Abstract:
Scholars have spent considerable effort to uncover and explain the unique ways that
contemporary American Jews think and feel about Israel, yet the voices of American
Jewish children have been conspicuously absent from most research. American
Jewish children—like the adults in their lives—have beliefs, opinions, and thoughts
about Israel and its role in American Jewish life. This article makes two distinct yet
interrelated arguments about the role of children in research on contemporary American
Jews. The first is that children ought to be included in research about American
Judaism. Second, the inclusion of children in research both widens the scope and
shifts the focus of understanding American Jewish relationships to Israel. Children’s
participation in research demonstrates how American Jews develop relationships
with Israel over the course of a lifetime. In addition, the methodological approaches
that allow for the inclusion of children in research shift the focus of understanding
away from a “deficit model” that measures participants’ knowledge and connection
against an existing ledger, and towards an “inventory model” that takes stock of participants’ cognitive and emotional warehouses. This shift is essential for understanding
what Israel means in the lives of American Jews of all ages.
