Judaism and Democracy

Following the contentious 2016 US election, the board and staff of Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah saw an emergent opportunity to galvanize Jewish thinking and action related to civic engagement and strengthening democracy in America. We asked ourselves and the field of Jewish organizations and practitioners to consider what Jewish wisdom we might bring to bear on both the historic and newly arising challenges to the promises of democracy in this country, and how might we apply that wisdom most effectively. 

From 2016-2021, we supported the advancement of scholarship, programs, and initiatives that sought to respond to these questions. In that time, we held our second iteration of the Lippman Kanfer Prize for Applied Jewish Wisdom, awarding organizations doing vital work at the intersection of Judaism and democracy; funded research that studied the relationship between American Jews and civic engagement; held a convening that brought together leaders in the field to dig deep into the topic; supported democracy-focused projects and programs with grants; and ultimately, spun off an organization, A More Perfect Union, led by our past president, Aaron Dorfman, to continue this work in a focused and sustained way. 

We are proud of the contributions we’ve made to the ongoing robust response by the American Jewish community to threats to democracy in this country, and we are under no illusions that the threats are passed. We will continue to support work at the intersection of Judaism and democracy in ways that advance our core mission of helping Jews and fellow travelers apply Jewish wisdom to thrive and shape a better world.