Comment on "Ethno-Religious Philanthropy: Lessons from a Study of United States Jewish Philanthropy" by Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim and Matt Brookner (Published in Contemporary Jewry v39(1))

This very ambitious paper wants us to think about the impact of Jewish philanthropy on society at large, not merely on the Jewish community itself. To succeed, it must define “Jewish philanthropy” and confront a significant methodological challenge— to identify, from among huge numbers of philanthropic organizations listed in various databases, which organizations are Jewish.