The Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History

by Rabin, Shari; Cohen, Michael R.

• ISBN13: 9780190081003
• ISBN10: 0190081007
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780190081027
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2025-12-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Though never more than a tiny percentage of the population, Jews have been persistent--if perplexing--participants in the American community at least since they first arrived in New Amsterdam in 1654. This volume creates a vibrant dialogue among the varied approaches to the study of American Jews, taking stock of the field and working to move it forward in conversation with American history and modern Jewish history. Its authors are drawn from the ranks of the senior scholars who pioneered American Jewish history, often from the vantage point of other areas of study, as well as younger scholars, both those trained as historians and those studying American Jews from other disciplines. The Handbook will act as a guide for outside scholars looking to understand American Jews and for those within American Jewish history interested in up-to-date accounts of key themes in the field. Its essays explore a variety of conceptual frameworks that have been and continue to be important for understanding American Jews and move forward into the arena of American Jewish studies, highlighting how new methodologies can enhance scholarly understandings. Taken as a whole, the Oxford Handbook of American Jewish History makes a compelling case for the importance of this community for American and world histories.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Shari Rabin and Michael R. Cohen

Part I: Geographic Frames

Chapter 1: American Jewish History in Atlantic Perspective
Aviva Ben-Ur

Chapter 2: Migration: Reassessing the Historiography of Jewish Migration to North America
Tobias Brinkmann

Chapter 3: Urbanism
Deborah Dash Moore

Part II: America in Modern Jewish History

Chapter 4: Emancipation
David Sorkin

Chapter 5: Sovereignty and Integration: The Poles of American Jewish Politics
Simon Rabinovitch

Chapter 6: Jewish Emigration to the United States and Elsewhere, 1875-1924
Gur Alroey

Chapter 7: Antisemitism in America
Susannah Heschel

Chapter 8: The Holocaust in American History and Memory
Rachel Deblinger

Chapter 9: Zionism and Israel
Noam Pianko

Chapter 10: The Jewish Book in America
Jonathan D. Sarna

Part III: Jews in American History

Chapter 11: The Revolution and the Early Republic
Toni Pitock

Chapter 12: The Civil War and Reconstruction in American Jewish History and Memory
Adam D. Mendelsohn

Chapter 13: Mass Migration and Immigration Policy
Alan M. Kraut

Chapter 14: Jews in Multi-Ethnic America
Jeffrey S. Gurock

Chapter 15: American Jews and Social Movements
Melissa R. Klapper

Chapter 16: American Jews and the World Wars
Jessica Cooperman

Chapter 17: Liberalism
Lila Corwin Berman

Chapter 18: Cold War Judaism
Rachel Gordan

Part IV: Thematic Frames

Chapter 19: Economic Life
Michael R. Cohen

Chapter 20: Secularism
Beth S. Wenger

Chapter 21: American Jews and the Question of Religion
Shari Rabin

Chapter 22: Race: Its Meanings for American Jewish History
Hasia Diner

Chapter 23: Jews of Color
Samira Mehta

Chapter 24: Ethnicity-Based Research in American Jewish History
M. M. Silver

Chapter 25: Class
Eli Lederhendler

Chapter 26: Gender and Sexuality
Sarah Imhoff

Chapter 27: In American Jewish Women's History, the Political is Personal
Pamela S. Nadell

Chapter 28: Children and Youth in American Jewish History
Sandra Fox

Part V: Methodologies

Chapter 29: Jewish American Material Culture
Laura Arnold Leibman

Chapter 30: The Musical Performance of American Jewish Heritage
Judah M. Cohen

Chapter 31: American Jews and Popular Culture
Jennifer Caplan

Chapter 32: How American Jewish Historians and Other Scholars Are Rethinking the Field
Riv-Ellen Prell

Index