American Judaism
A History
Jonathan D. Sarna
Out of Print
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.
Selected by the American Jewish Committee as part of its "Canon of Jewish Literacy."
"A massively researched and brilliantly written social and cultural history of American Jewish religious life which is sure to be the authoritative work on the subject for many years to come."—Peter Novick
"What a prodigious feat. Jonathan Sarna has captured, in one small book, 350 years of the trends and challenges which confronted American Jewry and confront us yet today. He presents the communal responses as a prelude to today’s diversity and fragmentation and encourages us to be optimistic about the future of American Jewry. Very informative and illuminating."—Shoshana S. Cardin, Chairman, JTA—The Global News Service of the Jewish People
"The first stop for scholars and students interested in exploring the religious dimensions of Jewish life in America. . . . A masterful overview."—Jeffrey S. Gurock, American Historical Review
"The field of American Jewish history has long needed an up-to-date and comprehensive one-volume treatment of that group's religious experience in America, and Jonathan D. Sarna is uncommonly qualified to compose such a work. . . . The first stop for scholars and students interested in exploring the religious dimensions of Jewish life in America. . . . This is a work that scholars will applaud for its depth of research and conceptualization. General readers of all religious persuasions will be attracted to the book for what it tells about a minority group's struggles to maintain its identity in a host society. Jewish readers will resonate particularly to its survivalist message."—Jeffrey S. Gurock, American Historical Review
"A definitive one-volume history. . . . A monumental achievement. It is readable, gracefully so. . . . A rich and enriching story."—Edith Gelles, H-Net Reviews
"Sarna writes with extraordinary command of an enormous range of sources and facts. . . . Outstanding." —David Bale, Jewish History
"Written in a muscular lucid prose. . . . [This book] possesses in good measure the hallmark of good history, a seamless flowing narrative style, and insights that come only from someone who has thought long and hard about the material he is presenting."—Henry L. Feingold, Journal of American History
"Sarna's skillful use of demographic and anecdotal information provide a useful overview of the ways in which American Jews have adapted their religion to the opportunities and dangers posed by a free society."—Milton Berman, Magill's Literary Annual
Publication Date: March 11, 2004
44 b/w illus.