Let’s End “Good Jew”/“Bad Jew” - Judaism Unbound Episode 337 - Janet Krasner Aronson
Janet Krasner Aronson, the Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University, is one of the leading sociologists of American Judaism. She directs local Jewish-population studies in cities all around the country, and most recently led a study that looked at greater Los Angeles. Krasner Aronson joins Dan and Lex for a conversation about this most recent study, what makes it different from many other studies, and why any of these studies matter in the first place!
[1] Dive into The 2021 Study of Jewish Los Angeles by heading to StudyOfJewishLA.org! For direct links to a few pdfs from the study, that are referenced in this podcast episode, click any of the links below:
[2] To view the 2015 study of Boston that Krasner Aronson references, click here.
[3] Krasner Aronson mentions that the Center for Disease Control, early on in the COVID pandemic, explored questions of mental and psychological health in high school students all around the United States. To take a look at their findings, click here.
[4] Dan references the framework of “Genesis Jews” and “Exodus Jews” as similar to the framework, in the Study of Jewish LA, of “Communal” and “Ritual” Jews. To learn more about Episode 135: Putting God Second - Donniel Hartman.
[5] This conversation briefly references ideas of “Jewish continuity,” and how it influences the ways that studies like this are utilized in Jewish life. For more on that phrase, its history, and the ways in which it has been understood and mobilized in American-Jewish life, see Episode 244: The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex - Lila Corwin Berman.
[6] Krasner Aronson gives a shout-out to an organization called the Active Aging Resource Network, which is a “growing movement to capture the potential for Jewish and civic engagement during the period from mid-life careers into retirement. Learn more about the Active Aging Resource Network via ActiveAgingNetwork.org.