Berman Archive: Documenting American Jewish Communities

The Berman Archive (bermanarchive.stanford.edu) is the new starting point for anyone engaging with American Jewish communal life—be it academic, professional, or religious—and is a repository for the reflections and expressions of American Jewish professionals today. As the largest open-access, digital archive of printed material about the subject, the Berman Archive’s holdings are a vast trove of insights, observations, data, reports, and perspectives on organized Jewish life and service—valuable glimpses into the past for today’s professionals, scholars, and inquiring minds.

Formerly the Berman Jewish Policy Archive, the rebranded, refreshed platform is more user-friendly than ever, reconfigured to make it easier to search for and find desired content. Organizations and individuals are invited to contribute (by emailing [email protected]) to the ever-growing collection of resources that are vital for collecting, preserving, and sharing ideas, data, and points of view that define and sustain the American Jewish experience. The Berman Archive houses material typically produced outside traditional academic and commercial spheres, but which nevertheless provide insights into the long-lasting trends and persistent concerns about Jewish life in North America. This includes material about small, defunct organizations, quirky collective efforts, and historically underrepresented groups in American Jewish life. Reports, writing, and publication that might otherwise be lost to history or shoved in the back of a file cabinet—but that shine light on the true diversity of American Jewish life—are welcomed content on the platform.

We want the Berman Archive to be a catalyst for new perspectives in the Jewish world. Considering the past is key to working in an informed and curious way and we hope to be that point of connection for the Jewish community.
– Dr. Ari Y Kelman, Director of the Berman Archive

Berman Archive new brand

The Berman Archive is committed to ongoing critical engagement with its holdings and invites comment, criticism, essays, and contributions from current professionals and scholars engaged with the American Jewish community. Moving forward, the Berman Archive will also feature and host events and initiatives. To sustain and expand all of its efforts, the Berman Archive welcomes additional support.

Visit bermanarchive.stanford.edu. The Berman Archive is led by Dr. Ari Y Kelman and is a project of the Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, and is a partner with the Berman Jewish DataBank at the Jewish Federations of North America. The Berman Archive is sustained by the support of the Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation and the Jim Joseph Foundation.