Matt Boxer

Although researchers have long recognized the multidimensional nature of Jewish life (e.g., Hartman in Studies in Contemporary Jewry, Oxford University Press, New York, 2014; Himmelfarb in Understanding American Jewry, Brandeis University, Waltham, 1982), most sociodemographic studies examine Jewish behaviors and attitudes in isolation rather than considering their complex interactions. Examining each of these behaviors and dimensions separately provides only limited understanding of the meaning and enactment of Jewish identity. The present study presents a statistical method to understand the patterns of Jewish engagement across multiple dimensions. Based on data from a survey of the Greater Boston Jewish community, latent class analysis was used to combine 14 behavioral measures into a typology of Jewish engagement. The results were a “partially ordered” set of 5 classes representing distinct behavior patterns. Three of the classes followed a low-to-high continuum. Two classes did not follow this order and represented distinct but parallel patterns of engagement. Most notably, the study identified a category of Cultural Jews who do not regularly practice Jewish rituals or affiliate with synagogues but do feel strong connections to the Jewish community. A simple continuum of Jewish identity disguises the multidimensional nature of engagement and provides too simplistic a tool for policymakers. This approach suggests not only a new method of measuring Jewish engagement, but, more importantly, a new way to understand contemporary Jewish identity.

Jews are a small proportion of the overall population and local community surveys are inherently challenging to conduct. Until recently, primary sample random digit dialing (RDD) surveys have been the preferred approach. But the proliferation of cellphones and declining response rates make RDD extremely expensive. The result is that communities who use RDD end up relying on small and/or biased samples. To overcome these challenges, the authors have developed a multi-method approach. It relies on cross-survey synthesis of extant RDD survey data that yields, along with significant cost savings, a more comprehensive sample. The approach also utilizes a broad list-based sample that goes beyond local federation lists and includes multiple other organizations. To maximize response rates, surveys are fielded both by phone and email. Finally, to correct for sample bias, adjustments are made using census-like data on organizational memberships and enrollments. In a series of four local Jewish community studies, the use of multiple methods has produced results that can be cross-validated against known data about the local Jewish community and known information that describes the local community context. Responding to the challenges posed by local Jewish community studies requires being transparent about the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used, while being responsive to the questions posed by communal sponsors.

“…the first recorded instance of evaluation occurred when man, woman, and serpent were punished for having engaged in acts which apparently had not been among the objectives defined by the Program circumscribing their existence” (Perloff et al. 1976). Since that bit of Divine retribution, evaluation research has become commonplace, but one may occasionally wonder how far it has advanced from its apparently punitive origins. In an article published in a recent issue of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service (Winter/Spring 2013) devoted to “big ideas and bold solutions” in Jewish communal life, Leonard Saxe, our honored Sklare Award winner, and Fern Chertok proposed the “big idea” that Jewish organizations rely on data—evidence—to drive communal decision-making (Saxe and Chertok 2013).

To understand the characteristics and attitudes of the US Jewish population, researchers have increasingly relied on respondents drawn from established online consumer survey panels. In the absence of a large, nationally representative study of US Jews, online panels provide a faster and lower cost alternative to cross-sectional surveys. The present paper describes general issues associated with studies conducted with consumer panels that affect the validity and generalizability of their findings. The paper focuses on one of the largest and most often utilized probability based consumer panels, that of Knowledge Networks. The key question about the results of studies based on the Knowledge Networks panel, as well as studies based on nonprobability samples, is whether their findings represent the population. Along with considering the bias that may result from sampling designs, including the willingness to participate in consumer research, the paper also considers whether bias can be addressed by application of post-stratification weights. Analyses are reported of a survey conducted using the Knowledge Networks panel. Various alternative weighting protocols were applied. Relationships between variables appear robust regardless of survey weights, but precise estimates of the magnitude of such relationships as well as overall population proportions require current and accurate socio-demographic data about American Jews for development of weights. Although it is possible that there is systematic bias in regard to willingness to participate in a consumer panel, the availability of high quality demographic data makes a prerecruited probability sample a valuable source of information for ongoing study of the American Jewish community.

Harold Himmelfarb’s research in the 1970s yielded estimates of average hours per year of Judaic instruction offered by Jewish day schools and supplementary schools in North America that have since been used by quantitative researchers to model the impact of formal Jewish education on Jewish identity. Unfortunately, these estimates are not reflective of contemporary patterns of Jewish schooling. Using data from a national sample of Jewish schools collected by JData.com, an on-line repository for information on Jewish educational programs in North America, this research revisits Himmelfarb’s estimates and provides a contemporary update. Limitations of the new approach are addressed. The revised figures do not substantially affect outcomes of statistical models; nevertheless, as a matter of principle, the revisions are necessary to reduce error in a key variable used widely in quantitative research on Jewish identity.

Short-term, immersive, Jewish service-learning (IJSL) programs have emerged as a key communal strategy to encourage Jewish young adults to engage in service and see their volunteer work as a Jewish act. Utilizing two years of multi-method research, this article opens the " black box " of IJSL pedagogy, suggesting that group cohesion, quality of service work, interactions with community members, learning sessions, Jewish observance , and follow-up programming are critical to participant outcomes, including connections between Jewish identity and service and plans to engage in future volunteer work and to volunteer under Jewish auspices. The article also explores the limitations of current recruitment paradigms, which often result in gender-imbalanced groups with a history of strong Jewish engagement. It recommends that the IJSL fi eld engage in a process of external scanning for innovative ideas, foster a culture of experimentation and " demonstration projects, " and integrate feedback systems into planning and decision making. What we want to change we curse and then pick up a tool.

The relationship of Diaspora Jews has been the focus of intense, sometimes bitter debate, both before and after the establishment
of the State of Israel. The creation of Israel in the shadow of the Holocaust and the “ingathering” of Jews from around the world in its first decade muted critical voices, even those who had been ambivalent. In the early years of the state, what began as harsh rhetoric about shlilat ha’golah (negation of the Diaspora) and the impossibility of full Jewish life outside of Israel, moderated and Diaspora Jews learned to love Israel, without feeling guilty about not making aliya. In particular among American Jews, perhaps the
most settled Jewish Diasporans, Israel became a focus of extraordinary pride.

This paper uses the case of Jewish schools in Chicago to explore the role of religious schools in the development of cultural capital among youth. The author focus on three sectors of Jewish Schools (Orthodox day schools, non-Orthodox day schools, and non-Orthodox supplementary schools) as contexts for learning and expressing Jewish practices, affiliations, and beliefs, which are understood to be markers of cultural capital for the Jewish community. Survey results from 834 students in grades 7-12 revealed that family and school environments are independently associated with cultural capital development. Generally, the contributions of families are more prominent than the impact of schools, but both school type and learning opportunities also contribute to cultural outcomes.