Abstract
One’s position on the debate over the nature of the Jewish collectivity and its social boundaries profoundly affects how a scholar will approach the study of Jewish demography. I take an inclusive, comparative, and global approach founded on a deep appreciation of the Jewish historical experience. This stand reflects my professional and personal experiences studying and interacting with Jewish communities in Europe, Africa, and North America. In this paper I also outline the academic influences on my attitudes and work, particularly those of my mentors, the leading Jewish demographers of the last century, Professors Roberto Bachi and Sidney Goldstein.
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Notes
A claim which was refuted by Jewish demographers on the CJF National Technical Advisory Committee who endorsed the official NJPS report. They included such luminaries as Sidney Goldstein, Joseph Waksberg, Daniel Levine, Egon Mayer, Vivian Klaff, Sergio Della Pergola, Frank Mott, Gary Tobin, Paul Ritterband, Ira Sheskin, Linda Waite, Jerry Alan Winter, Ira Sheskin, and Bruce Phillips.
Just as I, and other scholars, have admitted in our narratives, with regard to research in another contested arena, the sociology of religion (Kosmin 2013).
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Kosmin, B.A. The Argument for an Inclusive and Transparent Approach to Jewish Population Studies. Cont Jewry 34, 93–105 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-014-9117-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12397-014-9117-y