Changing Jewish Communities

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The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs/Center for Jewish Community Studies has been a leader in the field of Jewish community studies for over three decades. Its founding president, Professor Daniel Elazar, was a pioneer in the analysis of Jewish communities worldwide. The JCPA/CJCS's Jews in the American Public Square program, which has led to the publication of four books, is just one manifestation of this effort.

The Changing Jewish Communities program builds on this infrastructure and investigates recent developments in Jewish communities throughout the world. The program includes presentations delivered at the Jerusalem Center and the publication of essays and interviews. Specific research is undertaken in certain areas. An internship program enables Jewish students from outside Israel to familiarize themselves with cutting-edge issues in Jewish communal studies.

The Changing Jewish Communities program is directed by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, Chairman of the Board of Fellows of the JCPA, in collaboration with Isi Leibler, Chairman of the JCPA's Israel-Diaspora Relations Commission.

Changing Jewish Communities:

• The Orthodox Union and Its Challenges - Interview with Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb (No 23, 15 August 2007, 1 Elul 5767)
• Christian-Jewish Relations in the Netherlands - Interview with Tzvi C. Marx (No 22, 15 July 2007, 29 Tamuz 5767)
• The Future of Reform Jewry - Interview with Rabbi Professor David Ellenson (No 21, 15 June 2007, 29 Sivan 5767)
• Jewish Life in Independent Ukraine: Fifteen Years After the Soviet Collapse (Part 2) - Betsy Gidwitz (No 20, 15 May 2007, 27 Iyar 5767)
• Jewish Life in Independent Ukraine: Fifteen Years After the Soviet Collapse (Part 1) - Betsy Gidwitz (No 19, 15 April 2007, 27 Nissan 5767)
• Is There a Future for Jews in Switzerland? - Simon Erlanger (No 18, 15 March 2007, 25 Adar 5767)
• Turkish Jewry Today - Rifat N. Bali (No 17, 15 February 2007, 27 Shevat 5767)
• How the Status of American Jewish Women Has Changed Over the Past Decades - An interview with Rela Mintz Geffen (No 16, 15 January 2007, 25 Teveth 5767)
• Jewish Education in the United States: Improving but Still a Long Way to Go - An interview with Jonathan Woocher (No 15, 15 December 2006, 24 Kislev 5767)
• The Chief Rabbi's View on Jews and Poland - An interview with Michael Schudrich (No 14, 15 November 2006, 24 Cheshvan 5767)
• The Jewish Community of Australia and Its Challenges - Jeremy Jones (No 13, 15 October 2006, 23 Tishrei 5767)
• Canadian Jewry Today: Portrait of a Community in the Process of Change - Ira Robinson (No 12, 15 September 2006, 22 Elul 5766)
• The Future of the Jews in France - An Interview with Shmuel Trigano (No 11, 15 August 2006, 21 Av 5766)
• From Binationalism to Multiculturalism to the Open Society: The Impact on Canadian Jews - Michael Brown (No 10, 16 July 2006, 20 Tammuz 5766)
• Modern Orthodoxy and Its Future - An Interview with Rabbi Norman Lamm (No 9, 15 June 2006, 19 Sivan 5766)
• Jewish Education in the Age of Google - Jonathan Woocher (No 8, 15 May 2006, 17 Iyar 5766)
• Intermarriage and Jewish Leadership in the United States - Steven Bayme (No 7, 16 April 2006, 18 Nissan 5766)
• Blacks and Jews in America: History, Myths, and Realities - Jerome A. Chanes (No 6, 15 March 2006, 15 Adar 5766)
• UJA-Federation of New York: Strengthening a Global Jewish Identity - An Interview with John Ruskay (No 5, 15 February 2006, 17 Shevat 5766)
• Transformations in the Composition of American Jewish Households - Sylvia Barack Fishman (15 January 2006, No. 4)
• The Chabad Lubavitch Movement: Filling the Jewish Vacuum Worldwide - An Interview with Samuel Heilman (15 December 2005, No. 3)
• The Jews, Israel, and India - An Interview with Nathan Katz (15 November 2005, No. 2)
• Winners and Losers in Denominational Memberships in the United States - Chaim I. Waxman (16 October 2005, No. 1)

Changing Jewish Communities: Web Publications

• Observations on Jewish Community Life in Moscow: Report of a Visit November 22 to December 2, 2004 - Betsy Gidwitz

Other Related Publications

• Zionism and Australian Jewry Before 1948: The Battle for Ideological and Communal Supremacy - Peter Y. Medding (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• Religious Leadership in Israel's Religious Zionism: The Case of the Board of Rabbis - Asher Cohen and Aaron Kampinsky (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• Choosing Religious Court Judges in Israel: A Case Study - Sharon Shenhav (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• American Jews and Evangelical Christians: Anatomy of a Changing Relationship - Carl Schrag (Jewish Political Studies Review 17:1-2, Spring 2005)
• Jews and Fundamentalism - Samuel C Heilman (Jewish Political Studies Review 17:1-2, Spring 2005)
• Hazkarah: A Symbolic Day for the Reconstituting of the Jewish-Ethiopian Community - Emanuela Trevisan Semi (Jewish Political Studies Review 17:1-2, Spring 2005)
• VP527: Evaluating Muslim-Jewish Relations in Britain - Ben Cohen (February 1-15, 2005)
• VP519: The Impact of Recent Watershed Events on American Jewry - Manfred Gerstenfeld (June 15, 2004)
• VP509: Are Jews Becoming Republican? Insights into Jewish Political Behavior - Steven Windmueller (December 15, 2003)
• VP505: Countervailing Trends in American Jewry: An Interview with Norman Podhoretz - Manfred Gerstenfeld (October 15, 2003)
• VP492: September 11: Its Implications for American Jewry - Steven Windmueller (February 16, 2003)
• Institutionalization of the Post-Communist Jewish Movement: Organizational Structures, Ruling Elites, and Political Conflicts - Vladimir (Ze'ev) Khanin (Jewish Political Studies Review 14:1-2, Spring 2002)
• Organized National Life of Russian Jews in the Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Era: a View from Moscow - Eugene Satanovsky (Jewish Political Studies Review 14:1-2, Spring 2002)
• Welfare Policy and Social Security in Post-Communist Jewish Communities: The Case of Ukraine - Yosef Zissels (Jewish Political Studies Review 14:1-2, Spring 2002)
• The Phoenix Revisited - The Jewish Community of Russia Since Perestroika: a View from Jerusalem - Theodore H. Friedgut (Jewish Political Studies Review 14:1-2, Spring 2002)
• Spiritual Potential of the Communal Revival: Yiddish Culture and Post-Soviet Jewry - Velvl Chernin (Jewish Political Studies Review 14:1-2, Spring 2002)
• Jewish Defense in Libya - Rachel Simon (Jewish Political Studies Review 13:3-4, Fall 2001)
• The Jews of Steamboat Springs - Daniel J. Elazar (Jewish Political Studies Review 13:3-4, Fall 2001)
• Citizen Rights in Flux: The Influence of American Immigrants to Israel on Modes of Political Activism - Avi Kay (Jewish Political Studies Review 13:3-4, Fall 2001)
• VP462: American Jewish Public Activity - Identity, Demography, and the Institutional Challenge - Sherry Israel (September 16, 2001)
• JL452: Jewish Life in Ukraine at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Part Two - Betsy Gidwitz (April 15, 2001)
• JL451: Jewish Life in Ukraine at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Part One - Betsy Gidwitz (April 1, 2001)
• JL435: Religion and the Public Square: Attitudes of American Jews in Comparative Perspective - Part Two - Steven M. Cohen (August 1, 2000)
• JL432: Setting the Terms of Reference: Daniel J. Elazar's Impact on American Jewish Organizational Life - Gerald B. Bubis (June 15, 2000)
• The Politics of American Jews: Cohesion, Division, and Representation at the Institutional Level - Laurence A. Kotler-Berkowitz and Lawrence Sternberg (Jewish Political Studies Review 12:1-2, Spring 2000)
• Organization Theory and the Future of Jewish Community Relations Councils - Mordecai Lee (Jewish Political Studies Review 12:1-2, Spring 2000)
• JL429: The Flourishing of Higher Jewish Learning for Women - Rochelle Furstenberg (May 1, 2000)
• JL425: The Jews of Japan - Daniel Ari Kapner and Stephen Levine (March 1, 2000)
• VP421: The Mission of the Schools of Jewish Communal Service in the United States - Rela Mintz Geffen (January 2, 2000)
• VP420: The Intellectual World of Daniel Elazar - Manfred Gerstenfeld and Zvi Marom (December 15, 1999)
• VP417: A New Agenda for the Jewish People - Daniel J. Elazar and Manfred Gerstenfeld (November 1, 1999)
• Jewish NGOs, Human Rights, and Public Advocacy: A Comparative Inquiry - Irwin Cotler (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:3-4, Fall 1999)
• Good Fences do not Necessarily Make Good Neighbors: Jews and Judaism in Canada's Schools and Universities - Michael Brown (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:3-4, Fall 1999)
• Transnational Religion, Religious Schools, and the Dilemma of Public Funding for Jewish Education: The Case of Ontario - Stuart Schoenfeld (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:1-2, Spring 1999)
• JL407: Rethinking Latino-Jewish Relations in Los Angeles - Steven Windmueller (June 1, 1999)
• VP410: Partnership 2000: A New Model for Diaspora-Israel Relations - Raviv Schwartz (July 15, 1999)
• Identities, Pluralism, and Israel-Diaspora Relations: A Pragmatic Perspective on the Jewish Public Square - Manfred Gerstenfeld (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:1-2, Spring 1999)
• Virtual Reality Comes to Canadian Jewry: The Case of the Canadian Jewish Congress Plenary - Ira Robinson (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:1-2, Spring 1999)
• Judaism and Organized Jewish Movements in the USSR/CIS after World War II: The Ukrainian Case - Vladimir Khanin (Jewish Political Studies Review 11:1-2, Spring 1999)
• JL398: French Jewry Facing Haredization - Shmuel Trigano (January 15, 1999)
• JL390: The Jews of Moldova, 1998 - Betsy Gidwitz (September 15, 1998)
• VP384: A Partnership for Israel-Diaspora Relations - Daniel J. Elazar (June 15, 1998)
• JL383: Modern Orthodoxy in America: Possibilities for a Movement under Siege - William B. Helmreich and Reuel Shinnar (June 1, 1998)
• JL379: The Contest for the Jewish Future - Steven Windmueller (April 1, 1998)
• JL377: Switzerland and the Unfinished Business of World War II - Murray Gordon Silberman (March 1, 1998)
• JL376: The Haredization of American Orthodox Jewry - Chaim I. Waxman (February 15, 1998)
• VP400: Argentinean Jewry in Crisis: Pressures and Proposals - Ilan Rubin (February 15, 1998)
• JL374: How Israel Absorbed the Immigration Wave of the 1990s - Iris Geva-May (January 15, 1998)
• JL373: Religious Zionists in Jerusalem - Daniel J. Elazar (January 1, 1998)
• VP371: Orthodox and Non-Orthodox Judaism: How to Square the Circle - Daniel J. Elazar (December 1, 1997)
• JL369: The WZO Elections - A New Beginning? - Daniel J. Elazar (November 2, 1997)
• JL364: Strengthening the Ties between the American Jewish Community and the States - Daniel J. Elazar (August 15, 1997)
• JL363: Reappraising JAFI's Missions in Israel - Gerald B. Bubis (August 1, 1997)
• JL358: The Jewish Community of Cracow - Sonia Misak (May 15, 1997)
• JL356: The Jewish Community of Vienna: Existing against all the Odds - Sonia Misak (April 15, 1997)
• VP351: Jewish Hungary Today - Geza Komoroczy (February 2, 1997)
• VP350: The Survival and Success of Jewish Institutions: Assessing Organizational and Management Patterns - Steven Windmueller (January 15, 1997)
• VP345: The Integration of Jewish Immigrants in Montreal: Models and Dilemmas of Ethnic Match - Morton Weinfeld (November 1, 1996)
• JL368: The German Jewish Community: Between Adjustment and Ambivalence - Alan Mittleman (October 15, 1996)
• JL341: Religion in Israel: A Consensus for Jewish Tradition - Daniel J. Elazar (September 1, 1996)
• VP340: Back to the Future: Jewish Awakening and Renewal - Gerald Bubis (August 15, 1996)
• VP339: Judaic Inreach: Enhancing Shabbat Observance in a Suburban Congregation - Morton Weinfeld (August 1, 1996)
• VP337: The Road to Decision-Making: An Analysis of Jewish Community Relations Public Policy - Steven Windmueller (July 1, 1996)
• JL361: The Canadian Jewish Community and the Politics of Quebec Independence - Jack Silverstone (July 1, 1996)
• VP336: Jewish Identity in Lithuania - Sidney Goldstein and Alice Goldstein (June 16, 1996)
• VP330: Ukrainian Jewry: Some Personal Observations - Moshe Tutnauer (March 1, 1996)
• VP328: Reinventing World Jewry - Part Two: Dividing and Sharing Tasks and Functions - Daniel J. Elazar (January 15, 1996)
• VP327: Reinventing World Jewry - Part One: Fundamentals, Tasks and Functions - Daniel J. Elazar (January 1, 1996)
• JL318: The Law of Return Reconsidered," David Clayman (July 16, 1995)
• JL278: The New Geo-Demographics of American Jewry - Daniel J. Elazar (July 15, 1993)
• VP113: A Meeting of Ancient Peoples: Western Jews and the Dalai Lama of Tibet - Nathan Katz (March 1, 1991)
• JL101: The Last Jews in India and Burma - Nathan Katz and Ellen S. Goldberg (April 15, 1988)

Book Reviews

• Sarah Schmidt on On the Road to Armageddon: How Evangelicals Became Israel's Best Friend by Timothy P. Weber (Jewish Political Studies Review 19:1-2, Spring 2007)
• Chaim I. Waxman on The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity by Eric L. Goldstein (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• Sarah Schmidt on The Struggle for Soviet Jewry in American Politics: Israel versus the American Jewish Establishment by Fred. A. Lazin (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• Rivkah Duker Fishman on The Man of Vision: The Ultra-Orthodox Ideology of Rabbi Shach by Avishay Ben Haim (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:3-4, Fall 2006)
• Manfred Gerstenfeld on Jews in Post-Holocaust Germany 1945-1953 by Jay Howard Geller (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:1-2, Spring 2006)
• David R. Parsons on The Provincials: A Personal History of Jews in the South by Eli N. Evans (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:1-2, Spring 2006)
• Stephen G. Donshik on American Jewry's Challenge: Conversations Confronting the Twenty-First Century by Manfred Gerstenfeld (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:1-2, Spring 2006)
• Sarah Schmidt on Jews and Australian Politics, edited by Geoffrey Brahm Levey and Philip Mendes (Jewish Political Studies Review 18:1-2, Spring 2006)
• Shalom Freedman on Double of Nothing: Jewish Families and Mixed Marriage by Sylvia Barack Fishman (Jewish Political Studies Review 17:3-4, Fall 2005)