Brandeis v. Cohen et al.: The Distancing from Israel Debate

Abstract

This paper comments upon the two lead articles in the Contemporary Jewry analysis of the Israel distancing hypothesis-the contrasting interpretations of Steven Cohen and Ari Y. Kelman who argue that Jewish Americans, especially younger Jewish adults and the intermarried, are becoming increasingly distant from Israel, and the rejoinder by Theodore Sasson, Charles Kadushin and Leonard Saxe from Brandeis University, who argue that ''… neither the scholarly literature nor survey evidence consistently supports the view that attachment to Israel is declining among American Jews.'' After discussing some methodological shortcomings in the data used in both the Cohen-Kelman and the Sasson-Kadushin-Saxe papers, as well as the reality that the emergence of J-Street as an alternative and youngerJewish-adult-oriented supporter (and critic) of Israel may reflect a qualitative change in younger Jewish adult perspectives on Israel, this commentary focuses upon the puzzling reality that the authors of the two articles present essentially the same data, yet come to radically different conclusions. Both groups of researchers demonstrate that younger Jews are less likely to be strongly attached to Israel; both note that the intermarried are less connected to Israel; both note that the majority of American Jews still feel connected to and support Israel. The Cohen-Kelman articles interpret these data as reflecting generational changes; Sasson-KadushinSaxe interpret the data in a life-cycle change model.

Comparison of remifentanil with dexmedetomidine for monitored anaesthesia care in elderly patients during vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty

“…Hypotension and bradycardia are known haemodynamic effects of dexmedetomidine and are associated with loading dose and infusion time. 29 However, in this current study, MAP was maintained over 60 mmHg and the two patients who developed hypotension on dexmedetomidine were readily treated with ephedrine 5-10 mg. These results suggest that careful monitoring of haemodynamic changes is advised when using dexmedetomidine in elderly patients because they are more likely to have comorbidities compared with younger patients.…”

“…Patients who were scheduled for vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty under monitored anaesthesia care, and had an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status classification of I-III, 12 and were >65 years of age, were randomly assigned to receive remifentanil or dexmedetomidine in equally sized groups using a computer-generated random-numbers programme. Patients with obesity (defined as a body mass index [BMI] > 30 kg/m 2 ), hypotension (systolic blood pressure [BP] < 100 mmHg), bradycardia (heart rate (HR) < 60 beats per min), heart block, baseline oxygen desaturation (SpO 2 < 90%), sleep apnoea, asthma, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and those who refused to give informed consent, were excluded from the study.…”

“…fentanyl 0.5-1 mg/kg despite maximal infusion of the study drug. Patients were discharged from the postanaesthesia care unit (PACU) when the postanaesthetic Aldrete recovery score 14 was ! 9.…”

Is Criticism Disloyal? American Jews' Attitudes toward Israel

“…Other prominent surveys, including the Pew Research Center's A Portrait of Jewish Americans , instead asked respondents if they feel an “emotional attachment” to Israel (Pew Research Center 2013). Although it is often assumed that both questions measure the same underlying construct (e.g., Miller and Dashefsky 2010), this notion has not been verified empirically.…”

Values in Tension: Israel Education at a U.S. Jewish Day School

“…Several scholars have pointed to a decline in AmericanJewish attachment to Israel, especially among young Jews (e.g., Cohen & Kelman, 2007;Cohen & Wertheimer, 2006;Ukeles, Miller, & Beck, 2006;Cohen & Eisen, 2000;Cohen, 1998). Others have called into question whether today's American Jews are truly more distanced from Israel than in previous generations (e.g., Sasson, Kadushin, & Saxe, 2008, 2010, but even these scholars generally concur that younger American Jews exhibit less attachment to Israel than older Jews (Geffen, 2010;Miller & Dashefsky, 2010).…”