The Amer­i­can Jew­ish phil­an­thropic enter­prise is unpar­al­leled in scope, dynamism, and the diver­si­ty of fun­ders and the caus­es they sup­port. Yet even as Jew­ish giv­ing has been large­ly suc­cess­ful in respond­ing with alacrity to emer­gen­cies, it has been sub­ject­ed to severe crit­i­cism. What once was regard­ed as a point of pride has become the object of scorn and dis­missal, with skep­ti­cism-if not harsh crit­i­cism-about its work rife both with­in and out­side Jew­ish com­mu­nal circles.

Based on 320 inter­views with pro­fes­sion­als at Jew­ish not-for-prof­its across the Unit­ed States, prin­ci­pals of foun­da­tions and their top staff per­son­nel, and also tax fil­ings of major foun­da­tions, Jew­ish Giv­ing pro­vides read­ers with fresh per­spec­tives to eval­u­ate the efforts of Jew­ish donors, large and small. The book traces the evo­lu­tion of Jew­ish giv­ing from the colo­nial era to the present, chart­ing the chang­ing pro­file of those who give to Jew­ish caus­es and what fun­ders have aimed to achieve through their largesse. It makes the case that phil­an­thropy serves as a prism through which broad­er themes in com­mu­nal life are illu­mi­nat­ed. As soci­ety or pol­i­tics change, the pri­or­i­ties of char­i­ta­ble giv­ing adjust in response. These changes in tar­get­ed fund­ing can help to sharp­en our under­stand­ing of demo­graph­ic and social pat­terns. Devot­ing much atten­tion to twen­ty-first cen­tu­ry devel­op­ments in con­tem­po­rary Jew­ish giv­ing, the book pays spe­cial atten­tion to the chang­ing land­scape of donors who are remak­ing Jew­ish phil­an­thropy, includ­ing women, Ortho­dox Jews, Sephar­di givers, and young funders.