Raquel Magidin de Kramer

The goal of the current study is to develop a typology of engagement among Jewish day school students that reflects the multidimensional nature of Jewish engagement and identity (Hartman, 2014; Horowitz, 2003; Himmelfarb, 1982). This study builds on the Jewish engagement typology (the Index of Jewish Engagement) developed for local Jewish community studies (Aronson et al., 2018) and applies this method to a dataset of over 4,000 Jewish day school students collected as part of the Hearts and Minds study of Israel education (Pomson et al., 2014). Although the focus of Hearts and Minds was on Israel education, the study collected data about many aspects of Jewish life. The present study uses that data to examine Jewish engagement among day school students more broadly. The purpose of this typology is twofold: 1. To identify the characteristics of individual students and of schools that are associated with various patterns of Jewish engagement; 2. To understand the patterns of interests and attitudes among students in order to enable educators to better tailor educational activities for their students.

As in the larger society, the Jewish community has suffered widespread health and social disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This chapter describes the results of a set of surveys conducted May–July 2020 to assess the social impact of COVID on the US Jewish community and examine how Jewish organizations have responded to changing needs. Nearly 15,000 individuals recruited from organizational lists in federated Jewish communities completed surveys that focused on economic and mental health issues and the role of Jewish organizations. The findings documented that individuals in difficult financial situations prior to the crisis were more likely to have their financial situations worsen and have more difficulty coping with the emotional challenges related to the pandemic. Consistent with other research on the US population, Jewish young adults have disproportionately suffered mental health consequences during the pandemic. People who were most involved in Jewish life prior to the pandemic participated in online Jewish life more frequently than those who were less engaged. As the pandemic and its fallout continues, organizations will need to continue to respond to emerging human service needs, support online Jewish life, and find ways to facilitate interpersonal connections among community members.