Theodore Sasson

Trends in American Jewish Attachment to Israel: An Assessment of the ‘‘Distancing’’ Hypothesis

In recent years, social scientists have claimed that American Jews, in particular in the younger generation, have grown more distant from Israel. This paper draws on evidence from national surveys conducted over two decades to assess the “distancing hypothesis.” The survey data suggest that emotional attachment to Israel has varied within a narrow band, with no consistent pattern of increase or decrease. Predictions of distancing appear to be incorrect and several factors which were presumed to underlie distancing are examined: generational turnover, intermarriage and political alienation. These factors appear to have only small impact on the overall level of American Jewish attachment to Israel. An alternative narrative is suggested and the implications for the future relationship of American Jews to Israel are discussed.

Triangulation and Mixed Methods Designs: Practicing What We Preach in the Evaluation of an Israel Experience Educational Program

This article clarifies the role of triangulation in mixed methods research designs. Triangulation is used to describe “severe” statistical tests of correlation between alternative quantitative measurements and is employed to test the accuracy of those measurements. In contrast, the broader concept of mixed methods describes the integration of diverse qualitative and quantitative approaches and is employed to build theory. The concepts are developed and demonstrated in relation to a complex field study that evaluated an Israel experience educational program.

Pew’s Portrait of American Jewry: A Reassessment of the Assimilation Narrative

New analyses by the authors of the Pew Research Center’s, Portrait of Jewish Americans, critically reexamine the prevalent narrative drawn from the report of decline and assimilation in the American Jewish community. Comparisons of the Pew findings to NJPS 1990 and 2000-2001 demonstrate a substantial increase in the US Jewish population and stable levels of belonging to the Jewish people, observance of Jewish ritual, and connection to Israel. The overall population increase is driven primarily by higher-than-expected retention of young adult children of intermarriage, most of whom were raised without Jewish religious identity and disproportionately identify as Jews of no religion. Nonetheless, the engagement of the next generation of adult children of intermarriage is lower than that of other American Jews. Intermarriage, thus, presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Does Taglit-Birthright Israel Foster Long-Distance Nationalism?

Taglit-Birthright Israel has brought hundreds of thousands of diaspora Jewish young adults on tours of Israel. Drawing on data from a large-scale program evaluation, we ask how the program affects participants’ feelings of homeland attachment and political views on contentious homeland issues. North Americans who traveled to Israel with Taglit between 2010 and 2012 were surveyed together with a comparison group of applicants to the program who did not participate. In multivariate analysis, Taglit sharply increases feelings of connection to Israel but has no effect on attitudes concerning the future of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The program modestly increases scores on a “favorability” scale and modestly increases opposition to a possible division of Jerusalem in a future peace deal. In contrast to Benedict Andersons theory of long-distance nationalism, the findings suggest that feelings of homeland connection can be fostered without triggering ethnonationalist attitudes associated with the political right.

Guest-Host Encounters in Diaspora-Heritage Tourism: The Taglit-Birthright Israel Mifgash (Encounter)

More than 300,000 diaspora Jewish young adults and tens of thousands of their Israeli peers have participated in structured, cross-cultural encounters—mifgashim—in the context of an experiential education program known as Taglit-Birthright Israel. Drawing on field observations, interviews, and surveys, the formal and informal components of the encounters are described, and the meanings participants attach to the experience are analyzed. For North Americans, the encounters enable a personal and seemingly authentic experience of “the real” Israel, and make them feel welcome in the Jewish homeland. For Israelis, the encounters foster national pride, as well as identification with the transnational Jewish collective. Although program sponsors hoped the encounters would also create a forum for learning by Israeli participants about life in the Jewish diaspora, this latter goal was not typically achieved. This article explores the mechanisms by which the encounters generate identification with the homeland and the transnational Jewish collective, as well as the limitations of the encounters as a vehicle for reciprocal learning about diaspora culture and society.