"Where" Matters: The Importance of Geographic Factors in Understanding American Jewry, Sklare Address

Jews and geography have been inextricably related for millennia. This paper examines the importance of geographic analysis in fostering an understanding of contemporary Jewry by employing geographic concepts and methods that illuminate our understanding of American Jewry. Topics covered include Jewish identity studies completed for academic journals and local Jewish community studies completed for planning in the Jewish community. It highlights some methodological contributions, including the development of a community level data set, the Decade 2000 data set, and the Century 21 data set. Also, it presents the use of distinctive Jewish names (DJNs) for examining the historical geography of a Jewish community and for selecting the best location for a facility. Several maps are shown that illustrate the importance of cartographic analysis in understanding American Jews. It shows how a geographer’s “touch” has enhanced the utility of the US Jewish population chapter in the American Jewish Year Book. Finally, it connects an interest in completing academically-sound research that can improve American Jewish communities, with a plea for doing so while remaining a neutral provider of facts rather than an advocate for any particular programs in the Jewish community.