Jewish Peoplehood

The awareness and identification of individual Jews to the collective Jewish people has always been central to what it means to be a Jew. Whether through historical memories, values, culture or language. This mutual sense of caring and peoplehood endured ideological disputes that span from Tamudic times through the ages.

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, an entirely new dimension was added to the ethos of Jewish peoplehood. The emergence of a new generation of Jews, sovereigns in their own nation, propelled the Jewish world into uncharted territory. Recent events have indicated that the connection between the two largest centers of world Jewry, Israel and the United States, is deteriorating, chipping away at the foundation of this peoplehood.

A survey by the AJC¹ found that American and Israeli Jews know little about one another nor attribute great importance to connecting as integral to their Jewish identity. Among the Americans surveyed, 40% replied connecting to Israel was not too important or not at all important to their Jewish identity. And 62% of the Israelis surveyed did not agree with the statement that they have a lot in common with American Jews.

The groundbreaking Jewish Peoplehood series will explore what happened, and is happening, behind the numbers. First, by considering different interpretations of what Jewish peoplehood means, by exploring what united Jews for so long in the past, the series will enable honest examination of how the events of the last 30 years fueled this divide.

The Jewish Peoplehood series has an ambitious goal: to offer solutions that will reunite the global Jewish community. By demonstrating why Jewish peoplehood is critical to a Jewish future, the series will expose what’s at stake for world Jewry if we don’t invest in the Israel-Diaspora relationship today.

The series of four YouTube videos will be accompanied by articles, social media and educational curricula, embodying our ‘surround sound’ approach so audiences engage with the Jewish Peoplehood content on the platforms and media that best work for them.