Description
Book SynopsisCulling the finest thinking of renowned historian Jonathan D. Sarna,
Coming to Terms with America examines how Jews have long “straddled two civilizations,” endeavoring to be both Jewish and American at once, from the American Revolution to today.
Trade Review"As with all his work, Sarna, in these essays, displays both a wide topical breadth and an extraordinary analytical depth. His mastery of Hebrew language and the classical sources of Jewish tradition, his complete control of every era of Jewish history, his skill and training as an American historian, and his attention to theory make these articles unparalleled in originality, richness, and insights. His reach and influence in the academic and larger worlds are exceptional, and this book will only enhance and extend that reach and influence. . . . Readers will be immeasurably enriched by its contents."—David Ellenson,
American Jewish Archives Journal"This collection is worth having in all Judaica libraries."—Fred Isaac,
Association of Jewish Libraries"Fascinating. . . . The dualistic character of the Jewish experience in America is highlighted in fifteen carefully researched and and thoughtful chapters on American Jewish history, culture, and religion."—
Reading Religion“A
tour d’horizon of a remarkable historian’s storied career, this valuable collection of essays is as much a testament to the complexity and creativity of the American Jewish experience as it is a celebration of the scholarly imagination.”—Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of
Set in Stone: America’s Embrace of the Ten Commandments“For over four decades, Jonathan Sarna has enriched our understanding of the American Jewish experience. How fortunate we are to now have in one volume so many of Sarna’s groundbreaking articles! Replete with memorable anecdotes and brilliant insights,
Coming to Terms with America is a trove of riches for all who care about American Jewish culture and American religion.”—Shuly Rubin Schwartz, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary
“The breadth and depth of Jonathan D. Sarna’s work on the American Jewish experience is electrifying. This collection of the author’s most outstanding historical essays is a page-turning exploration of the dynamics of Jewish life, shedding light on American Jewry’s ongoing effort to ‘straddle two civilizations.’ Readers will discover that even as America has transformed Judaism, so too have Jews contributed to the shaping of the American nation.”—Gary P. Zola, executive director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
“Jonathan Sarna, the most erudite of historians of American Jewry, speaks of the past and of the present through this thought provoking and engaging volume.”—Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust History at Emory University
“As a doyen of American Jewish history, Sarna’s work has long helped define this field of study. This collection of his pathbreaking essays offers scholars and students of history alike a second look at his sterling contributions to illuminating the Jews’ and Judaism’s encounter with America’s free society.”—Jeffrey Gurock, Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University
“Bringing together a wealth of insights from Jonathan Sarna’s long scholarly engagement with American Jewish culture,
Coming to Terms with America illuminates the evolution of the field of American Jewish history itself.”—Beth S. Wenger, associate dean for graduate studies and Moritz and Josephine Berg Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania
Table of ContentsContents
Notes about the Cover
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1. Straddling Two Civilizations
1. The Cult of Synthesis in American Jewish Culture
2. The Democratization of American Judaism
3. Jewish Prayers for the United States Government
4. The Lofty Vision of Cincinnati Jews
5. Reconciling Athens and Jerusalem: The Jews of Boston in Historical Perspective
6. Subversive Jews and Early American Culture
Part 2. The Shaping of American Jewish Culture
7. The Late Nineteenth-Century American Jewish Awakening
8. Jewish Publishing in the United States
9. Timeless Texts or Timely Issues? Competing Visions of Seminary Scholarship
Part 3. When Faiths Collide
10. The American Jewish Response to Nineteenth-Century Christian Missions
11. The “Mythical Jew” and the “Jew Next Door” in Nineteenth-Century America
12. Cultural Borrowing and Cultural Resistance in Two Nineteenth-Century American Jewish Sunday School Texts
13. Jewish-Christian Hostility in the United States
14. Christians and Non-Christians in the Marketplace of American Religion
15. Church-State Dilemmas of American Jews
Source Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
