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The Jewish South: An American History
A panoramic history of the Jewish American South, from European colonization to today
In 1669, the Carolina colony issued the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which offered freedom of worship to “Jews, heathens, and other dissenters,” ushering in an era that would see Jews settle in cities and towns throughout what would become the Confederate States. The Jewish South tells their stories, and those of their descendants and coreligionists who followed, providing the first narrative history of southern Jews.
Drawing on a wealth of original archival findings spanning three centuries, Shari Rabin sheds new light on the complicated decisions that southern Jews made—as individuals, families, and communities—to fit into a society built on Native land and enslaved labor and to maintain forms of Jewish difference, often through religious innovation and adaptation. She paints a richly textured and sometimes troubling portrait of the period, exploring how southern Jews have been targets of antisemitism and violence but also complicit in racial injustice. Rabin considers Jewish immigration and institution building, participation in the Civil War, the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, and Jewish support for and resistance to the modern fight for Black civil rights. She examines shifting understandings of Jewishness, highlighting both the reality of religious diversity and the ongoing role of Christianity in defining the region.
Recovering a neglected facet of the American experience, The Jewish South enables readers to see the South through the eyes of people with a distinctive religious heritage and a southern history older than the United States itself.
In 1669, the Carolina colony issued the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, which offered freedom of worship to “Jews, heathens, and other dissenters,” ushering in an era that would see Jews settle in cities and towns throughout what would become the Confederate States. The Jewish South tells their stories, and those of their descendants and coreligionists who followed, providing the first narrative history of southern Jews.
Drawing on a wealth of original archival findings spanning three centuries, Shari Rabin sheds new light on the complicated decisions that southern Jews made—as individuals, families, and communities—to fit into a society built on Native land and enslaved labor and to maintain forms of Jewish difference, often through religious innovation and adaptation. She paints a richly textured and sometimes troubling portrait of the period, exploring how southern Jews have been targets of antisemitism and violence but also complicit in racial injustice. Rabin considers Jewish immigration and institution building, participation in the Civil War, the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, and Jewish support for and resistance to the modern fight for Black civil rights. She examines shifting understandings of Jewishness, highlighting both the reality of religious diversity and the ongoing role of Christianity in defining the region.
Recovering a neglected facet of the American experience, The Jewish South enables readers to see the South through the eyes of people with a distinctive religious heritage and a southern history older than the United States itself.
296 pages, Hardcover
Published April 1, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 30, 2025
The first half of this book was really good, but the second half was less good. For a book about the history of Jews in America, it spent more of its time in the 30s and 40s talking about racism in the US rather than the reaction to events in Europe and the effects of mass immigration of destitute Jews after WWII. The point of the second half of the book seemed to be "see Jews weren't as bad as other white people in the south" instead of actually telling us any information about Jews at the time. And a lot of things were actually happening at the time, but it's like we skipped from Leo Frank to MLK without much happening in between, and then the book abruptly stops with MLK as if the last 65 years of history isn't interesting enough for a history book. This book isn't old, it should certainly have at least followed America up to the turn of the millennium.
January 5, 2026
this is a great work of scholarship but very readable. it had a very human feel to it because of the examples of synagogues and people, and the perspective provided on how the people described negotiated the challenges of their situation was helpful. the book also addressed other important societal currents going on in the differentv times and the diversity within the Jewish community's views and actions. I enjoyed this!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews