
Race, Religion & American Judaism
Research and resources for studying the
multicultural, multiracial realities of Jewish life.
Race, Religion & American Judaism
Research and resources for studying the multicultural, multiracial realities of
Jewish life.
Learning about racism and its history is critical.
As Americans of all backgrounds confront structural racism and seek to understand our own roles and responsibilities, learning about racism and its history is critical. This project highlights how the study of Jewish history, experience, and ethics illuminates the problem of racism and lays a foundation for positive change.
Race, Religion, & American Judaism takes you on an educational journey with leading scholars as your guides. Using the prism of Jewish life to examine the complexities of identity, culture, and society, it promotes knowledge and inquiry as central to the pursuit of equity and repair.
Topics

Theories of Race and Jewish Identity

The Diversity of the American Jewish Experience

Jewish Ethical Responses to the Problem of Racism
Ground your efforts to confront racism in knowledge and research
Our downloadable curricula and easy-to-navigate resources offer the following benefits:
Who This Is For

Educators in formal & informal settings

Academics interested in research of peers

Community leaders and activists

Individuals pursuing personal growth & learning
About The Project
Race, Religion & American Judaism is a project of the Center for Jewish Ethics at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The project’s goal is to produce cross-disciplinary research, public scholarship, and curricula that will advance scholarly and public understanding of:
- Race, religion, Jewishness, racism, and antisemitism
- Multiracial, multicultural heritage of the Jewish people
- How to challenge racism effectively and in keeping with Jewish ethical ideas.
This website will become the central location for self-guided learning and for curricula geared toward adults and youth in higher education, religious communities, schools, camps, and other settings
Meet The Team
Research Fellows
Dr. Bezawit Abebe
Dr. Bezawit Abebe is a research fellow at Be’chol Lashon. She is a human rights activist, and before coming to America, lived in Israel.
Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder, PhD
Rabbi Ruth Abusch-Magder is the Director of Education at Be'chol Lashon, an organization that celebrates and promotes the racial diversity of the Jewish people.
Dr. Mijal Bitton
Dr. Mijal Bitton is a sociologist of American Sephardic Jews, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, and the Rosh Kehilla of the Downtown Minyan.
Dr. Sophie Bjork-James
Dr. Sophie Bjork-James is an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt University with more than 10 years of experience researching both the US-based Religious Right and the white nationalist movements.
Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane, PhD
Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane, PhD serves as the Raymond F. Schinazi Scholar in Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory’s Center for Ethics.
Dr. Jennifer Glaser
Dr. Jennifer Glaser is an Associate Professor of English and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Cincinnati.
Dr. Mark Goldberg
Dr. Mark Goldberg is an Associate Professor of History and Director of Jewish Studies at the University of Houston. He researches and teaches courses on U.S. Latinx history, immigration, and the history of borders.
Dr. Maxwell Greenberg
Dr. Maxwell Greenberg is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital
Dr. Buffie Longmire-Avital is a diversity, inclusion, and racial equity (D.I.R.E ©) scholar-educator.
Dr. Devin Naar
Dr. Devin Naar is an associate professor of History and Jewish studies at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he serves as the chair of the Sephardic Studies Program.
Dr. Shana Sippy
Shana Sippy is an Associate Professor of Religion at Centre College. She is engaged in public scholarship as the Co-director of Religions Minnesota, a Research Associate in the Department of Religion at Carleton College, and a founding member of the Feminist Critical Hindu Studies Collective.
Senior Advisors
Dr. Amanda Beckenstein Mbuvi
Amanda Mbuvi is a scholar of the Hebrew Bible, author, and teacher with a wellspring of academic, administrative, and nonprofit leadership experience.
Dr. Analucía Lopezrevoredo
Analucía Lopezrevoredo is a Peruvian-Chilean-Quechua-American Jewtina, born in Peru and raised in Spain and the United States.
Dr. Helen Kim
Helen Kim is a Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. Her scholarship focuses on race and American Judaism in the contemporary era and has been profiled in the New York Times, NPR, and Huffington Post.
Dr. Marc Dollinger
Marc Dollinger holds the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility at San Francisco State University.
Dr. Samira K. Mehta
Samira Mehta is an Associate Professor of Women and Gender Studies and of Jewish Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Rabbi Sandra Lawson
Sandra Lawson works with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students, and Reconstructionist communities to help Reconstructing Judaism realize its deeply held aspiration of becoming an anti-racist organization and movement.
Program Staff
Rabbi Mira Wasserman, PhD
Project DirectorMira Beth Wasserman’s work as a rabbi and scholar bridges Talmud study, community building, and the pursuit of social justice.
Eli Cohn-Postell
Project ManagerEli Cohn-Postell is a project management consultant and educator. His professional interests include the intersection of race and American Judaism, equity and inclusion, and Israel/Palestine.
Rabbi Shahar Colt
Curriculum WriterShahar Colt specializes in creating welcoming, Jewishly rich experiences for communities with interfaith and multicultural families.
Deitra Reiser, PhD
Curriculum WriterDeitra Reiter is the founder and principal of Transform for Equity, LLC, an antiracist repair group. She partners with nonprofits and synagogues to further racial equity and justice within the organization.
Meredith Lewis
Instructional DesignerMeredith Lewis serves as the Director of Community Impact and Partnerships at the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts.
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