Blog
New Paradigms in Latino-Jewish Relations with Matt Fernández Konigsberg
Monday, March 27th at 1:00 PM EST Matt Fernández Konigsberg will speak about the current state of the Latino-American/ American-Jewish relationship, and how the clash of different ideological approaches (including classical liberalism and far-left ideology) create...
Black Jewish Perspectives
A discussion on tensions between Black Americans and Jews Sunday, January 22nd at 1:00 PM EST LIVESTREAM Black Jewish thinkers will discuss ongoing tensions between Black and Jewish communities, exploring how these tensions impact Black Jews. Frequently uninvited to...
The Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory Thatat Shall Not be Named
Whenever a Jewish person tells me they’ve never experienced antisemitism I’m always stunned. Not only have I experienced it, I’ve experienced just about every form of it. In high school, students drew swastikas in my books. Bullying/ schoolyard variant, check. In...
“I am afraid there will no longer be a ‘special’ relationship between the US and Israel. The state of affairs becomes more difficult from year to year.”
David Bernstein, executive director of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV), believes that attitudes toward Jews depend on "whether the ideological madness will continue" • In an interview, he talks about survey results that show a decline in sympathy for...
Kayne West and the rise of Black supremacist antisemitism
The 'Black Power' movement started in the late 1950s, shaped by Louis Farrakhan These have been a rough few years for American Jews as antisemitic attacks are at an all-time high. Animated by radical conspiracy theories that posit that Jews seek to replace ordinary...
Does Radical Social Justice Ideology Fuel Antisemitism and Anti-Asian Sentiment?
Wednesday, December 14th at 7:30 PM EST LIVE NYC EVENT/WILL BE LIVESTREAMED Please join us for a special Shine-A-Light evening. Our expert panel will discuss the recent Jewish Institute for Liberal values commissioned poll that highlights the dangers of this political...
Can a social justice movement go too far – a Canadian case study
Wednesday, December 14th at 2:00 PM EST LIVESTREAM A panel discussion on how social justice movements have manifested for our neighbors to the north, exploring how Canadians are managing the ideological influences and their unique impact on the Jewish community....
Discussion with David Bernstein on Woke Antisemitism
Friday, November 11th at 1:00 PM EST LIVESTREAM David L. Bernstein will discuss his newly released book: Woke Antisemitism is a firsthand account from a long-time Jewish leader about how woke ideology shuts down discourse, corrupts Jewish values, and spawns a virulent...
Has medicine been corrupted by ideology?
Monday, October 24th at 2:00 PM EST LIVESTREAM Our panel of experts will explore whether healthcare has been corrupted by ideology. Covid-19/vaccine mandates, gender identity, and racial justice are just a few of the current issues that have recently impacted how...
Tikvah Fund Jewish Parent’s Form: The Engaged Jewish Parent: What Should We Be Thinking About as the School Year Begins?
The Engaged Jewish Parent: What Should We Be Thinking About as the School Year Begins? A Conversation with Naomi Schaefer Riley and David BernsteinTook place Wednesday, September 21, 2022 | 7:30 PM ETThe Tikvah Center | 165 E. 56th St, 4th Floor | New York, NY 10022...
Anniversary of the Ferguson Unrest – Panel: Can Jews Support Black Lives Matter?
Tuesday, August 9th at 11:00 AM EST LIVESTREAM Eight years ago, the nation watched as the city of Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in the wake of the police shooting death of Michael Brown, a Black man. The protesters chanted "Black lives matter" in the streets of...
LIVESTREAM: Should the government be in the business of classifying people by race?
Monday, July 25th at 11:00 AM EST LIVESTREAM Americans are understandably squeamish about official racial and ethnic classifications. Nevertheless, they are ubiquitous in American life. Applying for a job, mortgage, university admission, citizenship, government...
LIVESTREAM: Jewish Studies Role in an Increasingly Biased Academy
Monday, July 11th at 11:00 AM EST LIVESTREAM The Jewish Studies Zionist Network is composed of scholars and educators in Jewish Studies who affirm that Zionism is a legitimate movement for the national self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancestral...
Larry Summers: Antisemitism Comes to Harvard, in Both Intent and Effect
Apart from raw animus against the Jewish State, how could any thoughtful person today regard Russia and Israel on the same plane when Russia is waging a war of aggression? The campus of Harvard University at Cambridge, Massachusetts. AP/Elise Amendola, file During my...
WSJ: Teach ‘1619’ and ‘1776’ U.S. History
The answer to ideological education isn’t to ban the ideology but to make room for alternative views.
Conventional wisdom has it that there are only two sides in the culture war over kids’ instruction on race and racism in America. Those on the right want to impose state-level bans on teaching critical race theory in public schools. Some also want to remove particular books from libraries and curriculums. On the left, people want to teach about America’s history of racism and contemporary systemic racism but from only one perspective, with little if any room for debate.
Why Private Schools Have Embraced Coercive Diversity Practices?
Monday, April 11th at 1:00 PM EST LIVESTREAM Andrew Gutmann and Paul Rossi each exposed elite independent schools in New York City that had adopted highly divisive diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. In this Livestream event, Gutmann and Rossi will highlight...
LIVESTREAM: Conversations on Race: What should America’s Discussion on Race Sound Like?
LIVESTREAM: Batya Ungar-Sargon,
LIVESTREAM w/Batya Ungar-Sargon: The Dangers of Woke Media
Batya Ungar-Sargon, Deputy Opinion Editor at Newsweek, will speak about her new book, ‘Bad News: How Woke Media is Undermining Democracy.’ Her book details how newsrooms are propagating radical ideas and stifling dissent. She will also discuss how these radical ideas fuel antisemitism and generate anti-Israel sentiment.
Livestream: Do university diversity programs promote antisemitism?
Thursday, January 13th at 2:00 PM EST Jay Greene will discuss his findings in an alarming study he co-authored at the Heritage Foundation that found university DEI staff "express anti-Israel attitudes that are so out of proportion and imbalanced as to constitute...
Bring your rabbi the statement that supports viewpoint diversity to sign!
A Committee of Concerned Rabbis has developed a public statement for Rabbis supporting the free expression of ideas and opposing ideologically motivated antisemitism.
Shine A Light – New Partners in Fighting Antisemitism – Panel on Illiberal Ideologies & Antisemitism
Thursday, December 9, 11:00 AM ET LiveStream EventLivestream event #ShineALight - New Partners in Fighting Antisemitism – Panel on Illiberal Ideologies & AntisemitismWith the onset of illiberal ideologies and growing antisemitism on both sides of the political...
New Partners in Fighting Antisemitism – Black Leaders, a panel discussion #ShineALight
Sunday, December 5, 2:00 PM ET LiveStream EventLivestream event #ShineALight - New Partners in Fighting Antisemitism – Black Leaders, a panel discussionWith the onset of illiberal ideologies and growing antisemitism on both sides of the political spectrum, JILV is...
Shine A Light – New Partners in Fighting Antisemitism – Asian American Leaders, a panel discussion
Friday, December 3, 12:00 Noon ET LiveStream EventWith the onset of illiberal ideologies and growing antisemitism on both sides of the political spectrum, JILV is dedicated to forging new partnerships in the fight for free expression and against antisemitism. Who are...
On Liberty, Liberalism, and Freedom
We often take for granted that everyone understands the meaning of the word “liberal” and the values that it represents. However, we use a confusing lexicon that misleads people regarding the meaning of the word “liberal.” Hanging out at kiddush after shul a friend...
The Woke Threat to America— and to American Jews
A new set of assumptions about how American society should reform itself has emerged from the cloistered academy in recent years and now has captured the imagination of many in the news media, the entertainment industry, and, even more remarkably, corporate...
Livestream Peter Boghossian
Friday, September 24th at 3:00 PM EST Philosophy professor and public intellectual discusses how universities have become ideology factories. Boghossian fought the system by submitting and getting published several hoax papers in academic journals in the infamous...
What is Critical Social Justice (CSJ) Anyway? – A Conversation with Helen Pluckrose
Thursday, September 9th at 1:00 PM EST A Discussion with Helen Pluckrose, the founder of Counterweight, which opposes the imposition of CSJ. Pluckrose is a liberal humanist who just wants people to value evidence-based epistemology and liberal ethics. She is the...
How Critical Social Justice Ideology Fuels Antisemitism – Livestream Event
Thursday, September 2nd at 4:00 PM EST A Discussion on the release of the White Paper on Antisemitism by the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values . LiveStream EventRegister for this eventMeet Our PanelistsA senior at George Washington University and the co-founder of...
Open Strategy Session
OPEN STRATEGY SESSIONTuesday, August 10, 12:00 Noon ET ZOOM EventWe discussed how we change the conversation and bring back some measure of sanity to the public discussion inside and outside the Jewish community. Moderator: David Bernstein Founder of JILV and...
New Paradigms in Black-Jewish Relations
Wednesday, August 11, 12:00 Noon ET LiveStream EventLivestream event New Paradigms in Black-Jewish RelationsHistorically the Black and Jewish communities have been interconnected in the struggle for equality. Mired in a contemporary ideological ferment, the two...
Rabbinic Leaders: Why We Value the Free Expression of Ideas
Tuesday, June 29 Past LiveStream EventLivestream event <Recorded> Rabbinic Leaders: Why We Value the Free Expression of IdeasIn this profoundly contentious ideological moment, many of us are looking to our spiritual leaders to learn what it means to be a Jew in...
This new social justice theory is making academia dangerous for Jews
This June, two Jewish mental health providers at Stanford University alleged they were the targets of anti-Jewish harassment. Ron Albucher, a prominent psychiatrist and Sheila Levin, a clinical social worker, have filed a legal complaint with the Equal Employment...
Six Ways Critical Social Justice Undercuts Liberalism
I’ve heard from friends lately who say “yes this woke stuff can go too far, but it’s really not that dangerous. Give me a break, it’s no threat to liberalism! You should fight against something more important, like Republican efforts to undercut voting rights.” While...
Jewish day schools should not teach critical race theory as established dogma
Is this really the only way to teach about racial equality? The obvious answer is no. When, about 10 years ago, I headed a pro-Israel organization that educated and trained high school and college students, I heard a frequent refrain from Jewish college students,...
The Conversation about Critical Race Theory You’ll Never Hear
Recently I’ve been holding a series of discussions with liberals and moderates on Jewish Institute for Liberal Values’ and The Speech Project’s Podcast, the SpeechCast, about the current challenges to freedom of expression. They’ve been fascinating, but some of the...
LGBTQ+ Jewish Voices/Free Expression
Watch Here- Thursday, June 3, at 2 PM ET LiveStream EventJILV will hold another Livestream event at 2:00 PM ET. Jewish Voices from the LGBTQ+ community: Why we value the free expression of ideas Numerous LGBTQ+ Jews have been at the frontlines of the battle for...
SpeechCast Episode 1 – Monica Osborne
David BernsteinHello, this is David Bernstein, I am founder and CEO of the new Jewish Institute for liberal values. And this is our inaugural webcast and podcast. And I couldn't be happier to do it with Monica Osborn. Monica is an academic. And in trauma studies and...
In light of the new Pew Study, it’s time for Jewish leaders to make amends
It is untenable to suppress scientific inquiry The new Pew Study on Jewish Americans in 2020 is out, and there’s some good news. The Jewish population is stable and perhaps even growing. The majority of Jews participate in Jewish life in one form or another. And the...
Jewish Voices from the Former Soviet Union (FSU)
Recording of JILV's first Livestream event: Jewish Voices from the Former Soviet Union (FSU): Why we value the free expression of ideas As you can imagine, these prominent figures from the FSU who grew up in a totalitarian environment have something to say about the...
How “equity” can generate antisemitism
What could possibly be wrong with a term as benevolent as “equity”? Ibrahim X. Kendi defines the term in his best seller How to be an Antiracist. “Racial inequity is when two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing,” he asserts....
Critical Race Theory and the ‘Hyper-White’ Jew
Imagine you’ve just been accepted to college. You open your welcome packet. It contains the bestseller all first-year students are expected to read: Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility. You flip to a random page and read, “Only whites can be racist.” You flip to another...
THE ALTERNATIVE READING GUIDE FOR THE 1619 PROJECT ESSAYS
The 1619 Project, while being accused of some historically fallacious claims, created a groundswell of conversation in the United States. In fact, the response was so monumental that many schools began to use the 1619 Project in their curriculum. This adds a necessary...
How not to Lose Your Organization’s Soul
I remember watching the 1981 film Skokie on television with my parents. I was 14, and they let me stay up late that night to see the entire film.The movie was about the American Nazi Party selecting the suburb Skokie, just north of Chicago, as the site of its next...
My Cheshbon HaNefesh for Cowardice in the Face of Wokeness
The first time I remember hearing the term “woke” was at a gathering of Black and Jewish activists in New York City in the fall of 2016. It was also the first time I encountered Black Lives Matter activists in person. I was the head of a Jewish organization that...
Ten Ways Woke Ideas Spread and Stick
I’ve long been fascinated by the varied explanations of why woke ideas spread. Here are the ten that I find most compelling. There are three kinds of explanations among the ten: one looks at the contagiousness of the woke ideas themselves; a second looks at the...
Who Decides What’s Racist?
The problem with "standpoint epistemology." Growing out of the Critical Race Theory (CRT) movement, a culture of censorship has taken root in many of our institutions. CRT makes two basic observations: First, that bias and prejudice exist not just in the hearts...
Six questions Jewish organizations should contemplate on racial justice
Jewish organizations, like many other civic institutions, are embracing what’s sometimes referred to as critical social justice (CSJ), the idea that society is dominated by invisible systems of oppression. Given America’s legacy of racism, the Jewish community’s own...
Can liberalism be saved from cancel culture?
(March 9, 2021 / JNS) David Bernstein is a self-described “man of the left.” He’s spent his adult life working in the institutions that embody the ethos of modern Jewish liberalism. That culminated in a five-year term as president and CEO of the Jewish Council for...
Why I Came to Resent CRT Diversity Training
My first encounter with Critical Race Theory (CRT) diversity training was in 1999. Yes, it’s been around that long. I doubt it was known as CRT training then but the underlying ideology was the same. I was a young non-profit executive participating in a leadership...
NYT: Woke Me When It’s Over
In 2015, Bon Appétit ran an article by the food writer Dawn Perry about hamantaschen, the triangular cookies that are a tradition during the Jewish festival of Purim. It was headlined — brace yourself for outrage — “How to Make Actually Good Hamantaschen.” Six years...
What My Soviet Life Has Taught Me About Censorship and Why It Makes Us Dumb
A few years into my American life, I took a class on western thought. The only philosopher on the syllabus familiar to me was Karl Marx, and he wasn’t why I’d signed up: I’d had enough of him in the USSR. Over the next two semesters, I read Adam Smith and Frederick...
Why No One Should Accept a “Critical Ethnic Studies” Curriculum. Least of All, Jews
“[I] f I were a Jewish child in a school using this curriculum,” reads a public comment from a clinical psychologist at UCLA about the California Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), “would I feel called out, that I deserve to be shamed and isolated and that any...
Jews Have Until Thursday to Influence Ethnic Studies Curriculum
A proposed, state-wide, mandatory Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum in California was open for public comment only until Thursday, January 21, 2021. The current draft of the curriculum celebrates figures who have promoted anti-Semitism (including leaders of the Third...
The Anti-Rational Woke Meme
Woke ideology, which presents itself as the progressive successor to the liberal tradition, is actually a source of cultural lethargy and decay. It is an anti-rational meme with the power to disable criticism, which wreaks havoc on liberal societies. In The Beginning...
Consistent, Moral Message Missing
This article originally ran in the Washington Jewish Week on January 9, 2003 Even as antisemitism has declined in the broader American public, things seem only to have gotten worse in at least one segment of American society. Many political “progressives” on campus...