Jack Wertheimer

Jack Wertheimer is professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary. His latest book, The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice their Religion Today, has been issued recently as a paperback.

The Miracle of Jewish Pandemic Giving

Long criticized in certain quarters for being, in essence, too Jewish, Jewish donors have risen admirably to the coronavirus occasion, proving their value once again.

June 28 2021 12:01AM

What the Coronavirus Has Shown—and Concealed—about the Long-Term Health of America's Many Synagogues

No one should confuse the short-term impact of the pandemic with the decades-long erosion of Jewish religious participation.

April 1 2021 12:01AM

How Will Synagogues Survive?

It’s been a year since most American synagogues closed their doors. Will the practices they adopted to survive undermine their prospects when the pandemic ends?

March 1 2021 12:01AM

American Judaism's Old Dinosaurs Roar Again

After being written off for years as slow and outmoded, Jewish federations and other large institutions are proving themselves indispensable in their response to COVID-19.

Oct. 12 2020 12:23AM

Podcast: Jack Wertheimer on the New American Synagogue

In the third and final episode of our podcast series, the eminent scholar of American Jewish life brings us into the typical synagogue to show how deeply it’s changing.

Sept. 12 2019 12:35AM

Podcast: Jack Wertheimer on the Many Rapid Changes in the Religious Life of American Jews

Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox look much different from the way they appeared fifty years ago. In part two of our conversation, we look at what’s changed.

Aug. 22 2019 12:05AM

Podcast: Jack Wertheimer on the New American Judaism

The eminent historian of American Jewish life stops by to talk about the findings in his latest book The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today.

Aug. 8 2019 12:01AM

American Jews: Doomed to a Thin Culture with No Future?

To avoid that fate, rabbis and synagogues might begin by acknowledging where and how Judaism differs, and proceed from there.

Oct. 3 2018 12:01AM

The New High Holy Days

What happens when, once a year, the urge to accommodate every consumer fashion meets massive Jewish cultural illiteracy?

Sept. 4 2018 12:01AM

Israel: The Canvas on Which American Jews Project Their Hopes and Fears

From the founding years to the recent years of strength, American Jews have always seen in Israel what they wanted to, not what was necessarily there.

April 18 2016 12:01AM

American Jewry's Great Untapped Resource: Grandparents

They’ve got time, money, and love to spare, and there are more of them than ever. Why isn’t the Jewish community enlisting their help?

Jan. 28 2016 12:01AM

No Apology for Alarm

Are there any data capable of persuading our critics that something is seriously amiss with American Jewry?

Nov. 24 2014 12:01AM

The Pew Survey Reanalyzed: More Bad News, but a Glimmer of Hope

Last year’s survey of American Jews brought dire news—rising intermarriage, falling birthrates, dwindling congregations. Our reanalysis confirms the message, and complicates it.

Nov. 2 2014 10:00PM

The Unresolved Dilemmas of Modern Orthodoxy

Everyone agrees that the movement needs to rethink and revamp. Very few agree on how.

Aug. 27 2014 6:16PM

Can Modern Orthodoxy Survive?

The culture wars have come to the Modern Orthodox movement. Is a schism on the horizon?

Aug. 3 2014 10:00PM

Great Expectations—A Reply to My Respondents

Encouraging more Jews to marry Jews and more intermarried families to convert to Judaism.

Sept. 29 2013 10:18PM

Intermarriage: Can Anything Be Done?

The battle is over; or so we’re told. A half-century after the rate of intermarriage in the US began to skyrocket, the Jewish community appears to have resigned itself to the inevitable. But to declare defeat is preposterous.

Sept. 3 2013 12:01AM