Archive
JTA: Flory and Belzer on the Spiritual Lives of Young Jews
Young Jews, age 13-25, are among those who are least likely to be thriving spiritually and religiously, according to a survey conducted by Springtide Research Institute. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency turned to …
When What You Do Is Who You Are: The Intersection of Jewish Organizational Culture and Identity
“By the time Shabbat comes around, I don’t want to see another Jew or think about anything Jewish.” I have heard variations on that statement countless times over the years that I …
Jewish Unbound: Tobin Belzer on Studying Jews Differently
Jewish identity has long been measured by whether a person holds certain attitudes or practices certain behaviors, but there’s a different way to look at it, argues Tobin Belzer, a contributing fellow …
Holy Listening Connects Young Adults to Churches
This post, co-authored by Dori Baker, originally appeared on Faith & Leadership. Multicolored Post-it notes dot the walls of the seminary classroom. Here, in a pop-up design thinking lab, people are buzzing …
An “Everybody Friendly, Artist-Driven, God-Optional” Jewish New Year
Most of my memories of Jewish worship services are an amalgamation of the hundreds of services I’ve attended throughout my life. But there are a few that stand out. At a Shabbat …
10 Years of the American Muslim Civic Leadership Initiative – Evaluation Report
Founded in 2006 and launched programming in 2008, the American Muslim Civic Leadership Initiative (AMCLI) works to transform the Muslim communal landscape in the United States by empowering the next generation of …
Happy Chrismukkah: On the Complexity of Jewish Identity
(Image from Adam Baron on Flickr Commons) Back in March, I traveled to a two-day conference called “Rethinking Jewish Identity and Education” at the Mandel Center at Brandeis University. On the flight …
A Different Approach to Studying American Jews
(Photo by Yonatan Sindel) Since the Pew Research Center launched “A Portrait of Jewish Americans: Findings from a Pew Research Center Survey of U.S. Jews,” I’ve had a lot of interesting encounters …
Creative Expressions of Jewishness
This month, the Yiddish Book Center will launch a new program called Tent: Encounters With Jewish Culture, which is based on the belief that “modern culture can inspire us to think imaginatively …
Jewish Identity and the High Holidays
My dual roles as a Jewish sociologist and a sociologist of American Jewry come to the forefront during the Jewish High Holidays. Each year, as I take part in the holidays, I …
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods
Outcomes Measurement in the Human Services, 2nd Ed.: Cross-Cutting Issues and Methods in the Era of Health Reform Jennifer L. Magnabosco and Ronald W. Manderscheid, Editors (NASW Press: 2011) …