Who Teaches Judaism in America: Full Study — Methodology, Institutional Analysis, and Complete Findings
Full study: methodology, institutional analysis, endowed chairs, petition ecosystem, and complete findings from the national faculty audit.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study examined 2,499 faculty and institutional records across Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew language, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies programs at American universities. Each record was cross-referenced against nine publicly documented petition campaigns, organizational membership records, and documented public statements spanning from May 2021 through Spring 2026.
The study found:
1. 1,298 records — 51.9 percent of the total audited — carry documented anti-Israel public signals as defined by this study's methodology.
2. Among 1,014 faculty specifically identified as teaching in Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew, or Holocaust Studies, 401 — or 39.5 percent — have documented signals.
3. At Ivy League universities, 240 of 332 records — 72.3 percent — carry documented signals.
4. Every Ivy League university has multiple faculty members meeting the study criteria. Columbia leads with 41 documented signals, followed by Princeton (35), Yale (30), Brown (27), Penn (19), Harvard (18), Cornell (13), and Dartmouth (multiple).
5. Fourteen holders of endowed chairs — positions funded by donors who intended to strengthen Jewish scholarship — appear among the signatories.
6. The petition activity is accelerating. The March 2025 "Not in Our Name" letter has gathered 3,400+ signatures, making it the largest single petition in the documented record. Each successive campaign has been larger than the last.
Why This Matters
The professors audited in this study are the people hired to teach the next generation about Judaism, the Hebrew language, the State of Israel, and the history of the Holocaust. Their public positions on Israel shape the scholarly environment in which Jewish students study their own civilization.
On the core questions at issue — the legitimacy of Zionism, the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, the use of economic boycotts against Israeli academic institutions — the positions documented in this study are not held by any mainstream political party in Israel. Those who call Zionism "settler colonialism," endorse academic boycotts of Israeli universities, or use the phrase "Jewish supremacy" to describe the Jewish state are well outside the consensus of mainstream Zionism.
I. THE ACADEMIC LANDSCAPE
Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew language instruction, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies are taught across hundreds of American universities. The field is anchored by professional associations, endowed chairs, and dedicated centers at the country's most prestigious research universities.
The 2,499 records audited in this study exceed the estimated faculty universe because the database includes multiple categories: named faculty in dedicated Jewish Studies programs, faculty in adjacent departments who signed the petitions documented in this study, institutional-level entries representing programs where individual names could not be confirmed, FSJP chapter-level entries, and petition-level aggregate records. These broader entries are included as scope indicators and are identified as such in the database. Signal totals are based on individually identified faculty only.
II. METHODOLOGY
2.1 Faculty Identification
Faculty rosters were compiled from publicly available university websites during July and August 2026. Sources included every institutional member program of the Association for Jewish Studies (70+), every US center and chair listed by the Association for Israel Studies (~30), and additional degree-granting programs identified through College Factual, IPEDS, and university academic catalogs.
Individual faculty names, academic titles, departmental affiliations, and institutional roles were recorded. The study includes tenured and tenure-track faculty, clinical and visiting professors, professors emeriti, senior lecturers, and postdoctoral fellows. Graduate students are excluded unless they hold a formal teaching appointment. Joint appointments are counted once at their primary institution. Faculty who have moved between institutions are listed at their most recent confirmed institution.
2.2 Classification: What This Study Defines as an Anti-Israel Public Signal
A faculty member is classified as having a documented anti-Israel public signal if they have performed one or more of the actions listed below. Every signal is publicly verifiable, based on open-source records, and documented with the specific petition, letter, or statement signed.
Included in the classification:
Endorsing the academic boycott of Israeli institutions. Describing Israel as an apartheid state in a signed petition or public statement. Describing Zionism as settler colonialism in a signed petition or public statement. Signing petitions that characterize Israel's military conduct as genocide. Calling for the end of all US military aid to Israel. Leadership or membership in FSJP. Leadership or membership in JVP. Signing the May 2021 "Statement on Israel/Palestine by Scholars of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies." Signing any AcademicsForPeace petition (August 2023 through March 2024). Signing the Jewish Studies Ceasefire Letter (October 2023). Signing the "Not in Our Name" letter (March 2025). Other publicly documented statements meeting the above criteria.
Not included in the classification:
Supporting Palestinian human rights within the framework of Israel's continued existence. Supporting a two-state solution. Criticizing specific Israeli government policies. Criticizing the current Israeli prime minister. Opposing settlement expansion. Criticizing IDF conduct in specific operations. Calling for accountability regarding civilian casualties. These positions have robust representation in Israeli politics and civil society and are not classified as anti-Israel in this study.
2.3 Verification
Each faculty member was matched to petition signatories using university affiliation, department, academic title, and full name as listed on the petition. Where multiple individuals shared a name, institutional affiliation was used to confirm identity. Signatory lists were accessed directly from their publicly available sources: the AcademicsForPeace website, the "Not in Our Name" Google Document, the May 2021 declaration website, and published reporting on other campaigns.
2.4 Limitations
This study documents publicly available signals only. Faculty who hold private views but have not signed public letters or joined public organizations are not captured. Absence from any signatory list does not indicate a pro-Israel position. FSJP membership lists are not fully public. Hebrew language instructors rarely sign political letters and are underrepresented. The "Not in Our Name" letter includes students and staff alongside faculty; this study extracted faculty signatories only.
III. THE PETITION ECOSYSTEM
Nine petition campaigns spanning from May 2021 through Spring 2026 form the evidentiary backbone of this study.
| Campaign | Date | Total Signatories | DB Records |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2021 JS/IS Declaration | May 2021 | ~100 JS/IS faculty | 298 |
| Palestine and Praxis | May 2021 | 7,500+ academics | Sampled |
| AcademicsForPeace (4 petitions) | Aug 2023–Mar 2024 | 700–1,300+ each | 586 |
| JS Ceasefire Letter | Oct 2023 | 100+ | 27 |
| 240 Scholars BDS Letter | Various | 240+ | Sampled |
| 60 Holocaust Scholars Letter | Dec 2023 | 60 | Sampled |
| 1,200 Jewish Professors vs IHRA | May 2024 | 1,200+ | Sampled |
| "Not in Our Name" | March 2025 | 3,400+ | 242 |
| U Michigan Jewish Faculty Letter | March 2025 | 297 | Sampled |
3.1 May 2021: "Statement on Israel/Palestine by Scholars of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies"
Published on a dedicated website and explicitly authored by self-identified scholars of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies. The statement characterized the Zionist movement as "shaped by settler colonial paradigms." It stated that Zionism and the State of Israel have contributed to "unjust, enduring, and unsustainable systems of Jewish supremacy, ethnonational segregation, discrimination, and violence against Palestinians." It endorsed "boycott or other organized economic pressure on Israel" as a legitimate form of faculty protest.
3.2 AcademicsForPeace (August 2023 – March 2024)
Four petitions, each gathering 700 to 1,300+ signatures. The March 2024 petition, titled "Genocide Is Plausible; Stop Arms to Israel," was authored by Lior Sternfeld, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State University. Signatories included two Nobel laureates, multiple National Jewish Book Award winners, Guggenheim Fellows, and MacArthur Fellows.
3.3 "Not in Our Name" (March 2025)
Drafted by Concerned Jewish Faculty & Staff — Boston Area. The letter has gathered 3,400+ signatures from Jewish professors, staff, and students at universities across the United States. It denounced "anyone who invokes our name — and cynical claims of antisemitism — to harass, expel, arrest, or deport members of our campus communities."
3.4 Faculty for Justice in Palestine
FSJP operates 130+ campus chapters. Research has documented that schools with five or more faculty BDS supporters are 7.2 times more likely to experience antisemitic incidents, and that FSJP presence on campus increases the likelihood of physical assaults on Jewish students by more than seven times. New chapters continued to form through 2024 and 2025.
IV. INSTITUTIONAL FINDINGS
| Rank | Institution | Signals | Key Findings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia University | 41 | 77 faculty boycotters per national barometer; Yerushalmi Chair holder signed 3 petitions; 5 departments anti-Israel |
| 2 | Princeton University | 35 | Judaic Studies fellow signed; 8 AcademicsForPeace signatories; multiple endowed chairs |
| 3 | Penn State University | 32 | AcademicsForPeace national spokesperson; 11 NION signatories |
| 4 | New York University | 31 | 148 faculty boycotters (#1 worst nationally); Prof Emerita of Jewish History signed all petitions |
| 5 | Yale University | 30 | Professor of Jewish History signed NION; Judaic Studies Assoc Prof signed 2 petitions |
| 6 | University of Chicago | 28 | Professor of Jewish History signed NION; Hebrew lit professor signed May 2021 |
| 7 | Brown University | 27 | 3 Judaic Studies faculty signed; first endowed Palestinian Studies chair |
| 8 | University of Michigan | 26 | Frankel Center director signed NION; 297 Jewish faculty signed campus letter |
| 9 | UC Berkeley | 25 | Hebrew lit professor emerita signed NION; FSJP chapter active |
| 10 | UCLA | 24 | Jewish Studies center director signed; Israel Studies chair signed NION |
| 10 | Stanford University | 24 | Former MESA president authored petitions; Talmud specialist signed May 2021 |
| 10 | University of Washington | 24 | $5M endowment pulled after Israel Studies chair signed |
4.1 Columbia University (41 signals)
Yinon Cohen holds the Yosef H. Yerushalmi Chair of Israel and Jewish Studies. He signed the May 2021 declaration, AcademicsForPeace, the 240 Scholars BDS letter, and the "Not in Our Name" letter. A national barometer documented 77 faculty boycotters at Columbia, 27 FSJP events and statements, and five academic departments with anti-Israel institutional positions.
Beth Berkowitz (Rennert Chair in Jewish Studies, Barnard) signed the May 2021 declaration. Marianne Hirsch (William Peterfield Trent Professor Emerita) signed "Not in Our Name." At the same institution, a Business School professor was suspended for criticizing the university's response to antisemitism. No comparable professional defense was mounted on his behalf.
4.2 Penn State University (32 signals)
Lior Sternfeld (Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies) authored all four AcademicsForPeace petitions and serves as the campaign's national spokesperson. Benjamin Schreier (Mitrani Family Professor of English and Jewish Studies) signed the May 2021 declaration and "Not in Our Name." Tamir Sorek signed AcademicsForPeace and "Not in Our Name." Eleven faculty associated with Penn State signed the "Not in Our Name" letter.
4.3 Brown University (27 signals)
Omer Bartov (Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, National Jewish Book Award winner) signed every major AcademicsForPeace petition and "Not in Our Name." Katharina Galor (Hirschfeld Senior Lecturer in Judaic Studies) supports BDS and signed multiple petitions and "Not in Our Name." Ariella Azoulay described Palestinian violence as "a legitimate revolt against colonial occupation" and signed "Not in Our Name." Brown also hosts the first endowed chair in Palestinian Studies at any American university.
4.4 Harvard University (18 signals)
Shaul Magid was hired in 2025 as Professor of Modern Jewish Studies in Residence. He openly identifies as a "counter-Zionist." Saul Zaritt (Associate Professor, CJS Executive Committee) signed the May 2021 declaration and "Not in Our Name." Sara Feldman (Yiddish Preceptor at CJS) signed "Not in Our Name." Steven Levitsky (Professor of Government, author of "How Democracies Die") signed "Not in Our Name."
4.5 Oberlin College
Matthew Berkman (Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies) is a JVP steering committee member and BDS supporter who teaches "Jews and Power." Six leaders of the Association for Jewish Studies wrote defending him. Shari Rabin and Sheera Talpaz (both Jewish Studies faculty) signed the May 2021 declaration. With approximately three core Jewish Studies faculty and three documented as signatories, the rate at Oberlin approaches 100 percent.
4.6 University of Washington
Liora Halperin held the Jack and Rebecca Benaroya Endowed Chair in Israel Studies. She signed the May 2021 declaration and "Not in Our Name." The donor pulled the entire $5 million endowment. The university stripped her chair title. Then 700+ Jewish and Israel Studies scholars signed a letter defending Halperin. She was subsequently promoted to full professor. The entire Jewish Studies research faculty at UW appears in the signatory lists.
4.7 Additional Institutional Profiles
NYU: Ranked #1 worst nationally on a faculty barometer, with 148 documented faculty boycotters. Hasia Diner (Professor Emerita of History and Hebrew & Judaic Studies, National Jewish Book Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow) signed all major petitions. Marion Kaplan (Professor of Modern Jewish History Emerita) signed "Not in Our Name."
UCLA: David N. Myers (Distinguished Professor, Leve Center Director) signed AcademicsForPeace and "Not in Our Name." Dov Waxman (Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies, Nazarian Center Director) signed "Not in Our Name." Sarah Stein (Distinguished Professor of History) signed "Not in Our Name."
Yale: David Sorkin (Lucy G Moses Professor of Jewish History) signed "Not in Our Name." Saul Zaritt signed both the May 2021 declaration and "Not in Our Name." Ra'anan Boustan (Presidential Fellow, Judaic Studies) signed AcademicsForPeace and "Not in Our Name."
University of Michigan: Deborah Dash Moore (Distinguished University Professor of History and Judaic Studies) signed "Not in Our Name." Rachel Rafael Neis (Professor of Judaic Studies) signed the May 2021 declaration and "Not in Our Name." In March 2025, 297 Jewish faculty and staff signed a campus letter.
Brandeis: Nine faculty from or affiliated with NEJS signed one or more petitions, including ChaeRan Y. Freeze (Professor), Bernadette J. Brooten (Kraft-Hiatt Professor Emerita, MacArthur Fellow), and Eva Bellin (Professor).
Penn: David Ruderman (Joseph Meyerhoff Professor Emeritus of Jewish History) signed "Not in Our Name." Talya Fishman (Associate Professor of Jewish History) signed "Not in Our Name." Kathryn Hellerstein (Professor of Yiddish) — previously documented as having signed against an academic boycott — signed "Not in Our Name."
V. ENDOWED CHAIRS
Endowed chairs represent the most prestigious positions in academic life. They are funded by permanent endowments, typically established by Jewish philanthropists who intended to strengthen Jewish scholarship and education.
| Chair | Holder | Institution | Signal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yerushalmi Chair of Israel & Jewish Studies | Yinon Cohen | Columbia | May 2021 + AcademicsForPeace + BDS letter + NION |
| Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History | Barry Trachtenberg | Wake Forest | Multiple petitions + NION (#4) |
| Meyerhoff Professor Emeritus of Jewish History | David Ruderman | Penn | NION (#669) |
| Gilbert Foundation Chair of Israel Studies | Dov Waxman | UCLA | NION (#1089) |
| PenTishkach Chair of Holocaust Studies | Alon Confino | UMass Amherst | May 2021 |
| Apter Chair of Holocaust Studies | Nitzan Lebovic | Lehigh | May 2021 + AcademicsForPeace + NION |
| Ticktin Professor of Israel Studies | Arie Dubnov | GW | May 2021 + AcademicsForPeace |
| Kraft-Hiatt Professor Emerita (NEJS) | Bernadette Brooten | Brandeis | AcademicsForPeace (MacArthur Fellow) |
| Rose Professor of Holocaust Studies | Frances Tanzer | Clark | May 2021 + AcademicsForPeace + NION (#2) |
| Endowed Chair of Jewish Studies | Ranen Omer-Sherman | U Louisville | May 2021 |
| Benaroya Chair of Israel Studies (stripped) | Liora Halperin | U Washington | $5M endowment pulled + NION |
| Swig Professor of Jewish Studies | Aaron Hahn Tapper | U San Francisco | May 2021 + AcademicsForPeace |
| Endowed Prof of Holocaust/Genocide Studies | Raz Segal | Stockton | "Textbook genocide" + NION (#8) |
| Mitrani Family Professor of English & Jewish Studies | Benjamin Schreier | Penn State | May 2021 + NION (#124) |
VI. ORGANIZED FACULTY INFRASTRUCTURE
FSJP operates 130+ campus chapters. Its stated goals include promoting the academic boycott of Israeli institutions, supporting BDS resolutions, ending study-abroad programs in Israel, and opposing disciplinary measures against pro-Palestinian student activists.
The FSJP steering committee includes faculty from UC Santa Barbara, NYU, Yale, Barnard, George Mason University, UC Santa Cruz, and the Claremont Colleges. At Rutgers, the chapter includes 80+ educators. At Claremont, 40+ faculty formed a chapter in October 2024.
Research has documented a 7.2x correlation between the presence of five or more BDS-supporting faculty and antisemitic incidents on campus. FSJP presence increases the likelihood of physical assaults on Jewish students by more than seven times.
In early 2025, six leaders of the Association for Jewish Studies wrote defending Matthew Berkman — a BDS-supporting, JVP-affiliated Jewish Studies professor at Oberlin — against public criticism. No comparable professional defense has been documented for pro-Israel faculty who were targeted for their views at other institutions.
VII. THE RIFT IN HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE STUDIES
Raz Segal (Stockton University) published an article on October 13, 2023 titled "A Textbook Case of Genocide." He organized a letter signed by 60 Holocaust and genocide scholars. An 800-scholar statement followed. The University of Minnesota offered him a directorship, then rescinded it. He signed "Not in Our Name" as signatory number 8.
Amos Goldberg and Daniel Blatman (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) published an essay calling Israel's war "genocide," writing that "most acts of genocide are perceived by their perpetrators as acts of self-defense."
In August 2025, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. A 2026 article in the Journal of Genocide Research documented "the growing rift between Holocaust scholars over Israel/Palestine."
VIII. PETITION GROWTH OVER TIME
| Year | Campaign | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| May 2021 | JS/IS Declaration + Palestine and Praxis | ~100 JS/IS faculty + 7,500 academics |
| Aug–Oct 2023 | AcademicsForPeace + JS Ceasefire Letter | 700–1,300 per petition |
| Dec 2023–Mar 2024 | AcademicsForPeace (continued) + 60 Holocaust scholars | 1,300+ per petition |
| May 2024 | 1,200 Jewish Professors vs IHRA | 1,200+ |
| March 2025 | "Not in Our Name" | 3,400+ |
| March 2025 | U Michigan Jewish Faculty Letter | 297 (campus-specific) |
| Spring 2026 | U Michigan Commencement | 1,488 (campus-specific) |
IX. POSITIONS IN CONTEXT
9.1 Relationship to Israeli Political Spectrum
The positions documented in this study — characterizing Zionism as "settler colonialism," endorsing academic boycotts of Israeli universities, using the phrase "Jewish supremacy" to describe Israel's political structure — are not held by any mainstream political party in Israel. The positions that are classified — BDS, "settler colonialism," "Jewish supremacy," "genocide" — exist outside the mainstream of Israeli political discourse.
9.2 Anticipated Criticism
Criticism: Signing a petition does not necessarily reflect classroom teaching.
Response: Correct. This study measures publicly documented advocacy. It does not assess classroom conduct, syllabi, or grading practices.
Criticism: Faculty have academic freedom to hold and express these views.
Response: Correct. This study makes no recommendation regarding employment, tenure, or academic standing. It documents publicly available activity.
Criticism: Some of the positions classified in this study are legitimate political speech.
Response: Correct. The question this study addresses is not whether faculty have a right to their views. It is whether Jewish families, donors, and communal organizations have access to information about what the faculty who teach their children about Judaism are saying publicly about Israel.
X. DATA SUMMARY
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total records audited | 2,499 |
| Records with documented anti-Israel signals | 1,298 (51.9%) |
| Jewish Studies-related faculty identified | 1,014 |
| JS-related faculty with signals | 401 (39.5%) |
| Ivy League records | 332 |
| Ivy League records with signals | 240 (72.3%) |
| Institutions covered | 1,136 |
| Institutions with at least one signal | 313 |
| Petition campaigns cross-referenced | 9 |
| FSJP chapters documented | 130+ |
| Endowed chair holders with signals | 14 |
| Faculty who signed multiple petitions | 50+ |
| Largest single petition ("Not in Our Name") | 3,400+ signatories |
| Largest institutional concentration (Columbia) | 41 signals |
| Highest faculty boycotter count (NYU) | 148 per national barometer |
The full database — names, titles, institutions, and the specific documents each faculty member signed — accompanies this report as a separate spreadsheet file.
XI. CONCLUSION
This study audited 2,499 records across Jewish Studies, Israel Studies, Hebrew, and Holocaust Studies at American universities. It found that 1,298 records — 51.9 percent — carry documented anti-Israel public signals. Among faculty specifically identified as teaching in these fields, 39.5 percent have documented signals. At Ivy League universities, the rate is 72.3 percent.
The database will be updated annually. Corrections, additions, and verification requests are invited. The methodology is public. The data is sourced.
This is, to our knowledge, the broadest publicly documented audit of Jewish Studies and Israel Studies faculty at American universities ever conducted.
Ronn Torossian is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, author and philanthropist. He is the author of two best-selling editions of For Immediate Release.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
BDS: Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions — an international campaign promoting economic and academic pressure on Israel.
FSJP: Faculty for Justice in Palestine — a network of 130+ faculty chapters on US campuses that promotes the academic boycott of Israeli institutions and advocates for Palestinian liberation.
JVP: Jewish Voice for Peace — a US-based organization that supports BDS and identifies as anti-Zionist.
AJS: Association for Jewish Studies — the primary professional body for Jewish Studies scholars in the United States, with 1,900+ individual members and 70+ institutional members.
AIS: Association for Israel Studies — the professional body for Israel Studies scholars.
NAPH: National Association of Professors of Hebrew — the professional body for Hebrew language faculty in the US, founded in 1950.
IAGS: International Association of Genocide Scholars — the world's largest academic association for genocide studies.
IHRA Definition: The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism, which some scholars oppose because they believe it conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
Endowed Chair: A prestigious faculty position funded by a permanent endowment, typically named after the donor. Holders of endowed chairs represent the highest-ranking faculty in their field.
Documented Anti-Israel Public Signal: The term used throughout this study to describe a publicly verifiable action — such as signing a petition, joining an organization, or publishing a statement — that meets the study's classification criteria as defined in the Methodology section.
