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Moneyball Judaism is a free weekly newsletter that provides Jewish leaders with easy-to-digest explanations of trends in behavioral economics, social psychology, decision sciences, and organizational development.

Politics is poisoning the fight against antisemitism.I have strong political views, and perhaps you do, as well. I’m not...
05/01/2026

Politics is poisoning the fight against antisemitism.

I have strong political views, and perhaps you do, as well. I’m not changing my beliefs anytime soon—and I don’t expect you to change your worldview either. So if you’re still reading, here’s what I do want to challenge:

The way we talk about antisemitism has become so entangled with politics that it’s making us immeasurably worse at actually fighting it.

We argue about whether “the left” or “the right” is worse.

We collect examples that prove our side is correct.

And in the process, we lose sight of the thing we claim to care about.

I’m not immune to that trap.

And so it’s time for some tough love:

I can fight anti-Semitism, or I can win a political argument.

But I can’t do both.

And neither can you…

Read why here: https://tinyurl.com/4xmkkxnd

I care too much about getting anti-Semites to change their minds.I’ve always wondered whether I’m alone in this.It’s not...
04/21/2026

I care too much about getting anti-Semites to change their minds.

I’ve always wondered whether I’m alone in this.

It’s not that I think I could sit down with someone in the K*K and talk them out of their beliefs. But I do find myself asking a different question: what conditions would need to exist for the K*K to disappear altogether?

I know—it sounds naive.

But as a Jew, I don’t have the luxury of giving up.

That instinct is also why I’m often skeptical of how we fight anti-Semitism, especially when it comes to Israel and Zionism. Too often, we spend too little time trying to understand the worldview of the person we’re trying to persuade, and too much time trying to defeat the opposition, hoping they’ll give up. Convincing people that we are right and they are wrong, or defeating opponents on the battlefield of ideas, are not recipes for long-term coexistence, but merely band-aids until the next battle begins….

Not all anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. But some of it clearly is. And when it is, I can’t help but ask: what would it take to move someone, even slightly, toward a less prejudiced way of thinking? They may never love the State of Israel. But if their thinking becomes more human—that’s a win.

(And by the way, I could say the same thing about the horrible ways that some Jews feel fit to treat Palestinians…)

Maybe you reject the premise of my question, to say nothing of any possible solutions. That’s fair. But I think the question is worth exploring.

Read more in this week's issue of : https://tinyurl.com/ru7yvpuc

Today, the Jewish community contains more competing definitions of anti-Semitism than ever before—differences we have ba...
04/14/2026

Today, the Jewish community contains more competing definitions of anti-Semitism than ever before—differences we have barely begun to examine.

At the same time, the broader world is grappling with a term shaped by dramatic, disorienting historical change.

Critically, none of these shifts justifies anti-Semitism.

But it may help explain why we are talking about it more than ever…

and feeling less capable of fighting it.

The first step towards a better understanding of how each of us interprets this idea is to recognize how our language—and the histories embedded within it—shape what we think the word means.
is to recognize.

Read more in this week's issue of : https://tinyurl.com/3u3hb79a

What's the best way for a Jewish organization to show it's "sophisticated"?By being effective.We can learn a lot about t...
03/26/2026

What's the best way for a Jewish organization to show it's "sophisticated"?

By being effective.

We can learn a lot about the strength of Jewish organizations using relatively simple metrics that are easy to understand, simple to produce, and essentially free.

Allow me to introduce you to the "Moneyball Judaism Scorecard" and 5 vital signs of success.

Read my latest article in : https://tinyurl.com/2sm28jvy

Here’s a hot take:Gatherings of the brightest minds in the Jewish world in search of the next big idea don’t and won’t p...
03/17/2026

Here’s a hot take:

Gatherings of the brightest minds in the Jewish world in search of the next big idea don’t and won’t produce big ideas.

I know…it hurts.

But as Jewish institutions begin charting a path forward for North American Jewry after October 7th, a familiar pattern is emerging: high-profile convenings, books by well-known authors, and panel discussions featuring a relatively small set of thinkers. And while I’m not a betting man, I’d wager that when the dust settles, the impact of all this will amount to a big fat nothing.

For me, the interesting question is not whether convening experts is an effective model; the jury is out on that.

The more interesting question is what we might do instead.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/4f6umddu

For me, the worst thing about our political culture is that technology gives leaders greater incentive to lie than ever ...
03/09/2026

For me, the worst thing about our political culture is that technology gives leaders greater incentive to lie than ever before, thanks to something called the liar's dividend.

Leaders who are caught doing something wrong can claim that the real evidence against them is fake, and oftentimes, people will believe.

Read why here: https://tinyurl.com/3jzpj3zz,

A friendly reminder to anyone arguing right now about the situation between Iran, Israel, and the United States...which ...
03/04/2026

A friendly reminder to anyone arguing right now about the situation between Iran, Israel, and the United States...which is guess is many of you.

Never forget what Cass Sunstein calls the : people do NOT assess the rightness or wrongness of a situation based on data, but on how the situation affects them emotionally.

As a result, it's possible for two people to feel the same level of moral outrage about a situation, and yet propose vastly different responses to address that wrong.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/47sfvspd

Now that Voldemort has (temporarily) been defeated, I can step away from antisemitism and politics and return to the far...
02/23/2026

Now that Voldemort has (temporarily) been defeated, I can step away from antisemitism and politics and return to the far less dramatic — yet quietly powerful — world of organizational economics. And I hope to persuade you that Jewish life improves when viewed through the lens of markets.

Some marketplaces are obvious: hiring staff, financial aid, and recruitment.

But program calendars?

Yes. Really.

A calendar is a marketplace because every organization is allocating two scarce resources: time and attention. If we don’t design that marketplace intentionally, inertia will design it for us. We repeat last year’s patterns. We protect legacy programs. We allocate by habit rather than strategy.

Read why in this week's issue of : https://tinyurl.com/mrs36w9s

Antisemitism is messy.Not “swastika-on-a-synagogue-door” messy. Not “car-driven-into-a-building” messy. Those are horrif...
02/16/2026

Antisemitism is messy.

Not “swastika-on-a-synagogue-door” messy. Not “car-driven-into-a-building” messy. Those are horrific examples of anti-Semitism, yet they are also clear-cut. Frankly, it takes a special degree of sociopathy to deny the antisemitism inherent in each horrific act (though some will try).

But most antisemitism doesn’t look like that.

Most antisemitism is subtle.

Casual. Ambiguous. A comment in a meeting. A social post. A joke. A tone. A framing. A moment where you feel something is off, but can’t quite point to a rule being broken.

And here’s the uncomfortable possibility: We may be failing to fight antisemitism effectively because we are devoting disproportionate resources to the unambiguous version and not enough time teaching people how to respond to the ambiguous version.

Read why in this week's issue of : https://tinyurl.com/yw93tyz3

Far too often, the innovations we valorize in Jewish life are more subject to circumstance than we care to recognize. Ma...
02/15/2026

Far too often, the innovations we valorize in Jewish life are more subject to circumstance than we care to recognize. Many models depend on the presence of a visionary founder; the magic of being in a large, dense urban Jewish community; or the backing of a single, deeply committed funder who will provide an endless runway to sustainability. It’s neither fair nor feasible to impose these ideas on struggling organizations, yet we do so all the time.

My latest piece in provides a playbook for identifying innovative models with real potential to scale, and a framework for distinguishing great case studies from those that could change the landscape of Jewish life as we know it.

Thank you to and for giving me a chance to peek under the hood and see what magic we can learn from your tremendous work.

Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/hs8mc2em

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