OverviewThe Mishpacha Project is a study of Jewish families. Mishpasha means family in Hebrew. We are interested in better understanding the stresses and joys of Jewish family life. We hope to learn a little more about how Jewish families engage in their ethnic and religious identity and how they teach Jewish identity to their children. We are also interested in learning more about what experiences with antisemitism these families have, and how they teach about antisemitism to their children. To accomplish this, we are reaching out to Jewish families in Northern California with a child between the ages of 2 and 18. Parents fill out a short questionnaire on their experiences. Marika Sigal is the lead graduate student on this project. The qualitative portion of this project is in part funded by an internal UC Davis SEED grant.
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Why Jewish Families? |
Ethnic and racial identity (ERI) broadly refers to the meaning and personal significance of race/ethnicity to an individual. Ethnic identity is a set of ideas about one’s own ethnic group membership. Identifying as part of the group, and knowing that certain role behaviors, traits, values, styles, customs, traditions, and languages are relevant to one’s group. One’s understanding of their ethnic identity becomes a critical component of who they are, and their sense of self. ERI is thought to be a primary resilience or protective factor in studies of racism, racial discrimination, and psychological adjustment and well-being. Thus, examining the ethnic racial socialization is particularly important to understand for minoritized children currently being raised in the context of rising hate.
Surprisingly, we know of no study that has quantitatively and qualitatively examined ethnic racial identity in Jews, their experience of antisemitism, and the subsequent impact of antisemitism on Jewish parents’ socialization of ethnic/racial identity in their children. |
Why antisemitism? |
The country is currently experiencing an unprecedented rise in antisemitism. According the ADL (an organization dedicated to tracking antisemitic events), more antisemitic events occurred in 2022 than any other year since the organization began tracking antisemitism in 1979. Specifically, compared to 2021 the ADL notes “antisemitic harassment increased 29% to 2,298; antisemitic vandalism increased 51% to 1,288 and antisemitic assaults increased 26% to 111.” Further, the ADL revealed that California is considered a hot spot for antisemitism with more antisemitic harassment than any other state, and second only to New York in total antisemitic events.
Rising antisemitism has the potential to create a fear and change the way that parents teaching their kids about their Jewish identity and about antisemitism. Therefore, we will ask parents about their experiences with antisemitism. We will will do this both quantitatively and qualitatively. Dr. Yael Teff-Seker will lead the qualitative interviews. |