Jack Ukeles, researcher of Jewish communities, dies at 89 years old in Jerusalem

Jack Ukeles, a prominent Jewish social scientist and researcher, passed away in Jerusalem at 89. Throughout his five-decade career, Ukeles blended research, data, and strategic problem-solving with idealism, significantly influencing organized Jewish life from the 1980s to the 2000s. He held key roles in academia, city planning for New York, and led major studies for Jewish non-profits, including the first scientific study of New York's Jewish population for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies.

Generations of Jewish communal professionals are his students, and are taught to reflect the method and values he held dear.

Ukeles also conducted community studies on topics like intermarriage, attachment to Israel, and the changing demographics of Jewish communities in New York and the Sun Belt. He was known for his integrity and for providing data-driven counsel to philanthropists and non-profit leaders. His daughter, Raquel Ukeles, noted his pride in being part of Bar-Ilan University's first class, aiming to synthesize secular and religious studies. Ukeles was also a vocal critic of extremism within the Haredi community and settler violence in Israel.