The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, San Francisco (IJCR) is an
independent think tank devoted to creating a safe, secure, and growing
Jewish community. We provide research to the Jewish community and the
general society, utilize our information to design and develop innovative
initiatives, and educate the general public and opinion leaders.
Jesus was a Palestinian? That's what one public school textbook says.
Although Jesus lived in a region known in his time as Palestine, the use of the term "Palestinian," with its modern connotations, is among the hundreds of textbook flaws cited in a recent five-year study of educational anti-Semitism detailed in the book "The Trouble with Textbooks: Distorting History and Religion."
Authors Gary Tobin and Dennis Ybarra of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research found some 500 imperfections and distortions concerning religion in 28 of the most widely used social studies and history textbooks in the United States.
I recently read a book that deserves the widest possible readership. The book is "The Trouble with Textbooks - Distorting History and Religion" by Gary A. Tobin and Dennis R. Ybarra. I have never met or talked with either of these gentlemen, but I can't say enough good things about this book. For all who believe that there is a fairly objective rendition of history that we are obliged to teach our children, this book reveals how shockingly far from that objective American education-and particularly school textbooks-have fallen.
Wall Street Journal
By Eleanor Laise and Dennis K. Berman
December 16, 2008
"In the Jewish world, we've just taken a major, central player, and introduced fear and uncertainty all over the system. It's like finding out your brother is a murderer" said Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research, which studies Jewish philanthropy. Dr. Tobin estimated the total amount of such giving in the U.S. to be as much as $5 billion annually.
How is it that a country that cherishes its multicultural heritage and legislates to protect it has not figured out a way to teach it more consistently in American K-12 textbooks? The poor scholarship so prevalent in the sections on Jews, Judaism, and the Middle East represents only a small sample of the thousands of pages of social studies, history, and geography textbooks being thumbed through by American students at this very moment. What else is misrepresented? What other aspects of American culture, history, and values are being distorted?
"Study Says US Textbooks Misrepresent Jews and Israel,"
By Haviv Rettig The Jerusalem Post
September 26, 2008
American elementary and high school textbooks contain many "gross misrepresentations" of Judaism, Christianity and Israel, according to a book-length study released this week by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community Research.
"It is shocking to discover that history and geography textbooks widely used in America's elementary and secondary classrooms contain some of the very same inaccuracies about Christianity, Judaism and the Middle East as those [used] in Iran," the IJCR said in a summary of the findings of the five-year study.
"For Nonprofits in a Tough Economy, Marketing Pitch Must be Perfect"
By Jacob Berkman The Forward
October 16, 2008
Nonprofits should emphasize their emergency, says Gary Tobin, the president of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, which studies the Jewish nonprofit sector.
"What is going to matter most to people are those programs for the hungry and the poor, people on Medicare and the homeless," Tobin said.
"You have to appeal to a shift in priorities and mission in a time of crisis. JCCs should be emphasizing scholarships, day schools the same," he said. "Everybody needs programs that serve people in need. It's just a matter of how you package it."
Synagogue, and ‘Spiritual Starbucks’
By PAUL VITELLO The New York Times
September 28, 2008
Gary A. Tobin, director of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, said such partnerships marked "the convergence of the two major trends in Jewish life: the expansion of the most successful movement in world Jewry, which is Chabad, and the undeniable fact that Jews are becoming birds of passage like everyone else, less likely to belong to a synagogue but still searching for the authentic religious fundamentals."
Paying It Forward – and Back: Nonprofit Leaders Worry As Congress Rethinks Tax Breaks for Donors and Other Charity Policies
By Suzanne Perry The Chronicle of Philanthropy
September 4, 2008
The Institute for Jewish and Community Research, in San Francisco, conducted a study of more than 8,000 donations of at least $1-million each made from 2001 to 2003. The biggest proportion — 44 percent of total dollars — went to colleges and universities, followed by health and medical institutions (16 percent) and arts and culture groups (12 percent). Groups that provide social services received only 5 percent of the pot."The disparity among nonprofits is so stark that it was inevitable that elected officials would start to to take a look at this," says Gary A. Tobin, the institute's president.
Quiet War on Campus: Israel Remains Under Attack Despite Fewer Public Protests, Is Anti-Zionism the New Anti-Semitism?
By Brad Greenberg Jewish Journal
August 20, 2008
"Whether there are more or less anti-Israel demonstrations on campus really misses the point," said Gary Tobin, president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research. "The real insidious nature of this ideology is what takes place in the classrooms and in the writings of faculty in their research -- all of those are far more significant, dangerous and insidious.
The legitimacy that Walt and Mearsheimer and Jimmy Carter have given to anti-Israelists has been huge. Just take a look inside the office of the academic affairs director at the Israel Consulate in Los Angeles."
Muslim Census a Difficult Count
By Cathy Lynn Grossman USA Today August 6, 2008
"What people do and how they think of themselves, and how we want to classify their institutional affiliations are very, very different," says Gary Tobin president of the Institute for Jewish & Community Research in San Francisco. "If you say you are Episcopalian but you attend a Baptist church on Sundays with your wife who is Baptist, who counts you? If neither one of you attends church anywhere, what are you then?"
Some Jewish Nonprofit Groups Lay Off Employees and Trim Programs
Staff Writer The Chronicle of Philanthropy
July 3, 2008
In these tough economic times, some Jewish nonprofit organizations are reducing the size of their staffs and programs, reports The Jewish Week, in New York.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, an international relief agency, and the Jewish federation umbrella group United Jewish Communities recently cut dozens of jobs, and several Jewish groups and programs have closed.
The bad economy has caused some donors to pull back, leaders of Jewish charities said.
Coercing the Conscience: New Examples of the Reign of Intolerance in Schools of Social Work
By Glenn Ricketts The National Association of Scholars
July 6, 2008
A recent empirical survey of religious attitudes among college and university faculty suggests strongly a widespread pattern of hostility towards evangelicals by professors. In Religious Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty (San Francisco: Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2007), authors Gary Tobin and Aryeh Weinberg affirm unsurprisingly that academics, although certainly not monolithic, are generally less religiously inclined than the larger public.
Positive Realist
By Debbie Cohen, Spring 2008 Lifestyles Magazine
Dr. Gary A. Tobin knows how to make a point- even if it's not always easy to hear what the well-known demographer and President of the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco has to say. Tobin challenges traditional ways of thinking about Jewish communal life.
Op-Ed: Stop Keeping Out Non-Jews
By Gary Tobin JTA
March 3, 2008
A new study showing that Americans are switching religions more than ever proves that U.S. Jewry needs a new strategy, says Gary Tobin.
San Francisco (JTA) -- A study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life shows that Americans are switching religions more than ever. As many as one of every two adults does not practice the religion in which they were born or raised.
New Initiative Director In January 2009, Kenneth L. Marcus became the new director of the Initiative to Combat Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism in America’s Educational Systems. He is a foremost authority in the field of civil rights and religious freedom. Mr. Marcus will advance efforts to combat anti-semitism and anti-Israel bias in colleges and universities and the misrepresentation of Jews and Israel in K-12 textbooks.
Link to bio Link to new articlesNew Publication! The Trouble with Textbooks: Distorting History and Religion
Gary A. Tobin and Dennis R. Ybarra (Maryland: Lexington Books, 2008)
The Trouble with Textbooks sounds the alarm about how textbooks disparage some groups and teach historical distortions. Our schools are supposed to instill young people with American values and provide students with the knowledge necessary for good citizenship. Instead, textbooks are filled with mistakes and misrepresentations.
Institute researchers have provided expert commentary for news outlets throughout the world regarding the Madoff scandal and our new publication, The Trouble with Textbooks. Highlights: Gary Tobin appeared on Fox Business Network and his op ed about Madoff was published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Dennis Ybarra was featured on KIRO Radio in Seattle.
The Institute for Jewish and Community Research (IJCR) and The Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion recently announced a new association for a series of collaborative research projects. Senior scholars from each institute now hold reciprocal appointments that create a top team of scholars to conduct research and produce joint publications in the study of religion. Among the projects will be studies of attitudes about religion among college faculty and an extensive survey about how college students experience religion on campus. They will also engage in a multi-year study of tolerance and intolerance of different religious groups in the United States.
Guest Commentary: Competition and the American Religious Marketplace
By Rodney Stark and Gary Tobin
Copyright 2008 Religion News Servce. Used by Permission.
March 2008
A recent report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life found 44 percent of American adults have switched away from the religious affiliation in which they were raised Cause for concern? Maybe, maybe not.
One of the report’s major findings is that Catholics and mainline Protestant denominations are the big losers, while evangelical and non-denominational Protestants are the big winners.
Recent Publication Mega-Gifts in Jewish Philanthropy:
Giving Patterns 2001-2003
Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2008)
"While Jewish organizations do a reasonable job attracting smaller mega-gifts, those from $1-2 million, they are failing dramatically to attract the biggest gifts that Jews make to non-profits. The trends over eight years are remarkably consistent – Jewish mega-gifts exceeding $10 million to Jewish organizations were rare eight years ago and remain notably infrequent," according to Gary A. Tobin, president of IJCR. IJCR presents findings from a new study on mega-giving analyzing over 1,000 Jewish mega-gifts of $1 million or more made between 2001-2003.
Recent Publication Mega-Gifts in American Philanthropy: Giving Patterns 2001-2003
Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2007)
Higher education, health, and cultural arts organizations receive the lion’s share of the largest gifts that individuals, foundations, and corporations contribute to American philanthropy. IJCR presents findings from our new study on mega-giving analyzing over 8000 gifts of $1 million or more made between 2001-2003.
Talking Truth about Jewish Federations
Gary A. Tobin
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2007)
Jewish federations need to change if they are going to remain a dominant force in Jewish philanthropy. This policy paper explores how federations operate, the challenges they face, and possibilities for reform.
A Study of Jewish Foundations
Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg.
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2007)
Foundations established by Jewish Americans give to an amazing array of causes and organizations in education, health, the arts, and human services. They cover the landscape, which is what you would expect from a community that is so well integrated into every part of American society.
Profiles of the American University / Volume II: Religious Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty
Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg.
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2007.)
The religious identity, beliefs, and behavior of college faculty in the United States are complex. Faculty are far more religious than many might believe, but still much less religious than the American public. Their religious beliefs are often intertwined with political ideology. Moreover, faculty are not without their religious prejudices – they are less tolerant of some religious groups than others, such as Evangelicals and Mormons. The Religious Beliefs and Behavior of College Faculty examines the intersection of two of the most important institutions in American life: religion and higher education.
Press Release More InformationProfiles of the American University / Volume I: Political Beliefs & Behavior of College Faculty
Gary A. Tobin and Aryeh K. Weinberg.
(San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2006.)
The Institute for Jewish & Community Research's study of American college faculty offers the reader a unique portrait of today's academy. It illustrates the existence of a dominant political ideology on campus that encompasses views of American foreign, domestic, and trade policies. The majority of faculty are bound by a set of beliefs that could compromise the core mission of the academy to provide unbiased teaching and scholarship.
Listen to Press ConferencePolitics & Propaganda in American Education: The UnCivil University
Gary A. Tobin, Aryeh K. Weinberg, and Jenna Ferer. (San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2005.)
The UnCivil University examines the current state of the American university and concludes that higher education has lost sight of its mission. Using the persistence of anti-Semitism in the form of anti-Israelism on campus as a case study, the book calls for reform at every level.
More Information Order from Amazon.com
New Be’chol Lashon Website
The new Be’chol Lashon website is dedicated to all who are looking for a place among the Jewish people. Welcome...
2008 Be’chol Lashon Media Award Winners
The 2008 Be'chol Lashon Media Awards will be announced on Sunday, May 3, honoring excellence in coverage of Jewish ethnic and racial diversity in print, broadcast/film, and new/emerging media. Go to Press Release .
Obama's Rabbi By Zev Chafets, April 2, 2009, The New York Times Magazine
Rabbi Capers Funnye hasn’t built all his bridges yet, let alone crossed them, but the progress he has seen — both as a black Jew and as a black American — has mellowed him.
Read on
It's not easy being an Ethiopian Jew in America By Natasha Mozgovaya, April 12, 2009, Haaretz.com
When Avishai Mekonen, 35, an Israeli photographer who has lived for the past seven years in New York City, lectured before American high-school students in Savannah, GA, one of them asked him to roll up his sleeve. Read on...
Looking for a meaningful gift... How about mosquito nets?
HELP provide mosquito nets to significantly reduce malaria, the primary cause of death in Africa. Be’chol Lashon is helping the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda to improve health care. And, one of the best ways to improve healthcare is to prevent people from getting sick. Additionally, life saving services provided by the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda to their Christian and Muslim neighbors fosters good will and cooperation. Donate Here
NEW Camp Be'chol Lashon
June 21-28 A week-long overnight camp
Walker Creek Ranch, Petaluma
Sign up now for a discount
WELCOME TO ALL...children of racially and ethnically diverse families...and those who want to be part of a global Jewish community.
Historic Gathering of Racially and Ethnically Diverse Jews
African American, Asian, Latino, and African Leaders Convene in San Francisco
San Francisco, CA (April 29, 2009) Jewish leaders from Uganda, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Portugal, India, the United States, and elsewhere will meet in San Francisco May 1-4.
....more
In Living Color By Rachel Sarah, June/July 2008, Jewish Living Magazine
Diane Kaufmann Tobin, says about her 10-year-old son, whom she adopted with her husband, Gary, "I wanted him to grow up Jewish and not have to choose between his racial and religious identities." The Tobins, both of whom are white, were determined to find a place where Jonah would feel "very at home being both Jewish and black." So, they founded San Francisco's Be'chol Lashon (In Every Tongue) program, which "grows and strengthens the Jewish people through ethnic, cultural, and racial inclusiveness." Read the June Newsletter
Rabbi Sizomu is delighted to announce the release of the new Abayudaya CD
Music has long been a motivating force for religion in Africa and has been critical to the survival of the Abayudaya community.
In Every Tongue: The Racial & Ethnic Diversity of the Jewish People, by Diane Tobin, Gary A. Tobin, and Scott Rubin. (San Francisco: The Institute for Jewish & Community Research, 2005.)
In Every Tongue documents the little known racial and ethnic diversity of the Jewish people, both in the United States and around the world. The impact of the book’s findings reach far beyond the Jewish community. The increasing diversity of the Jewish people is a microcosm of larger changes afoot in American society.
In January 2009, Kenneth L. Marcus became the new director of the Initiative to Combat Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israelism in America’s Educational Systems. He is a foremost authority in the field of civil rights and religious freedom. Mr. Marcus will advance efforts to combat anti-semitism and anti-Israel bias in colleges and universities and the misrepresentation of Jews and Israel in K-12 textbooks.
Listen to Interview
2006 Independent Publisher