A New Promised Land: A History of Jews in America

by Hasia R. Diner

"An excellent Afikoman gift for the teen or young adult at the seder... Diner...writes in a clear style that pulls together that diverse entity known as the American Jewish community."-- The Chicago Jewish Star
An engaging chronicle of Jewish life in the United States, A New Promised Land reconstructs the multifaceted background and very American adaptations of this religious group, from the arrival of twenty-three Jews in the New World in 1654, through the development of the Orthodox, conservative, and Reform movements, to the ordination of Sally Priesand as the first woman rabbi in the United States.
Hasia Diner supplies fascinating details about Jewish religious traditions, holidays, and sacred texts. In addition, she relates the history of the Jewish religious, political, and intellectual institutions in the United States, and addresses some of the biggest issues facing Jewish Americans today, including their increasingly complex relationship with Israel.

Genres: History, Jewish, Nonfiction, Judaism

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2001

Reviews

[char · Rating 3 out of 5]

A capable introduction to the history of Jews in America. Brief and readable, it provides a great overview of the dominant narrative of this history. I particularly like Diner's transnational interpretation, which I've found lacking in other overview books, and her inclusion of primary sources, though I wish she had interpreted them a little more.

My primary criticisms are unavoidable in a book of this length, primarily presenting all American Jews as a homogenous group. This was most glaring when discussing "minchag America" and the issue of Zionism. The spotlight is on Conservative and Reform Jews, with little discussion of Orthodox Jews and only a single mention each of Hasidic and Reconstructionist Jews. (And yet, amusingly, Mordecai Kaplan is repeatedly introduced three times, as if he was not mentioned previously.) Regarding Israel, Diner presents all Jews as solidly and unwaveringly Zionist, which is simply not true. Additionally, Diner presents a wholly triumphalist view, which ignores the many times American Jews were on the wrong side of history. Hardly a mention of Jewish Confederates, a description of suburbanization that ignores the larger context of white flight, and a constant focus on Jews who achieved "the American Dream" that feeds into the stereotype of Jews as success stories.

For those who have never studied American Jewish history, this is a good way to dip your toes in, but don't let it be the only thing you read on the topic. Fortunately, Diner includes a great bibliography at the end for further reading!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Professor Diner has written quite a few books on Jews in America, and this is the basic one. It starts with the arrival of 23 Jewish men and women in New Amsterdam in 1654. These were Sephardic Jews whose ancestors fled to Amsterdam in 1492 and decided to migrate to what became New York and other port cities like Philadelphia, Newport, R.I, Charleston and Savannah. They were followed by Ashkenazic Jews from Poland and Hungary. It took until the end of the American Revolution for discrimination to end. The next chapter covers 1820-1880 and the migration of German Jews, who also settled in New York and Philadelphia but also Baltimore and New Orleans. This was the era in which most young Jewish men became peddlers ov various dry goods and eventually opened stores from their earnings, pretty much in every major community in nineteenth century America. Then followed a much larger migration from points further East: Russia, Austria-Hungary and Poland, and most of them (like my grandparents) settled in New York City, founding communities in Brooklyn and parts of the Bronx. The rest of the book brings us up to the present, where women can become rabbis in the more liberal denominations.

[Yael]

Read for school and also it fit for a reading challenge

I barely read in February and also technically finished this in March. It was perfectly fine. Good if you want/need a broad overview of American Jewry.

[Gabi]

read this (we only needed to read like 3/4ths) of this for my jews in film class. very interesting history