Studies Comparing Communities

A Tale of Four Cities: Learning About Jewish Community

A Tale of Four Cities: Learning About Jewish Community is a PowerPoint presentation made at a session of the meetings of the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America on November 13, 2012. In the absence of a national study, this presentation examines what have we learned from four recent studies of large Jewish communities (Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland and New York) as well as what trends have national significance and implications for other communities.

Comparisons of Jewish Communities: A Compendium of Tables and Bar Charts

Comparisons of Jewish Communities: A Compendium of Tables and Bar Charts is based on local Jewish community studies archived at the Data Bank, the Compendium is an easily accessible source of tables and bar charts designed to provide comparative information on American Jewish communities. The Compendium contains 36 Sections covering an extensive range of information on Jewish communities, including social, economic and demographics characteristics, Jewish identification and education, organizational memberships and participation, charitable donations and volunteerism, social service needs, and much more. Each Section is available as a stand-alone PDF to make the Compendium easy to use. A "portfolio" containing all sections is also available. The Compendium was compiled and organized by Dr. Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami, in cooperation with The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and with the generous support of the Mandell and Madeleine Berman Foundation. The series editor was Dr. Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz, Director, Research and Analysis, Jewish Federations of North America.

The Influence of Community Context and Individual Characteristics on Jewish Identity: A 21-Community Study

The Influence of Community Context and Individual Characteristics on Jewish Identity: A 21-Community Study explores how the nature of a Jewish community is related to Jewish identity. The "Decade 2000" data set, containing 19,000 randomly-selected Jewish households (interviewed 2000-2008) from 21 Jewish communities is employed. Because of this large sample size, and its incorporation of community infrastructure data, this research is able to examine various influences on Jewish identity that have not been definitively addressed in previous research. Four Jewish identity factors are related to Jewish community characteristics, the broader religious context, individual-level factors (such as demographic characteristics) and survey-level variables (such as sample size and year of study). This research contributes to a "sociology of Jewish place."

Prof. Harriet Hartman of Rowan University was the recipient in 2010 of a Mandell L. Berman Summer Research Fellowship, which partially supported her research. Prof. Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami is a board member of the Data Bank.

Findings of Local Jewish Community Studies: Implications for Fundraising for Israel in Florida

Findings of Local Jewish Community Studies is a presentation which compares Jewish communities in Florida. First, the Jewish population of Florida is compared with other states. Second, the size and geographic distribution of the Jewish population of major Jewish communities in Florida is examined. Third, Florida Jewish communities are compared with each other and with Jewish communities around the country on demographic and religiosity measures. Fourth, emphasis is given to data on attachment to Israel and philanthropy. The presentation was made to the American Red Magen David for Israel Annual Board meeting in Hollywood, FL, August 2011.

Jews in the South, by Ira Sheskin, 2008

In Jews of the South, Dr. Sheskin looks across community studies to assess changes in the Southern Jewish population. He concludes that the Jewish population in the South has expanded but mainly in Florida and in the Washington/Baltimore area. He also notes the loss of 45 small Southern Jewish communities and the diversity among Southern Jews.

Western Community Comparisons - AJS Conference Presentations 2006

Two papers from the Association for Jewish Studies 2006 conference in San Diego comparing Western Communities: Has the West Been Won or Lost? Cohesion among Western Jews in Comparison to Jews Elsewhere (PDF) by Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz (United Jewish Communities, New York) and A Tale of Two "Jewish?" Cities: San Diego and Phoenix (PDF) by Ron Miller (North American Jewish Data Bank, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT).

The Jews of New Jersey, by Ira Sheskin

Dr. Sheskin has produced six slide sets dealing with the Jews of New Jersey. These slides include selected results from four Jewish community studies conducted in New Jersey: Atlantic County, 2004; Bergen County 2001; MetroWest (NJ) "Essex-Morris" 1998; and Monmouth County 1997.

Florida Reports, by Ira Sheskin

Dr. Sheskin has produced a number of reports dealing with the Florida Jewish communities. Please see his collection of Florida reports.

Get the Cold Hard Facts on Demographics, by Ira Sheskin, 2004

Get the Cold Hard Facts on Demographics (PDF). (Presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Jewish Aging Services, February 2004). These slides summarize a series of age-related demographic analyses from Jewish population studies, using both NJPS (National Jewish Population Study) data and data from local Jewish community studies. The presentation is organized in terms of demography, geography, religion, marriage, membership, Jewish education, Jewish agencies, social service needs, Israel, anti-Semitism, Jewish media, philanthropy and politics.

How Jewish Communities Differ, by Ira Sheskin, 2001

Originally published in 2001, this book compares Jewish communities with data from studies completed from approximately 1982-1999. The comparisons have been updated online in 2012 in the Comparison of Jewish Communities Compendium series, which includes most studies completed from 1993-2012, but the original comparative volume is also useful and interesting.
Learn more about this Book or download the full electronic version (PDF)