Introduction

Sermons have long been a cornerstone of religious practice, serving as a primary medium through which religious leaders convey theological teachings, moral guidance, and communal values to their congregations. Beyond their spiritual and educational roles, sermons often reflect and respond to the socio-political contexts in which they are delivered, addressing pressing societal issues or subtly shaping the political perspectives of the faithful.

The significance of sermons in religious life is multifaceted. They function as “sites in which the beliefs, values, and sentiments of a tradition are spelled out, maintaining continuity and change in sometimes-dramatic ways.” Clergy frequently incorporate political discourse into religious settings to inform their congregations, influence perspectives on political issues, and encourage civic engagement. To date, a substantial body of literature has explored political activism within religious organizations, primarily through surveys of religious leaders and congregants, case studies of specific churches, and qualitative analyses. These studies have demonstrated that pastors frequently engage in political communication within churches and that congregants actively receive and interpret these messages.

Moreover, sermons can serve as vehicles for political discourse within religious settings. A recent empirical study found that a substantial proportion of sermons delivered by Protestant pastors in the United States incorporate political content. The study analyzed over 110,000 sermons and determined that approximately 37% addressed political topics, with subjects ranging from the economy and war to civil rights and social welfare. This suggests that many clergy members engage with contemporary political issues, potentially shaping the political attitudes and participation of their congregants.

However, despite this specific study, our understanding of the political content of religious sermons remains very limited. Moreover, knowledge about political discourse in sermons delivered in Jewish synagogues across different denominations is even scarcer, if not nearly nonexistent.

This study addresses this gap by analyzing political discourse in American Jewish sermons delivered between 2021 and 2024 across the Modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform denominations. Utilizing computational text analysis tools, the research employs ChatGPT, selected for its advanced natural language processing capabilities, contextual understanding, and efficiency in analyzing large textual datasets. Specifically, the study utilizes ChatGPT-4o, with communication to the model facilitated through the Langchain Python library and the OpenAI API. Compared to traditional methods such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), ChatGPT-4o provides a more profound semantic comprehension, enabling the detection of nuanced political discourse and sentiment within sermons.

By analyzing a substantial corpus of 4,302 sermons, this research aims to quantify the presence of political discourse and identify recurring themes. Specifically, the study examines the extent and nature of political content in American Jewish sermons across three distinct periods: 2021–2022, 2022–2023, and 2023–2024, 2,556 sermons belong to this time frame. It seeks to determine the percentage of sermons containing political content and analyze the proportion of references to Israel within these sermons.

A key focus of the research is to explore how Jewish clergy engage with Israel in their sermons and how their congregations perceive Israel through this discourse. The selected timeframes correspond to significant events in Israel: the 2021–2022 period, which coincided with the Bennett/Lapid-led unity government; the 2022–2023 period, marked by widespread judicial reform protests; and the 2023–2024 period, following the October 7 attacks and the ensuing conflict in Gaza. This chronological framework allows for an analysis of variations in the volume and nature of political content over time.

The study, utilizing ChatGPT for computational text analysis, addresses several key research questions, including: the volume of political content in sermons across different denominations before and after October 7; the general tone toward Israel (whether positive or negative); the structural characteristics of politically focused sermons (whether they begin with political content or religious content); the volume of political content in the sermon; and the frequency of criticism directed toward Israel across the specified periods. The research also quantifies the prevalence of criticism on specific issues, such as civilian casualties in Gaza, humanitarian aid, international law, political figures including Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the lack of Haredi conscription, attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community, governmental policies, the absence of a post-conflict strategy, and settler violence.

In addition to analyzing critical discourse, the study examines the positive messages conveyed by rabbis, including encouragement to embrace Jewish tradition, calls for compassion and mutual support, promotion of tolerance, and efforts to strengthen the connection with Israel.

The findings of this research will contribute to a broader understanding of the role of politics in Jewish sermons across different denominations and the ways in which congregations and their rabbis engage with and reflect on the political situation in Israel. The significant presence of political content in these sermons is noteworthy, particularly the extensive focus on Israeli political affairs, which underscores the profound connection Jewish communities across denominations in the United States maintain with Israel. Further, the prominent inclusion of political discourse positions the synagogue as a critical space for articulating and disseminating political messages within the religious sphere.

A structural analysis of the sermons indicates that the majority of sermons, across denominations, commence with a political issue, topic, or message before transitioning to discussions centered on religious themes or the weekly Torah portion (parsha). This pattern highlights the politicization of the synagogue environment in the United States, suggesting that political engagement is an integral aspect of religious discourse. Future research would benefit from a comparative analysis to determine whether a similar trend is observable within synagogues in Israel, thereby providing a broader perspective on the intersection of religion and politics in different cultural and national contexts.

Moreover, an analysis of the tone of the sermons reveals a generally positive attitude toward Israel, despite the numerous specific criticisms expressed. This trend is consistent across denominations, although Reform congregations exhibit a slightly less positive stance compared to others.

This study aligns with the objectives of the digital humanities by integrating computational methodologies with humanistic inquiry, facilitating the large-scale analysis and interpretation of textual data. Following a review of the study’s research methodology, each of these specific findings will be examined in detail.