Berman Archive at Stanford

Berman Archive at Stanford

@bermanarchive.bsky.social

The Berman Archive documents American Jewish Communities. We’re the largest archive of the printed material of communal American Jewish life. Website: https://bermanarchive.stanford.edu/ Documensch Daily: https://bermanarchive.stanford.edu/documensch

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Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Nine men at San Quentin chanted Torah at a July b’nai mitzvah, the first known there. None born Jewish, none converted yet. Some now want to. The catch: no mikvah behind the walls. @jewishsf.bsky.social jweekly.com/2026/10/21/i...

jweekly.comInside the first known b’nai mitzvah ceremony at San QuentinThis summer, nine men at San Quentin participated in a group b’nai mitzvah after a year of study, even though they aren’t technically Jewish.

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RNS
@rns.org

(RNS) — ‘Black, Jewish, and Beautiful,’ which published Oct. 15 by Syracuse University Press, includes essays by and interviews with 14 Black Jews from across the United States, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Uganda.

religionnews.comNew anthology explores the myriad ways of being Black and Jewish (RNS) — ‘Black, Jewish, and Beautiful,’ which published Oct. 15 by Syracuse University Press, includes essays by and interviews with 14 Black Jews from across the United States, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Uganda.

Berman Archive at Stanford reposted

Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Are Jews an ethnic group? California's new law, SB 1387, puts "Jewish" on state demographic forms. On Nov 2 at Stanford, a panel of experts explores what it all means: the good, bad and unintended. Join in person or on Zoom. 👉 bermanarchive.stanford.edu/are-jews-an-...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduAre Jews an Ethnic Group?Mon, Nov 2, 5:30 pm PT, at Stanford and on Zoom. California’s new law SB 1387 lets Jews identify as Jewish on state ethnicity questions. Is that good for the Jews of California? Free; registration req...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Are Jews an ethnic group? California's new law, SB 1387, puts "Jewish" on state demographic forms. On Nov 2 at Stanford, a panel of experts explores what it all means: the good, bad and unintended. Join in person or on Zoom. 👉 bermanarchive.stanford.edu/are-jews-an-...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduAre Jews an Ethnic Group?Mon, Nov 2, 5:30 pm PT, at Stanford and on Zoom. California’s new law SB 1387 lets Jews identify as Jewish on state ethnicity questions. Is that good for the Jews of California? Free; registration req...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Our September Research Newsletter is out: record Jewish security spending, polls for days, Canadian Jews' fears, and a year of community studies on one map. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/all-over-the...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduDocumensch Research: All Over the MapSeptember was a month for counting, and not just in the High Holiday liturgy. We begin with a new record in what American Jewish institutions spend on security and two new polls of Jewish voters headi...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

September's Documensch Research is out: record Jewish security spending, three new polls, Canadian Jews' eroding sense of safety, why Jews ran Tin Pan Alley, and a year of community studies on one map. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/all-over-the...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduDocumensch Research: All Over the MapSeptember was a month for counting, and not just in the High Holiday liturgy. We begin with a new record in what American Jewish institutions spend on security and two new polls of Jewish voters headi...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

88% of Canadian Jews now feel less safe than they did five years ago, up from 63% in 2024, and 26% have thought seriously about leaving the country. The Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026: cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cj...

cjs.journals.yorku.ca Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026: Pressures on Canadian Jews and their Responses | Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennesThe Association for Canadian Jewish Studies encourages research on the Canadian Jewish experience through the disciplines of political science, sociology, economics, geography, history, demography, ed...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"I can't help but wonder which Jews might be overlooked by such a vague definition." —Rabbi Kendell Pinkney, Reboot, raises a concern about who gets left out. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"Saying 'I am ethnically Jewish' is a tautology, since that is the same as saying 'I am Jewish.'" —Shaul Magid, Harvard Divinity School, picks apart the logic of the new law that makes Jews a demographic category in California bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"We are a people, not only a religion," says Sarah Levin, Executive Director, JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. Read Levin's thoughts on why her organization backs SB 1387, and what she hopes comes next. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

SB 1387 borrows the same logic California used to break "Asian" into specific nationalities on state forms. Keith Feldman, UC Berkeley, worries that applied to Jews, it could feed "conspiratorial thinking that figure Jews as somehow essentially apart from the U.S. national polity."

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"Better to be undefined and uncounted." —Historian Deborah Dash Moore, University of Michigan, on why she's skeptical California should count Jews as an ethnicity at all. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"Jewishness runs through ancestry, culture, and peoplehood, and most American Jews describe their Jewishness in those terms before they describe it through religion." —@davidbocarsly.bsky.social, CEO of Jewish California, on his sponsorship of SB 1387 bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

"The function, not the form, of the category matters." — Lila Corwin Berman (@lilacb.bsky.social), historian at NYU, on what's actually at stake if California starts counting Jews as an ethnicity. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

SB 1387 could make California the first state in the country to count Jews as an ethnicity on state forms. It's on the Governor's desk now. Seven perspectives on what's actually at stake: bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...

Berman Archive at Stanford reposted

Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

California is one signature away from becoming the first state to legally define Jewish identity as an ethnicity. We got responses from seven scholars, advocates, and community leaders to weigh in on the implications. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

LGBTQ Jews face two threats during the High Holidays (and beyond): rising antisemitism and escalating anti-LGBTQ hostility. JQY's Rachael Fried on why synagogues need to say the welcome out loud.

religionnews.comLGBTQ Jews face dual threats these High Holidays. Here’s how synagogues can be their refuge.(RNS) — Every congregation can plan ahead, communicate with respect and ensure that no one is humiliated at the door, singled out during a meal or made to feel that their presence is merely being tole...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

California is one signature away from becoming the first state to legally define Jewish identity as an ethnicity. We got responses from seven scholars, advocates, and community leaders to weigh in on the implications. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...

Berman Archive at Stanford reposted

Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

California could become the first state to legally count Jews as an ethnicity. SB 1387 is sitting on the Governor's desk right now. We asked seven scholars and advocates what that actually means. ✅ bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

California could become the first state to legally count Jews as an ethnicity. SB 1387 is sitting on the Governor's desk right now. We asked seven scholars and advocates what that actually means. ✅ bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...

bermanarchive.stanford.eduCounting California Jews | Berman ArchiveWhat are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

A national survey finds 67% of American Jews are planning to vote Democratic in the midterms and 89% are concerned about antisemitism. Emotional attachment to Israel remains high at 71%, but 65% disapprove of the Israeli government's West Bank and Gaza policy. jewishvoters.org/new-poll-67-...

jewishvoters.orgTwo Months Before Election Day, Jewish Voters Continue to Strongly Support Democrats, Sharply Reject President TrumpA new national poll of Jewish voters, conducted two months before the midterm elections, finds that Jewish voters will overwhelmingly vote for Democrats in the midterm elections.
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Attendance at Bar Yohai Sephardic Minyan in Sunnyvale has doubled in six years, and not from young-adult programming. The growth stems from factors in close proximity: a day school, an eruv, a walkable neighborhood, the synagogue next door. @jewishsf.bsky.social jweekly.com/2026/09/04/s...

jweekly.comSunnyvale's Sephardic congregation is attracting a young crowdBar Yohai serves a growing population of Silicon Valley Jews, especially Israelis, across Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage.
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Tin Pan Alley was the cluster of NYC publishers who turned pop songwriting into an industry during the turn of the 20th century. Jewish immigrants ran most of it. Why? It was thought that Jews were shut out of respectable professions and brought commercial instincts over from Europe. Not quite:

tandfonline.comLiberalism, Ethnicity and the Origin of American Jews’ Prominence on Tin Pan AlleyThis article re-examines Jewish prominence in Tin Pan Alley beyond familiar narratives of exclusion and inherited commercial aptitude. It argues that Jewish success reflected a distinctive liberal ...
Berman Archive at Stanford
@bermanarchive.bsky.social

Mothers Against College Antisemitism's founder has been at war with the org's board for nine months. The 60,000-member Facebook group at the center of the dispute is legally the nonprofit's asset, but the founder refuses to cede control.

ejewishphilanthropy.comWhat Jewish leaders can learn from nine months of Mothers Against College Antisemitism infightingOn Friday evening, the popular, often boisterous grassroots advocacy Facebook group Mothers Against College Antisemitism instituted new rules: “Pausing” discussions about its “internal dispute” and pr...