Adam D. Mendelsohn is Associate Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town. This interview is based on his new book, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army (NYU Press, 2022). JF: What led you to...
Allison Schottenstein is Annual Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at University of Cincinnati’s Blue Ash College. This interview is based on her new book, Changing Perspectives: Black-Jewish Relations in Houston during the Civil Rights Era (University of North Texas Press,...
On August 18, 2019, Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island had its 72nd annual reading of George Washington’s letter to this Jewish congregation. The speaker that day was Jed Rakoff, a United States District Judge for the Southern District of...
These recommendations come from Brandeis University’s Jonathan Sarna, one of the foremost authorities on American Judaism. (Back in 2012, I reviewed Sarna’s excellent book When General Grant Expelled the Jews). Antisemitism in America By Leonard Dinnerstein And the Dead Shall Rise:...
In August 1790, President George Washington, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and others traveled to Rhode Island. On August 18, they stopped at the Touro Synagogue in Newport. Later in the day, Washington wrote this letter to the congregation: Gentlemen....
“The Jewish Cemetery at Newport“ How strange it seems! These Hebrews in their graves, Close by the street of this fair seaport town, Silent beside the never-silent waves, At rest in all this moving up and down! The trees are...
A federal court just ruled that Congregation Shearith Israel (Manhattan, 1654), the oldest Jewish congregation in America, owns Touro Synagogue (Newport, R.I.), the oldest synagogue building (1763) in America. Find out more by reading Sharon Otterman’s story at The New York Times. Here...
Chief Justice John Roberts quoted a Brackenridge speech in the Trinity Lutheran v. Comer majority opinion. Here is a taste of Ann E. Marimow’s piece at The Washington Post: The lawmaker Roberts cited was H.M. Brackenridge, a member of the Maryland House...
I am afraid that this series is no longer “short” (at least by blog standards). If you want to get up to speed click here for earlier installments. As we have noted before, the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 was very...
Read George Washington to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, August 18, 1790. This is an amazing letter for all kinds of reasons, but I am always struck by how Washington makes a clear distinction between religious toleration and...
Zev Eleff is Chief Academic Officer at Touro College, Hebrew Theological in Skokie, Illinois. This interview is based on his new book Who Rules the Synagogue?: Religious Authority and the Formation of American Judaism (Oxford University Press, 2016). JF: What led...
Rebecca T. Alpert is Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Temple University. This interview is based on the forthcoming paperback release of her 2011 book Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball (Oxford University Press). JF: What led you to...
