Antisemitism, All Ways
The latest research about American Jews
Hello and Welcome to the Documensch Newsletter,
It’s the end of the month (already!) so it’s time for our roundup of the newest research by and about the Jewish community. On a week that coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the ADL losing a senior antisemitism researcher to the Nexus Project, it’s not surprising to see the Jewish community’s focus fall on antisemitism. Just look at the first batch of community research to drop this year, detailed below: a laser focus on the many flavors of antisemitism and AI, K-12 education, and in the secular workplace. On the academic side of things, we highlight studies about the postwar Polish Jewish experience, Nazi violence, Haredi matchmaking, and the impact of print on rabbinic authority.
Our new year’s resolution here at the Documensch is to become your one stop shop for all things Jewish research. If you can’t wait for our bi-weekly newsletters, check us on the Documensch Daily website or on Bluesky to get the latest.
As always, reach out with feedback, suggestions of people we should interview, or ideas for documents we should consider sharing and archiving. We can be reached at bermanarchive@stanford.edu.
-Ari
Ari Y Kelman, Director, Berman Archive at Stanford
Community Research
AI Antisemitism: The ADL just released its AI Index which aims to determine which LLM service has the strongest protections against antisemitism. The best AI for antisemitism guardrails? It’s Claude. Grok is the worst.
Antisemitism at School: StandwithUs is out with a report surveying Jewish K-12 educators in public schools, 61.6% of whom reported experiencing or witnessing antisemitism at work.
Antisemitic America: Blue Square Alliance released a survey showing antisemitism leveling off in the US, but still at a worryingly high level.
Workplace Antisemitism: The newly launched Blue Compass Network just released a study on Jewish professionals working in secular nonprofits. 35% of those Jews are seeking new jobs due to antisemitism or Jewish stereotyping.
Academic Research
Lost Memory: In Eastern European Jewish Affairs, a new paper by Lidia Zessin-Jurek draws on first-hand testimony to argue that later exterminatory practices in Eastern Europe obscured earlier refugee geographies, contributing to the absence of a collective memory of flight, a crucial dimension of Polish Jewish experience during the Second World War.
Nazi Terror: In the latest issue of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Kobi Kabalek examines the impact of Nazi violence and terror on its German Jewish victims during the 1930s.
Haredi for Love: In the Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, a new study by Nissim Katz investigates the transformative impact of digital media on traditional matchmaking (shidduchim) within Israel’s insulated Haredi community.
Start the Presses: Jewish History has posted its latest edition, including an interesting exploration of print and rabbinic authority by Maoz Kahana. The article reframes standard approaches in the history of the book and shows how rabbinic culture shaped modes of knowledge production.
One More Thing…
Last year we interviewed Rachel Cockerell, author of the incredible book Melting Point. She followed up that interview with a visit to Stanford’s campus where she participated in a public talk with Ari Y Kelman. That talk is now a podcast produced by our collaborators at the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford.
Please give it a listen on Apple, Spotify or here!
