CMJS Combined Dataset
The Combined Dataset (CDS) combines data from 25 socio-demographic studies of federated Jewish communities, conducted between 2015-2023 by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies (CMJS) at Brandeis University. This CDS includes survey responses from more than 53,000 respondents including information about demographics and household composition; Jewish identity, behaviors, and attitudes; and financial and social service needs.
It is important to note that the CDS is not drawn from a random sample of communities, but from the ones that conducted a community study with CMJS in the past 10 years. Consequently, the population described by this dataset does not represent the entire US Jewish community, but only the Jewish population in these communities. Nonetheless, the characteristics of the combined dataset align closely with estimates of the US Jewish population as a whole. The study includes small, medium, and large communities from all US regions.
Related Publications
April 8, 2024
Starting in 2020, the Weinberg Foundation has provided financial support to Federations to collect a standard set of financial related information as part of their community studies. The purpose of standardizing these measures is to facilitate the development of aggregated data across participating communities as well as to support comparisons across individual communities. By aggregating data, we can also analyze small groups (such as households experiencing poverty) in cases for which there are insufficient responses in individual studies to support detailed analysis.
The current report presents an analysis of the aggregated data that have been collected as part of this effort. This report includes data from 10 completed community studies that collected information as part of the Weinberg grant along with data from two additional community studies that included the Weinberg questions but did not receive the grant.