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Jewish identity

Jewish Americans gather at a rally in Washington, DC, November 14, 2023. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
'We’re complicating everybody’s narrative'
As Jews seek place in American life, Brandeis opens 250 years of wondering to public
By Agatha Khishchenko
Massachusetts university's upcoming course explores the American Jewish story, from colonial immigrants to Hollywood and summer camps, amid tensions on US campuses and in politics
Illustrative: Congregants of the 104-year-old Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center which burned down in the Eaton fire, gather for Shabbat dinner at the First United Methodist Church in Pasadena, Calif., April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
August 27, 2026, 11:04 pm
California could become first US state to list ‘Jewish’ as ethnicity
Backers say adding category to voluntary demographic forms would help fight antisemitism, while critics warn of privacy and safety risks as lawmakers face Aug. 31 deadline
By Sharon Udasin
An Image of the US and Israeli flags is projected on the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
August 23, 2026, 3:31 am
Israelis worry about weakening connection with young US Jews amid rising antisemitism
Poll finds only 4/10 religious and 2/10 secular Jewish Americans consider supporting Israel to be important, prompting concern they’ll stop viewing it as a safe place to turn to
By AP
People holding Israeli and American flags gather for the annual Israel Day Parade on Fifth Avenue on June 2, 2024, in New York (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
July 8, 2026, 3:00 pm
Poll reveals sharp differences on Israel between religious, secular US Jews
Survey finds younger Jews less likely to see Israel as important to their Jewish identity; about 4 in 10 religiously unaffiliated Jews say Israel committed genocide; US Jews are mostly Democrats
By AP
In 'The Zionists, A Family Storm,' a Jewish clan’s vacation is torn apart by tensions over Israel and the Palestinians. (Daniel Radar via JTA)
July 2, 2026, 4:02 pm
‘The Zionists’ brings post-Oct. 7 discourse to US stage in dysfunctional family drama
Playwright Asher Gelman, the son of prominent philanthropists, uses one affluent Jewish family’s breakdown to explore the personal and political fractures of the past three years
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor, author of 'Something We Said: Richard Pryor: A Notorious Word, And Me.' (Isabella Dellolio Photography via JTA)
June 12, 2026, 2:49 pm
Richard Pryor wrestled with the N-word. His Jewish daughter explores how it shaped her life
In her new memoir ‘Something We Said,’ Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor delves into her childhood, Black and Jewish identities, and the racism and antisemitism that continue to shape American life
By Andrew Lapin
Participants on a Birthright Israel program (Courtesy of Birthright Israel via JTA)
March 24, 2026, 2:42 am
Study: Birthright travelers look different after Oct. 7 — but the effect remains the same
Researcher finds that people who signed up for Birthright but did not participate became less connected to Israel and their own Jewish identity – but the converse is also true
By Andrew Lapin
Leo Coen and Raquel Rogoff present the Jewish Youth Assembly resolution at the BBYO International Convention on February 14, 2026. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
February 19, 2026, 1:11 am
At the BBYO International Convention, Jewish teens demand a seat at the table
From a global youth resolution to calls for boardroom inclusion, 3,400 teens from 52 countries converge in Philadelphia to make their opinions heard on the future of Jewish life
By Grace Gilson
A Hanukkah celebration in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland, December 14, 2025. (Courtesy Mushky Feldman via JTA)
December 21, 2025, 2:49 am
In Reykjavik, a Hanukkah lighting illuminates a tiny community in times of darkness
With daylight in short supply and in the aftermath of the devastating terror attack in Bondi Beach, Iceland’s Jews celebrate the holiday amid heightened security rare in the pastoral country
By Jenna Gottlieb
Illustrative: A family celebrates Hanukkah. (Drazen Zigic/iStock Images)
December 17, 2025, 5:24 pm
Study shows 76% of Americans raised as Jews continue to be Jewish as adults
Nationwide, 56% of all Americans still identify with their childhood religion; Jews cite different reasons than other groups in Pew survey
By Zev Stub
In her new book, 'As a Jew,' Sarah Hurwitz argues how Jews can reclaim a tradition that has too often been shaped by others' prejudices and ignorance. (HarperOne via JTA)
October 15, 2025, 4:24 am
Sarah Hurwitz wants Diaspora Jews to stop apologizing and reclaim their story
In her new book ‘As a Jew,’ the former White House speechwriter confronts the challenges of appreciating Jewish tradition at a time of rising antisemitism and a polarizing debate over Israel
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Bereaved mother Galit Dan speaks at the Bereaved Families Memorial Ceremony marking two years since the October 7, 2023, massacre, in Tel Aviv's Yarkon Park, on October 7, 2025. (Benny Rutloy/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
October 8, 2025, 4:44 pm
As October 7 and Sukkot coincide, Israelis struggle to reconcile grief and joy
Communities and individuals struggle over how – and when – to mark one of the Hebrew calendar’s most festive holidays, now also one of its darkest days
By Deborah Danan
Illustrative: A woman wears a Star of David and a necklace remembering the Israeli hostages during a rally at George Washington University, May 2, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images via JTA)
October 6, 2025, 3:41 am
Two years in, some are asking if the war in Gaza is changing Judaism
Rabbis and pundits say the war’s death toll and humanitarian crisis — alongside simultaneous settler violence in the West Bank — are causing engaged Jews to question their faith
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
A young Jeffrey Epstein plays the accordion at a bar mitzvah celebration, accompanied by a live band. A handwritten note at the bottom, not visible, reads 'Aaron Brown Bar Mitzvah, Wynn Hotel, Philly, Sept. 23, 1961.' (From Epstein birthday book via JTA)
September 10, 2025, 9:51 pm
In Epstein’s birthday tribute, traces of a Jewish upbringing surface alongside lurid tales
From his Hebrew name to a bar mitzvah photo, the now-deceased disgraced businessman’s 238-page album, made public this week, shows his Jewishness interwoven with his personal life
By Asaf Elia-Shalev
In 'Jew vs. Jew,' Samuel Freedman showed a community not so much assimilating away but imploding from within. (Author photo Gabriela Bhaskar via JTA)
September 9, 2025, 11:53 am
25 years after writing ‘Jew vs. Jew,’ Samuel Freedman sees new divisions in US Jewry
The catchy title of the journalist’s 2000 book referred to a community torn between tradition and modernity. Today it has new meaning as bigger rifts emerge over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
Left: 'Sitting on a Suitcase: Psychoanalytic Stories,' co-edited by Olya Khaleelee and Halina Brunning (Courtesy); Right: People evacuating a building next to an apartment block hit by an Iranian missile, where several people were killed, in Beersheba, June 24, 2025. (AP/Bernat Armangue)
August 30, 2025, 12:10 pm
18 Jewish therapists co-wrote a book on the trauma of displacement. Then came Oct. 7
In ‘Sitting on a Suitcase: Psychoanalytic Stories,’ diverse clinicians discuss treating patients while juggling their own generational issues and the horror of ongoing war
By Rich Tenorio
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