The American Jewish Philanthropic Complex

September 1, 2020
The history, organization, and influence of American Jewish philanthropy. Berman, the chair of American Jewish History at Temple University, delves into a little-studied area of American finance and culture: the "complex" behind Jewish philanthropy. While admitting that defining Jewish philanthropy is not always a simple task, the author navigates a sizable body of research--more than a century of giving and investing by and for the Jewish community, involving many billions of dollars. Berman should be commended for creating a coherent, concise study of such a diffuse and sprawling subject. As the American Jewish population grew in the 19th century, so did its level of philanthropic sophistication. Organized mainly around geographically centered "federations," these clearinghouses for giving sustained the growing immigrant community while also undergirding existing Jewish community needs. The early to mid-20th century brought a change in emphasis from "philanthropic distribution to philanthropic accumulation." During these decades, federations and their donors shifted from the practice of immediate spending to a culture of endowment. This shift took on greater meaning following the Holocaust, as capital growth became a symbol of the survival and continuance of the Jewish community and culture as a whole. A second great shift took place in the last decades of the century, as the role of federations changed again from centralized sources for asset accumulation to providers of financial services for individual donors. Throughout this century of philanthropic evolution, Berman identifies a dizzying array of market trends, political entanglements, special interests, and regulatory changes, most of which also affected American philanthropy in a more general sense. Hence, this study of Jewish philanthropy in America is both a cultural history in its own right as well as an expression of the fuller story of giving across a wide swath of American society. A meaningful addition to the fields of Jewish studies and philanthropy.

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