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Berman Archive at Stanford

@bermanarchive.bsky.social
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The Berman Archive documents American Jewish Communities. We’re the largest archive of the printed material of communal American Jewish life. Website: bermanarchive.stanford.edu Documensch Daily: bermanarchive.stanford.edu/documens…

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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 8h
California's SB 1387 now lets Jews identify as Jewish when the state asks about ethnicity. Good for the Jews? Will there be unintended consequences? Are Jews an Ethnic Group? Panel at Stanford, Mon Nov 2, 5:30 pm PT. In person + Zoom, free. RSVP: bermanarchive.stanford.edu/are-jews-an-...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Are Jews an ethnic group? California just said yes. Good for the Jews of California, or will there be unintended consequences? Join us Nov 2 at Stanford or on Zoom, moderated by Asaf Elia-Shalev of @jewishsf.bsky.social. Free, RSVP: 👉 bermanarchive.stanford.edu/are-jews-an-...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
We've been tracking SB 1387 since spring. Start here: bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This is a big deal. California is now the first state to treat Jewish as an ethnicity in law, per sponsor Jewish California. Agencies start counting Jews in hate crime, health, poverty & education data in 2029. Participation is voluntary. www.jewishcal.org/press-room/g...
jewishcal.org
Governor Newsom Signs SB 1387, Making California the First State to Recognize Jewish Identity as an Ethnicity in Law | Jewish California
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The median Jewish adult is 61 in Milwaukee, 44 in Austin and 49 nationally. Our map of the past year's local Jewish community studies puts those numbers side by side. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/regional-stu...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Jewish Community Studies, Mapped
Local Jewish community studies released between October 2025 and September 2026, on one interactive map.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Our September Research Newsletter is out: record Jewish security spending, polls for days, Canadian Jews' fears, and a year of community studies on one map. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/all-over-the...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Documensch Research: All Over the Map
September was a month for counting, and not just in the High Holiday liturgy. We begin with a new record in what American Jewish institutions spend on security and two new polls of Jewish voters headi...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Boston's Jewish households hold 333,100 people, but only about 228,500 of them are Jewish. See how Boston compares with 11 other communities studied this year on our new map. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/regional-stu...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Jewish Community Studies, Mapped
Local Jewish community studies released between October 2025 and September 2026, on one interactive map.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
New from the Berman Archive: a map of the local Jewish community studies released over the past year. Twelve communities from Seattle to Boston, with the key findings from each. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/regional-stu...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Jewish Community Studies, Mapped
Local Jewish community studies released between October 2025 and September 2026, on one interactive map.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
September's Documensch Research is out: record Jewish security spending, three new polls, Canadian Jews' eroding sense of safety, why Jews ran Tin Pan Alley, and a year of community studies on one map. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/all-over-the...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Documensch Research: All Over the Map
September was a month for counting, and not just in the High Holiday liturgy. We begin with a new record in what American Jewish institutions spend on security and two new polls of Jewish voters headi...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
@jstreetdotorg.bsky.social is building an advisory council of ex-leaders from AJC, UJA-Federation NY & the Jewish Agency. Will the establishment follow its old guard?
jta.org
Figures who once defined Jewish establishment line up behind J Street - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
For 18 years, J Street sought a seat at the table with mainstream pro-Israel organizations. Now it’s building its own table.
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Reposted by Berman Archive at Stanford
Jay Geller @jaygeller.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Now that the BBC has picked up this story, it has gone "viral" and gone beyond the bubble of experts on German politics and society. www.bbc.com/news/article... I thought I would add some more context that isn't in the article. #Stoplersteine #Germany #HolocaustMemory
bbc.com
German town bans stumbling stone memorials to Nazi victims
Germany's education minister has branded the ban on the small brass memorial plaques a "scandal".
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Sweet relief: After a week of nostalgic mourning, Sunkist says Fruit Gems aren't going anywhere, with a new family-owned maker lined up. @jewishsf.bsky.social has the resurrection story: jweekly.com/2026/09/28/b...
jweekly.com
Back from the dead: Sunkist Fruit Gems have been re-continued
Good news for the Jews: Sunkist Fruit Gems, America’s candy of choice for throwing at b’nai mitzvah kids, is no longer discontinued.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
88% of Canadian Jews now feel less safe than they did five years ago, up from 63% in 2024, and 26% have thought seriously about leaving the country. The Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026: cjs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cj...
cjs.journals.yorku.ca
Canadian Jewish Barometer 2026: Pressures on Canadian Jews and their Responses | Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes
The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies encourages research on the Canadian Jewish experience through the disciplines of political science, sociology, economics, geography, history, demography, ed...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"I can't help but wonder which Jews might be overlooked by such a vague definition." —Rabbi Kendell Pinkney, Reboot, raises a concern about who gets left out. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
New Politico poll: Democrats are less likely to back a candidate who regularly attends synagogue; Republicans prefer the regular to the once-a-year attendee. Notes for Josh Shapiro 2028, via @forward.com
forward.com
Could going to synagogue help or hurt a Jewish candidate? This poll offers a clue
New poll shows how practicing Judaism could factor into electability
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"Saying 'I am ethnically Jewish' is a tautology, since that is the same as saying 'I am Jewish.'" —Shaul Magid, Harvard Divinity School, picks apart the logic of the new law that makes Jews a demographic category in California bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"We are a people, not only a religion," says Sarah Levin, Executive Director, JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. Read Levin's thoughts on why her organization backs SB 1387, and what she hopes comes next. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
SB 1387 borrows the same logic California used to break "Asian" into specific nationalities on state forms. Keith Feldman, UC Berkeley, worries that applied to Jews, it could feed "conspiratorial thinking that figure Jews as somehow essentially apart from the U.S. national polity."
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
"Better to be undefined and uncounted." —Historian Deborah Dash Moore, University of Michigan, on why she's skeptical California should count Jews as an ethnicity at all. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"Jewishness runs through ancestry, culture, and peoplehood, and most American Jews describe their Jewishness in those terms before they describe it through religion." —@davidbocarsly.bsky.social, CEO of Jewish California, on his sponsorship of SB 1387 bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Who runs Jewish communal life? Often, non-Jews. @jewishsf.bsky.social profiles seven: from a former priest managing a synagogue to a preschool teacher whose daughter now knows all the Shabbat songs.
jweekly.com
They’re not Jews, but Jewish orgs can’t run without them
Jewish communal life depends on non-Jews who show up to do the essential work of teaching kids, keeping sites secure and balancing the books.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"The function, not the form, of the category matters." — Lila Corwin Berman (@lilacb.bsky.social), historian at NYU, on what's actually at stake if California starts counting Jews as an ethnicity. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
SB 1387 could make California the first state in the country to count Jews as an ethnicity on state forms. It's on the Governor's desk now. Seven perspectives on what's actually at stake: bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Reposted by Berman Archive at Stanford
Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
California is one signature away from becoming the first state to legally define Jewish identity as an ethnicity. We got responses from seven scholars, advocates, and community leaders to weigh in on the implications. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
LGBTQ Jews face two threats during the High Holidays (and beyond): rising antisemitism and escalating anti-LGBTQ hostility. JQY's Rachael Fried on why synagogues need to say the welcome out loud.
religionnews.com
LGBTQ Jews face dual threats these High Holidays. Here’s how synagogues can be their refuge.
(RNS) — Every congregation can plan ahead, communicate with respect and ensure that no one is humiliated at the door, singled out during a meal or made to feel that their presence is merely being tole...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
California is one signature away from becoming the first state to legally define Jewish identity as an ethnicity. We got responses from seven scholars, advocates, and community leaders to weigh in on the implications. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Reposted by Berman Archive at Stanford
Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
California could become the first state to legally count Jews as an ethnicity. SB 1387 is sitting on the Governor's desk right now. We asked seven scholars and advocates what that actually means. ✅ bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
California could become the first state to legally count Jews as an ethnicity. SB 1387 is sitting on the Governor's desk right now. We asked seven scholars and advocates what that actually means. ✅ bermanarchive.stanford.edu/counting-cal...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Counting California Jews | Berman Archive
What are the implications of enshrining Jewishness as a demographic category? To help us think through that question, we turned to a handful of people who have been thinking about questions of Jewishn...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
J Street (@jstreetdotorg.bsky.social) is spending $3M to defeat five AIPAC-backed Republicans with its largest super PAC spend ever. Two major Jewish political orgs are now openly targeting each other's candidates.
jta.org
J Street goes on the offensive against AIPAC-backed candidates - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
“It’s a new era for us,” says J Street president Jeremy Ben-Ami.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
In 1927, Henry Ford retracted seven years of antisemitic conspiracies published in his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent — while claiming he'd been too busy to know what it printed. Read the full apology in the Berman Archive. exhibits.stanford.edu/bermanarchive/catalog/kt334qn5964
exhibits.stanford.edu
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Henry Ford's historic home will confront his antisemitism when it reopens next year. Fair Lane's curators call it a "non-negotiable" part of the visitor experience. jta.org/2026/09/14/united-states/henry-fords-historic-home-will-confront-his-antisemitism-when-it-reopens
jta.org
'Long overdue': Henry Ford home to confront his antisemitism - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Fair Lane, the historic home of Henry and Clara Ford, says it will discuss the Dearborn Independent in 2027.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A national survey finds 67% of American Jews are planning to vote Democratic in the midterms and 89% are concerned about antisemitism. Emotional attachment to Israel remains high at 71%, but 65% disapprove of the Israeli government's West Bank and Gaza policy. jewishvoters.org/new-poll-67-...
jewishvoters.org
Two Months Before Election Day, Jewish Voters Continue to Strongly Support Democrats, Sharply Reject President Trump
A new national poll of Jewish voters, conducted two months before the midterm elections, finds that Jewish voters will overwhelmingly vote for Democrats in the midterm elections.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Attendance at Bar Yohai Sephardic Minyan in Sunnyvale has doubled in six years, and not from young-adult programming. The growth stems from factors in close proximity: a day school, an eruv, a walkable neighborhood, the synagogue next door. @jewishsf.bsky.social jweekly.com/2026/09/04/s...
jweekly.com
Sunnyvale's Sephardic congregation is attracting a young crowd
Bar Yohai serves a growing population of Silicon Valley Jews, especially Israelis, across Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ashkenazi heritage.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Tin Pan Alley was the cluster of NYC publishers who turned pop songwriting into an industry during the turn of the 20th century. Jewish immigrants ran most of it. Why? It was thought that Jews were shut out of respectable professions and brought commercial instincts over from Europe. Not quite:
tandfonline.com
Liberalism, Ethnicity and the Origin of American Jews’ Prominence on Tin Pan Alley
This article re-examines Jewish prominence in Tin Pan Alley beyond familiar narratives of exclusion and inherited commercial aptitude. It argues that Jewish success reflected a distinctive liberal ...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Mothers Against College Antisemitism's founder has been at war with the org's board for nine months. The 60,000-member Facebook group at the center of the dispute is legally the nonprofit's asset, but the founder refuses to cede control.
ejewishphilanthropy.com
What Jewish leaders can learn from nine months of Mothers Against College Antisemitism infighting
On Friday evening, the popular, often boisterous grassroots advocacy Facebook group Mothers Against College Antisemitism instituted new rules: “Pausing” discussions about its “internal dispute” and pr...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
JFNA says US Jewish institutions now spend $1.015 billion a year on security, up 33% since 2024. The release asks Congress to fund the Nonprofit Security Grant Program at $1B.
jewishfederations.org
Jewish Community Security Spending Surpasses $1 Billion, New Data Shows | The Jewish Federations of North America
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
California could become the first state to count "Jewish" as an ethnicity on government forms. SB 1387 is one Gavin Newsom signature away from being the law of the (golden) land.
jta.org
California lawmakers pass bills to address antisemitism, deem ‘Jewish’ an ethnicity and protect religious observance - Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has until Sept. 30 to sign bills into laws or veto them.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A new Brandeis survey of 3,989 undergrads finds 75% agree Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. Hostility toward the Israeli government and people is a minority position at 20%; the largest group (34%) is warm toward civilians on both sides. scholarworks.brandeis.edu/esploro/outp...
Report over image of abstract rectangles
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
The August Documensch Research Newsletter is out! Read our monthly roundup of new American Jewish research. Inside: strategic pivots at UpStart and NCJW, a new map of young adult Jewish life, and new ADL data on antisemitism. bermanarchive.stanford.edu/documensch-a...
bermanarchive.stanford.edu
Documensch August Research - Berman Archive
Hello and welcome to Documensch Research, your one-stop-shop for what’s new in Jewish research. August brought some interesting new visions (and the documents that express them) for Jewish organizatio...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A Zionist rabbi whose Queens synagogue is represented by Zohran Mamdani and AOC. He explains why he texts them "Shabbat Shalom" every week, and why that relationship mattered after a March attack on a Michigan synagogue. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
usatoday.com
I'm a Zionist rabbi. My friends are DSA. Here's how that works.
I'm a Zionist rabbi in AOC's district. Here's what I've learned from the relationships I've built with the democratic socialists representing us.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
A UMich astrophysics PhD candidate built a model for the exact moment Shabbat should end: when three stars become visible after sunset. They found it often runs ~10 min later than standard approximations.
forward.com
When does Shabbat end? This astrophysicist thinks we’ve been getting it wrong
Three stars in the night sky mark the Sabbath’s end. Now, one astronomer is calculating exactly when those stars appear.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Milk & money: Weeks before Rosh Hashanah, Jewish-Canadian dairy & honey producers are caught in the trade war. @thecjn.bsky.social finds Jewish farmers backing the hard line anyway. thecjn.ca/news/land-of...
thecjn.ca
Land of milk and trade wars: Jewish dairy and honey farmers respond to U.S. tariffs
"You can't concede on sovereignty," warns Quebec honey producer Yoav Sasportas.
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Peter Bebergal and JF Martel have written a Depression-era Call of Cthulhu RPG adventure that runs from a break-in at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts through the city's 1930s Jewish neighborhoods to a golem ritual. @boingboing.net interviewed the creaters.
boingboing.net
When Jewish mysticism answers the Call of Cthulhu
Peter Bebergal, author of Season of the Witch, Strange Frequencies, and Appendix N: The Eldritch Roots of Dungeons &…
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Reposted by Berman Archive at Stanford
Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 19/08/2026
Whistleblowers: DOJ, HHS Antisemitism Investigations Were Predetermined bit.ly/4qsvX4W
A collection of tents with students on the campus of Columbia shows that the protests continue
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
@nexusproject.bsky.social is the only Jewish organization we've seen weigh in, calling for a full investigation.
nexusproject.us
The Nexus Project Call for Full Investigation into Claims Trump Administration Officials Weaponized Antisemitism Claims to Coerce and Extort Universities - Nexus Project
The Nexus Project commends Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and the House Judiciary Committee for demanding accountability from the Department of Justice following whistleblower reports that senior Trump A...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
A former DOJ attorney says the Trump administration's campus antisemitism probes were built to extract money from universities. At Brown, investigators found no violation and were overruled.
forward.com
Whistleblower claims Trump's campus antisemitism crackdown was a cash grab
A new report alleges that the administration’s probes were politically motivated and flouted due process.
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Reposted by Berman Archive at Stanford
Dan Carkner @alte.klezmor.im · 19/08/2026
trying to write a draft of something and couldn't help but mention the Bialystoker Bricklayers Benevolent Association ... this image is from NYPL but I swear at YIVO I saw a historical photo of one of their huge mass gatherings on the street in NY a century ago. If I photographed it, I forget where🤔
scan of a microfilmed page in Yiddish
DER BIALISTOKER 
FUNDAMENT SPETSIALER ZHURNAL
LKOVED DEM 25 YAHRIGER YUBILAYUM
BIALOSTOKER BRICKLAYERS 
PROG. BENEV. ASOSIASHUN
REDAKTIRT FUN DOVID SOHN
NIU YORK, 9TEN MARTSH 1930
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The Nexus Project @nexusproject.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
BREAKING: A whistleblower report describes the Trump administration's gross exploitation of Jewish Americans' legitimate fears to coerce and extort universities. These officials allegedly used the fight against antisemitism as cover for a campaign against institutions of higher education.
nexusproject.us
The Nexus Project Call for Full Investigation into Claims Trump Administration Officials Weaponized Antisemitism Claims to Coerce and Extort Universities - Nexus Project
The Nexus Project commends Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and the House Judiciary Committee for demanding accountability from the Department of Justice following whistleblower reports that senior Trump A...
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The Brown investigation traced back to a single New York Post story about medical school commencements. Asked what else it rested on, an HHS attorney said they were 99% sure there were no Title VI complaints about Brown in the agency's system. www.documentcloud.org/documents/28...
documentcloud.org
Title VI Whistleblower Disclosure for Congress
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Berman Archive at Stanford @bermanarchive.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
At Brown, investigators found the school had responded promptly to the two incidents they could identify & recommended a notice of no violation. An HHS official agreed there was no violation but said such a letter would never clear leadership. Brown settled for $50M.
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