Jewish Nonprofit Organizations in the U.S.: A Preliminary Survey

Abstract

Organizations are at the heart of American Jewish life. Though there has been considerable research on specific organizations and types of organizations, there has been very little on the overall organizational structure of the Jewish community. This article takes some preliminary steps in that direction. It pulls together historical data on American Jewish organizations and data on contemporary Jewish organizations from a source not previously used: the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's database on nonprofit charitable organizations. A majority of the 9,482 Jewish organizations listed are educational and religious but there are significant numbers of other types as well. Hundreds of organizations link American Jews to Israel and close to 300 link American Jews to Jews in other countries. New York State remains the organizational center of American Jewry. Few organizations are targeted to the needs of Jewish young adults. An agenda for future research is provided.

Potencjał polskiego lobby w USA

“…Po trzecie, Żydzi w Stanach Zjednoczonych charakteryzują się ponadprzeciętną skłonnością do zrzeszania się. Tylko na samym stopniu federalnym, ogólnokrajowym organizacji żydowskich jest ponad 400 (Fleshler, 2009, s. 58), a całkowita liczba wszelakiego rodzaju organizacji żydowskich w całym kraju wynosi blisko dziesięć tysięcy (Burstein, 2011). Najsilniejszą i najbardziej znaczącą organizacją o charakterze lobbingowym jest AIPAC 7 .…”

Counting on Whiteness: Religion, race, ethnicity, and the politics of Jewish demography

“…This article seeks to understand how American Jewish communal organizations—a constellation of philanthropically underwritten and largely charitable institutions (Bernstein 1983; Burstein 2011; Berman 2020)—have sought to answer this question demographically, through the production of community‐level portraits of local Jewish populations (Kravel‐Tovi 2020; Rabin 2017). The data generated by these portraits are influential in helping Jewish communal organizations plan for and distribute their philanthropic resources.…”