment advocacy organizations is not based on political differences. Rather, our concern is that he and others have allowed their own political allegiances to color their interpretation of the views of the broader American Jewish public. In so doing, they give a distorted impression of American Jewish opinion and overlook important developments in the relationship of American Jews to Israel.

This article is based on data from our national study of Jewish Life on the American college campus. Recent years have seen a burgeoning of Jewish studies programs. Our research shows that significant numbers of Jewish students take one or more Jewish studies courses during their undergraduate careers and that these courses manage to reach students who are otherwise untouched by formal Jewish life on campus. The courses, however, are part of the university’s academic mission and, as such, are mainly concerned with scholarship and not with identity building. Reprinted with permission from Contact, the Journal of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, Winter 2005. Read the full issue at: http://www.jewishlife.org/pdf/winter_2005.pdf.