Milton Himmelfarb (October 21, 1918 – January 4, 2006) was an American sociographer of the

American Jewish American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% ide ...

community. Himmelfarb worked for four decades at the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...

where he was director of information and research services. He edited various versions of the ''American Jewish Yearbook''. He also was a contributing editor of ''

Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'', the monthly journal of opinion. In 1986

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

appointed Himmelfarb to the

United States Holocaust Memorial Council The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

. Himmelfarb held several academic posts: visiting professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the

Reconstructionist Rabbinical College The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) is a Jewish seminary in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. It is the only seminary affiliated with Reconstructionist Judaism. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Assoc ...

and visiting lecturer at

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

. He earned a BA in 1938 and MS in 1939 from

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. Himmelfarb coined the

aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

on the Jewish community's political persuasions: "Jews earn like

Episcopalians Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Prot ...

, and vote like

Puerto Ricans Puerto Ricans (), most commonly known as Puerto Rico#Etymology, Boricuas, but also occasionally referred to as '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borinqueños'', '':es:Anexo:Gentilicios de Puerto Rico#Lista general, Borincan ...

." Himmelfarb's sister was the historian

Gertrude Himmelfarb Gertrude Himmelfarb (August 8, 1922 – December 30, 2019), also known as Bea Kristol, was an American historian. She was a leader of conservative interpretations of history and historiography. She wrote extensively on intellectual history, ...

. He died in New York City at the age of 87. Through Gertrude, he was the uncle of

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Elizabeth Kristol.

Selected works

* ''Jews and Gentiles'' (Encounter Books), 2007, * ''American Jewish Year Book'' (Jewish Publication Society of America, various years) * ''The Jews of Modernity'' (Basic Books, 1973) () * ''Jews in Unsecular America: Essays'' (Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1987) () * ''Zero Population Growth—For Whom? Differential Fertility and Minority Group Survival'' (Greenwood Press, 1978) ()

References

External links

Archive of Himmelfarb's articles
in ''Commentary'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Himmelfarb, Milton 1918 births 2006 deaths Jewish American social scientists Jewish sociologists Jewish Theological Seminary of America faculty Yale University faculty City College of New York alumni American sociologists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews Reconstructionist Rabbinical College faculty