Preface

Sermons play a central role in shaping religious communities, serving as platforms for clergy to convey theological perspectives, moral guidance, and social values. Despite growing scholarly interest in the intersection of religion and politics, systematic analysis of political discourse in Jewish sermons – particularly across different denominations – remains limited. This study addresses this gap by examining political content in American Jewish sermons delivered between 2021 and 2024 in Modern Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform congregations.

Utilizing computational text analysis, the research applies ChatGPT-4o to a dataset of 4,302 sermons, enabling a nuanced exploration of political themes, sentiment, and structural patterns. The study’s timeframe aligns with three key political moments in Israel: the 2021–2022 Bennett/Lapid-led unity government, the 2022–2023 judicial reform protests, and the 2023–2024 period following the October 7 attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza, 2,556 sermons belong to this time frame. This chronological framework facilitates an assessment of how political discourse in sermons evolved in response to these events.

Key research questions include the extent of political content in sermons, the proportion of discourse focused on Israel, and shifts in sentiment toward Israel across different periods. Additionally, the study examines how clergy address contentious topics such as humanitarian concerns in Gaza, political leadership, governmental policies, settler violence, the lack of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) conscription, attitudes toward the LGBTQ+ community, the absence of a post-conflict strategy, and how they relate to political figures such as Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir, as well as issues such as hostages, ceasefire, and Aliyah. The analysis also explores the structural composition of politically focused sermons, assessing whether they begin with political themes before transitioning to religious content – a pattern that may indicate an explicit and primary focus on political messaging in synagogue settings. Beyond critical discourse, the study identifies recurring positive themes, including calls for unity, compassion, tolerance, and the reinforcement of Jewish identity and connection with Israel.

The findings highlight the role of synagogues as spaces where political engagement and religious expression intersect, providing insights into how American Jewish communities navigate their relationship with Israel and broader political issues. The study suggests that sermons in American Jewish congregations are strongly political in nature and remain closely attuned to developments in Israel.