Jonathan Sarna

Dr. Jonathan Sarna is the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, and Chief Historian of the new National Museum of American Jewish History. His new book, When General Grant Expelled the Jews, is now available.


Articles by Jonathan Sarna

Anti-Semitism in America

Prejudice against Jews has always existed in the United States, but American anti-Semitism differs from its European precursor in fundamental ways.

Saying New Things About Old Historical Episodes

When I first anounced that I was writing a book about Ulysses S. Grant’s General Orders #11, the most notorious ...

Writing the Civil War in Jerusalem

You are working on what?” most of the people I met in Jerusalem asked while I was writing When General ...

1950s America: A ‘Golden Age’ for Jews

After World War II, Judaism thrived in America, and the country awarded its Jews insider status.

Havurah Judaism

The havurah movement and The Jewish Catalog blended Judaism with the 1960s counterculture.

Finding Acceptance in the New World

Encouraging signs that the nascent U.S. would welcome Jews

Jewish Spiritual Crisis

In America around the turn of the 20th century, Jews had the freedom to not observe religion and rabbis were scarce.

Jews on the Prairie and the American West

How the market revolution helped bring Judaism to the American frontier.

The Future of American Orthodoxy

An examination of the challenges facing Orthodox Judaism in America

Jewish Immigration to America

The size and character of the American Jewish community has been defined by the 3.5 million Jews who have emigrated since the 17th century.