I open this issue of Contemporary Jewry with a pause to honor two members of the Association of the Social Scientific Study of Jewry, who passed away in July and August. The first was my husband, Moshe Hartman, whose partnership I shared for nearly 50 years. After meeting as sociology graduate students at the University of Michigan, he introduced me to Israeli sociology, beckoned me to finish my graduate studies in Israel, complemented my own interests with rigorous methodology, high theoretical standards, and the capacity for milking quantitative data productively and thoroughly. As a mathematical sociologist and demographer, his career spanned years at the Israel Bureau of Statistics; Tel-Aviv University; and Ben-Gurion University, where he mentored his students in methodology, statistics, and demography; as well as at visiting professorships at the University of California at Berkeley, California State University at Los Angeles, University of Pennsylvania, and Utah State University. Together we worked on surveys of gender roles in Israel of the 70’s; the Israeli Censuses, Social Surveys and Labor Statistics; the National Jewish Population Surveys of 1990 and 2000-1, and the 2011 New York Population Survey. I will miss him and our collaboration dearly.

Just a month later, Professor Sidney Goldstein, renowned demographer, passed away, after 66 years of partnership with his wife, Alice Goldstein. His loss was lauded by members of ASSJ with accolades of his “mentschlichkeit,” his inspirational guidance and mentoring, and invaluable contributions as teacher, reviewer, and critic, his engagement with the academic and Jewish community, and “the professional and human values he exemplified for so many years.” He was Director of Brown University’s Population Studies and Training Center, which he helped found, for 25 years. His primary research centered on internal migration, especially from rural to urban areas, focusing first on the US and Denmark and then to less developed countries such as Thailand, China, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Guatemala, and South Africa. Another important part of his research was on the American Jewish population. His first involvement with Jewish demography was his conduct of the Democraphic Survey of the Greater Providence Jewish Community, in 1963. He later chaired the committee that conducted the National Jewish Population survey of 1990. He was the recipient of both Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, and research grants from the Social Science Foundation, the United Nations, and the National Academy of Sciences. Other recognitions include being named the 2005 Laureate of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, president of the Population Association of America, and recipient of the Chulalongorn University (Thailand) Medal for Distinguished Service. His memory shall surely be a blessing.

Most of this issue’s articles have waited a long time to be published in hard copy. They are each well worth the wait. Let me tell you a little about them.

Fittingly, the original research articles begin with a current demographic analysis by Michelle Shain: “Understanding the Demographic Challenge: Education, Orthodoxy and the Fertility of American Jews.” The title speaks for itself. Donatella Caseale Mashiah brings us an analysis of Jewish charities in the UK, focusing on “Income Concentration Trends and Competition in the Charitable Sector.” Also focusing on England, Maxim Samson discusses “Jewish Schools and the Challenges of Denominationalism in England.”

As the United States grapples with legislation regarding end-of-life decisions, with nine states implementing laws allowing and regulating physician assisted ends of life, and Jewish advisors and experts weighing in on Jewish perspectives and halacha regarding these new options, Joshua Cypess’ article is most timely. He painstakingly documents the stages and nuances of a decision regarding conjoined twins that was taken in 1977, contrasting the Jewish approach with those of other professionals and staff involved in the decision-making who came from other religions. Finally, Ayal Feinberg furthers our understanding of antisemitic incidents and the ways they are influenced by Holocaust history and contemporary far-right parties.

And then we have the 2018 Marshall Sklare Memorial Address given by Chancellor Arnold Eisenberg at the 2018 Association for Jewish Studies annual conference, whose focus on “Boomers, Millennials and the Shape of American Judaism” gives us all pause for thought. Shaul Kelner and Riv-Ellen Prell voice some of their reactions in their responses to his remarks. The Marshall Sklare Award is an annual honor of the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ), which recognizes with this award a senior scholar who has made a significant scholarly contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry.

Please do note the two corrections related to articles published in previous issues of Contemporary Jewry. One is a comment on an article that was published in the last issue, with a response by the author, which was meant to be published together with the original article. Please take this as a model for when you read an article that provokes a response; you too may submit a comment, which the author can respond to, for further contemplation by our readership.

We end with two book reviews which will whet your appetite to read. As always, may your reading in this issue be stimulating, inspirational, enjoyable and thought-provoking.

Harriet Hartman


Editor-in-Chief, Contemporary Jewry