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American Judaism: A History
This magisterial work chronicles the 350-year history of the Jewish religion in America. Tracing American Judaism from its origins in the colonial era through the present day, Jonathan Sarna explores the ways in which Judaism adapted in this new context. How did American culture―predominantly Protestant and overwhelmingly capitalist―affect Jewish religion and culture? And how did American Jews shape their own communities and faith in the new world?
Jonathan Sarna, a preeminent scholar of American Judaism, tells the story of individuals struggling to remain Jewish while also becoming American. He offers a dynamic and timely history of assimilation and revitalization, of faith lost and faith regained. The first comprehensive history of American Judaism in over fifty years, this book is both a celebration of 350 years of Jewish life in America and essential reading for anyone interested in American religion and life.
Jonathan Sarna, a preeminent scholar of American Judaism, tells the story of individuals struggling to remain Jewish while also becoming American. He offers a dynamic and timely history of assimilation and revitalization, of faith lost and faith regained. The first comprehensive history of American Judaism in over fifty years, this book is both a celebration of 350 years of Jewish life in America and essential reading for anyone interested in American religion and life.
490 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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About the author
Jonathan D. Sarna
53 books35 followersJonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and chief historian of the National Museum of American Jewish History. He has written, edited, or co-edited more than twenty books and is best known for the acclaimed American Judaism: A History, which received the Jewish Book Council’s Everett Family Foundation Jewish Book of the Year Award in 2004. He lives in Massachusetts. His latest work, When General Grant Expelled the Jews, was published in March of 2012. The PBS documentary Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray, which features Jonathan Sarna, explores the hidden stories of American Jews during the Civil War. Presented by the Shapell Manuscript Foundation, it is available for purchase on DVD at www.shapell.org.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 12, 2018
Excellent. Sarna gives a full picture of the history of American Judaism, explaining both broad trends and significant individual moments and focusing on both consensus and conflicts. It's also very well-written and engaging, without the dryness that might otherwise accompany such a learned and informative tome. Seriously, one of the best books on Judaism and on American history that I've ever read. You know how a really good novel leaves you satisfied but also regretful when you finish the last page? That's how I felt just now upon finishing this history! I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
May 25, 2017
A very easy and interesting book. One of the best historical reads. A must if interested in America's Jews.
July 20, 2020
This is The Book on its topic, written by the foremost expert. Bits and pieces were new to me (the multiple attempts to appoint an American Chief Rabbi, Ulysses Grant's expulsion of the Jews from large parts of the US, rescinded by Lincoln), but the broad strokes were familiar, so I don't have a whole lot to add. Sarna aims at a non-Jewish readership, explaining all religious terms and referring to interdenominational struggles purely in a disinterested way, giving it a somewhat uncanny "horse-race" feel. (Actually, he rejects the term "denomination", since while Christians see themselves as of a denomination, Jews see themselves foremost as Jews, just of a given stream.) So: Conservatives outflanked Reform with their via media, but Reform hit back by modernising and ordaining female rabbis. And then Orthodoxy surged out of nowhere with its post-Hippie revivalism...Sarna can't see any path as more meaningful than any other, so his narrative can feel somewhat hollow.
Trying to focus on an American history, he avoids periodising in terms of waves of immigration, giving rich detail to the earliest communities, comprising Portuguese Jews from Dutch South America and then Germans such as Abigail Franks. He covers the surge in immigration from Eastern Europe, major events such as the Depression, the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel, and their impacts on Jewish community and practice. So too cultural changes such as the increasing informality and spirituality of the "Me Generation", changing roles of women, and increasing assimilation of ideas from the broader American context. Today the American Jewish scene includes a smorgasbord of practices, from neo-Hassidism to Reconstructionism to Satmar to Jewish Renewal to egalitarian and LGBT. As the community shrinks, some are seeking to view it as the "extended community" including non-Jewish partners in mixed marriages. But as Sarna points out, this community has been prematurely eulogised many times in the past.
Trying to focus on an American history, he avoids periodising in terms of waves of immigration, giving rich detail to the earliest communities, comprising Portuguese Jews from Dutch South America and then Germans such as Abigail Franks. He covers the surge in immigration from Eastern Europe, major events such as the Depression, the Holocaust and the founding of the State of Israel, and their impacts on Jewish community and practice. So too cultural changes such as the increasing informality and spirituality of the "Me Generation", changing roles of women, and increasing assimilation of ideas from the broader American context. Today the American Jewish scene includes a smorgasbord of practices, from neo-Hassidism to Reconstructionism to Satmar to Jewish Renewal to egalitarian and LGBT. As the community shrinks, some are seeking to view it as the "extended community" including non-Jewish partners in mixed marriages. But as Sarna points out, this community has been prematurely eulogised many times in the past.
January 27, 2025
Amazing work.
October 17, 2025
A great history, thoroughly researched, of Judaism in the United States of America. Looks at major trends across groupings, as well as particular developments within the different traditions.
October 4, 2020
summary: jews were never that observant and reform and conservative are pretty much the same thing. also it's always funny when authors try to get this great optimistic positive message across (in this case, about how american judaism is so vibrant and great) but their own writing kind of destroys their message with their own facts and stats
November 11, 2018
As someone who has read the author's work before [1], I had a good idea of what to expect from the work and I was not either particularly surprised nor disappointed with the material here. Sadly, none of my own family was notable enough to make the pages of this book, at least no relatives I am aware of, but the book was a compelling and poignant history nonetheless despite that lack of personal relevance. Admittedly, this is a book that is going to appeal to a particular demographic, namely those who are either of Jewish background who want to better understand the history of Jews in America from a reputable and competent scholar or those who have various interests in the history of Judaism of their own. This is not the sort of work that will ever be a mainstream success, not least because at almost 400 pages of text is by no means a quick or easy read, but if you are looking for this sort of material, it presents a wide-ranging and very thoughtful examination of Jewish history with some commentary about contemporary trends and issues faced by the American Jewish community, and that is definitely a worthwhile achievement.
In terms of its structure, this sizable work is divided into only six chapters with a few other bits of supplementary information. The book begins with acknowledgments and an introduction that seeks to place American Judaism in the same sort of broad context by which other religious belief systems have been viewed by other religious historians. The author then looks at colonial beginnings with the contrast between the political influence of Sephardic Jews and the early (and increasing) numbers of Ashkenazi Jews who came to the United States (1). The author looks at the American Revolution and its aftermath and its role on legitimizing American Judaism in a way not present in European society as a whole (2). The author moves to the period of union and disunion both within the Jewish community as reform and Orthodox elements clashed and how this interacted with the union and disunion in the United States as a whole during the first two thirds of the nineteenth century (3). The two worlds of American Judaism between its interactions with larger American civil society and culture on the one hand and its own deeply divisive internal struggles next comes under the author's scrutiny (4) before Sarna discusses American Judaism in the first half of the twentieth century as a deeply anxious subculture struggling with anti-Semitism and internal fears and concerns (5). The author then concludes with a complex look at renewal in the postwar United States and Judaism's contemporary place within American society (6). After this there is a conclusion about the contemporary crossroads Judaism is at and some estimates of Jewish population from 1660-2000.
This is the book that manages an impressive balance while also providing the reader with a high degree of poignant feelings about the struggles of Jewish people for freedom and legitimacy and unity and survival in the face of constant anxieties and concerns. The author represents the history of American Judaism as one that has constantly involved struggle--the struggle for unity in the face of hostility with others, the struggle for survival given fears of assimilation, and the many different and complex ways in which Jews have responded to the opportunities and lures of American culture throughout history. Whether one looks at the place of women within Judaism, within the question of whether preserving community or seeking well-being was more important, the multiplication of synagogues and secular organizations, the role of Zionism, and the complex relationship between Judaism and the larger American culture, there is much to appreciate here even if it is likely American Jews that are most interested in these subjects.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
In terms of its structure, this sizable work is divided into only six chapters with a few other bits of supplementary information. The book begins with acknowledgments and an introduction that seeks to place American Judaism in the same sort of broad context by which other religious belief systems have been viewed by other religious historians. The author then looks at colonial beginnings with the contrast between the political influence of Sephardic Jews and the early (and increasing) numbers of Ashkenazi Jews who came to the United States (1). The author looks at the American Revolution and its aftermath and its role on legitimizing American Judaism in a way not present in European society as a whole (2). The author moves to the period of union and disunion both within the Jewish community as reform and Orthodox elements clashed and how this interacted with the union and disunion in the United States as a whole during the first two thirds of the nineteenth century (3). The two worlds of American Judaism between its interactions with larger American civil society and culture on the one hand and its own deeply divisive internal struggles next comes under the author's scrutiny (4) before Sarna discusses American Judaism in the first half of the twentieth century as a deeply anxious subculture struggling with anti-Semitism and internal fears and concerns (5). The author then concludes with a complex look at renewal in the postwar United States and Judaism's contemporary place within American society (6). After this there is a conclusion about the contemporary crossroads Judaism is at and some estimates of Jewish population from 1660-2000.
This is the book that manages an impressive balance while also providing the reader with a high degree of poignant feelings about the struggles of Jewish people for freedom and legitimacy and unity and survival in the face of constant anxieties and concerns. The author represents the history of American Judaism as one that has constantly involved struggle--the struggle for unity in the face of hostility with others, the struggle for survival given fears of assimilation, and the many different and complex ways in which Jews have responded to the opportunities and lures of American culture throughout history. Whether one looks at the place of women within Judaism, within the question of whether preserving community or seeking well-being was more important, the multiplication of synagogues and secular organizations, the role of Zionism, and the complex relationship between Judaism and the larger American culture, there is much to appreciate here even if it is likely American Jews that are most interested in these subjects.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
July 12, 2020
First published in 2003, Sarna's history of Jews and Judaism in America is a masterpiece both comprehensive in its scale and intimate in it's narrative. Using history as his vehicle, Sarna tells the tale of a persecuted people come to a land of freedom and opportunity and the theological and sociological ramifications of their presence in American society.
In some ways the challenges faced by early Jews in America echo the stories of other immigrant communities - in particular, the tension between old world tradition and the "modern" values of the American melting pot. Assimilation for immigrants might be the pathway to economic opportunity, but it also threatened many of the values held dear by cultural sub-groups.
Yet, assimilation for the Jews posed a more significant threat.
"Freedom, the same quality that made America so alluring for persecuted faiths, also brought with it the freedom to make religious choices: to modernize Judaism, to assimilate, to intermarry, to convert. American Jews, as a result, have never been able to assume that their future as Jews is guaranteed. Each generation has had to wrestle anew with the question of whether its own children and grandchildren would remain Jewish, whether Judaism as a living faith would end and carry on as ancestral memory alone."
The Jewish community's fear that their existence as a faith and as a people was fundamentally in jeopardy is a constant theme throughout Sarna's book and has been (along with the repercussions of the Holocaust) the very central theme of Judaism in America for more than 350 years. Although the book was completed more than 17 years ago, the theme of survival as a people remains arguably the number one concern of the Jewish community today.
Deep pessimism about the future of the Jewish people in America is ubiquitous in the Jewish community. Particularly among older generations of Jews, there is a sense of inevitable decline and fear about the legacy of Judaism. Yet, Sarna offers a counter narrative to this pessimism. A more complex and dynamic story than can easily be captured in a one-dimensional tale of decline.
"But the story of American Judaism recounted in this book," Sarna writes, "is not just a stereotypical tale of 'linear descent,' of people who start off Orthodox and end up intermarrying. It is, instead, a much more dynamic story of people struggling to be Americans and Jews, a story of people who lose their faith and a story of people who regain their faith, a story of assimilation, to be sure, but also a story of revitalization."
He also reminds the reader throughout the book that while we may think our current circumstances unique, the threats to the Jewish people greater than any other time in history, the truth is that every generation has had the same fears.
"Fear for American Judaism's future certainly underlies many aspects of this story," he says, "but, in retrospect, the many creative responses to this fear, the innovations and revivals promoted by those determined to ensure that American Jewish life continues and thrives, seem of far greater historical significance."
Sarna is an engaging writer and the depth and breadth of his research reveals detail about the history of Jews in America that were completely unknown to me. He addresses the changes in observance, the modernization, the internal controversies, the adaptations to modernity, the brilliant, charismatic leaders and the rise of separate and distinct movements within Judaism. Much of it I knew, but this is not just history by fact, Sarna brings to life the issues and challenges at the heart of American Judaism in ways that explain what we see today.
This book was informative, comprehensive and thoughtful. It was interesting and easy to read. It also provides a counter to the view that the Jewish people are doomed to extinction. He acknowledges the challenges facing the Jewish community, but ends with a more upbeat assessment of the future than most.
"Regularly, American Jews hear," he says "as I did at the start of my career from a scholar at a distinguished rabbinical seminary - and as other Jews did in colonial times, and in the era of the American Revolution, and in the nineteenth century and in the twentieth century - that Judaism in America is doomed.... But history, as we have seen, also suggests another possibility: that today, as so often before, American Jews will find creative ways to maintain and revitalize American Judaism."
And then he ends with one my favorite quotes about Judaism from Jewish philosopher Simon Rawidowicz. Rawidowicz's message, delivered in the face of the agonizing loss of millions in the Holocaust, addresses the same fears of extinction that are prevalent today. "If we are the last," he said, "let us be the last as our fathers and forefathers were. Let us prepare the ground for the last Jews who will come after us, and for the last Jews who will rise after them, and so on until the end of days."
L'dor V'dor - may this be true from generation to generation.
In some ways the challenges faced by early Jews in America echo the stories of other immigrant communities - in particular, the tension between old world tradition and the "modern" values of the American melting pot. Assimilation for immigrants might be the pathway to economic opportunity, but it also threatened many of the values held dear by cultural sub-groups.
Yet, assimilation for the Jews posed a more significant threat.
"Freedom, the same quality that made America so alluring for persecuted faiths, also brought with it the freedom to make religious choices: to modernize Judaism, to assimilate, to intermarry, to convert. American Jews, as a result, have never been able to assume that their future as Jews is guaranteed. Each generation has had to wrestle anew with the question of whether its own children and grandchildren would remain Jewish, whether Judaism as a living faith would end and carry on as ancestral memory alone."
The Jewish community's fear that their existence as a faith and as a people was fundamentally in jeopardy is a constant theme throughout Sarna's book and has been (along with the repercussions of the Holocaust) the very central theme of Judaism in America for more than 350 years. Although the book was completed more than 17 years ago, the theme of survival as a people remains arguably the number one concern of the Jewish community today.
Deep pessimism about the future of the Jewish people in America is ubiquitous in the Jewish community. Particularly among older generations of Jews, there is a sense of inevitable decline and fear about the legacy of Judaism. Yet, Sarna offers a counter narrative to this pessimism. A more complex and dynamic story than can easily be captured in a one-dimensional tale of decline.
"But the story of American Judaism recounted in this book," Sarna writes, "is not just a stereotypical tale of 'linear descent,' of people who start off Orthodox and end up intermarrying. It is, instead, a much more dynamic story of people struggling to be Americans and Jews, a story of people who lose their faith and a story of people who regain their faith, a story of assimilation, to be sure, but also a story of revitalization."
He also reminds the reader throughout the book that while we may think our current circumstances unique, the threats to the Jewish people greater than any other time in history, the truth is that every generation has had the same fears.
"Fear for American Judaism's future certainly underlies many aspects of this story," he says, "but, in retrospect, the many creative responses to this fear, the innovations and revivals promoted by those determined to ensure that American Jewish life continues and thrives, seem of far greater historical significance."
Sarna is an engaging writer and the depth and breadth of his research reveals detail about the history of Jews in America that were completely unknown to me. He addresses the changes in observance, the modernization, the internal controversies, the adaptations to modernity, the brilliant, charismatic leaders and the rise of separate and distinct movements within Judaism. Much of it I knew, but this is not just history by fact, Sarna brings to life the issues and challenges at the heart of American Judaism in ways that explain what we see today.
This book was informative, comprehensive and thoughtful. It was interesting and easy to read. It also provides a counter to the view that the Jewish people are doomed to extinction. He acknowledges the challenges facing the Jewish community, but ends with a more upbeat assessment of the future than most.
"Regularly, American Jews hear," he says "as I did at the start of my career from a scholar at a distinguished rabbinical seminary - and as other Jews did in colonial times, and in the era of the American Revolution, and in the nineteenth century and in the twentieth century - that Judaism in America is doomed.... But history, as we have seen, also suggests another possibility: that today, as so often before, American Jews will find creative ways to maintain and revitalize American Judaism."
And then he ends with one my favorite quotes about Judaism from Jewish philosopher Simon Rawidowicz. Rawidowicz's message, delivered in the face of the agonizing loss of millions in the Holocaust, addresses the same fears of extinction that are prevalent today. "If we are the last," he said, "let us be the last as our fathers and forefathers were. Let us prepare the ground for the last Jews who will come after us, and for the last Jews who will rise after them, and so on until the end of days."
L'dor V'dor - may this be true from generation to generation.
February 15, 2018
It was clear and easy to read. The information seemed to lean a bit to the conservative side, but it was published in 2004 and it's 2018 now so that could be why. Unfortunately there are some racist parts. I read plenty of books written in the '70s or before and when reading them I know it's coming, but I was genuinely shocked a few times with this one. There were a few lines that I had to go back and read over just to be sure that I hadn't missed something along the way, like him quoting someone (which sometimes was the case). If not for this I'd give it 5 stars. I'm glad I checked it out of the library because I'd feel bad having spent money on it. I certainly hope he's updated his views on Jews owning slaves in the south :(.
Here is an example of something I found troubling:
"Many, in the absence of any explicit religious prohibition against slavery, simply followed in the ways of their neighbors, for good and for ill. In a city like Charleston, most whites owned slaves, most Jews owned slaves, and a great many free blacks owned slaves as well. There as elsewhere, the overall role of Jews in slavery was negligible."
I find his language very disturbing because he didn't seem to really be condemning them. This is one example. There are others sadly. I'm posting this review in part because I'm seriously hoping he's become less racist in the past decade and someone will show me an example of how he's totally not like this anymore.
Here is an example of something I found troubling:
"Many, in the absence of any explicit religious prohibition against slavery, simply followed in the ways of their neighbors, for good and for ill. In a city like Charleston, most whites owned slaves, most Jews owned slaves, and a great many free blacks owned slaves as well. There as elsewhere, the overall role of Jews in slavery was negligible."
I find his language very disturbing because he didn't seem to really be condemning them. This is one example. There are others sadly. I'm posting this review in part because I'm seriously hoping he's become less racist in the past decade and someone will show me an example of how he's totally not like this anymore.
September 22, 2021
The bible on American Jewish history from colonial times to the year 2000. For almost four centuries, Jews in America were concerned with how to perpetuate themselves and how to become relevant to Judaism's adherents. Sarna demonstrates the creative approaches of how American Jews be tried to reinvent themselves through the different movements of Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist and Renewal. He relies heavily on the American Jewish Yearbook to chronicle such developments as anti-Semitism, the move to the suburbs and social upheaval. Sarna brilliantly shows parallel developments in the broader Protestant world and how they were mimicked by American Judaism. He also chronicles the increased involvement of women in synagogue life over the centuries.
Written 17 years ago, I only wish that Prof. Sarna would update this tome to include continued Jewish apathy and intermarriage, the increase in the Moslem population, violence against Jews and their institutions, aggression against Jews on campus, BDS and other anti-Israel sentiment.
Written 17 years ago, I only wish that Prof. Sarna would update this tome to include continued Jewish apathy and intermarriage, the increase in the Moslem population, violence against Jews and their institutions, aggression against Jews on campus, BDS and other anti-Israel sentiment.
June 27, 2019
This is a sweeping history of Jews in America and it is a coherent and detailed and beautifully written account of dilemmas and conflicts facing Jews in North America from earliest 18th century immigrants to (almost) the present day. It provides context for the challenges the contemporary American Jewish community faces, and a sense of how the particularly American version of liberal Judaism developed and ebbed and flowed through the 19th century and beyond. As a synagogue lay leader I found it particularly helpful as a way of understanding the intellectual and spiritual currents that influence our current iteration of 21st century American Jewish life.
August 11, 2023
I loved this book. With great historical references and stories of specific congregations and leaders throughout Judaism's development in America, Sarna gives a great overview of the triumphs and trials of a this minority religion in the United States. Great read, I wish there was more information regarding American Judaism after 1990, I feel like there are so many developments to follow that werent fully explored. Overall very informative.
July 28, 2019
A very clear and detailed book about the history of Judaism in America from the founding days to the present. I thought the author's presentation of all the various forms Jewish worship have taken in America was balanced and very interesting.
December 6, 2020
Magisterial but somehow lifeless.
July 30, 2022
I was worried that the book would be too dry, but I enjoyed learning the history of how Judaism’s movements developed in America.
November 12, 2024
Solid, if a little dull. A good overview of Judaism in America. Worth reading if you are interested in the subject.
April 15, 2025
very good. i now know every american jew.
September 23, 2010
American Judaism: A History by Jonathan D. Sarna (2005)
January 22, 2022
Lots of well researched information, but this reads like a text book. Difficult to get through.
July 25, 2013
Very good history. Reads like a textbook but the content is first-rate.
June 17, 2014
A well researched and quite readible history. It steered clear of being biased while showing the chasm between Judaism's belief and praxis in America.
May 21, 2015
Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews