President Trump has said American Jews loyal to Israel should support the Republican Party. A scholar explains the historical tensions embedded in the anti-Semitic trope.
Despite the primacy of Christmas in American culture, the visibility of Hanukkah in pop culture reminds Jews that they have their own holiday in which they can take pride.
Hanukkah is ranked one of Judaism’s minor festivals, but its popularity in the US has a lot to do with America’s Jews trying to fight assimilation into a culture that welcomed them.
American anti-Semitism took an organized form in the 20th century. The German American Bund and the Silver Legion developed a unique culture of hatred for Jews that persists today in alt-right groups.
A national survey of over 1,300 congregations found that religious leaders struggle to balance security concerns with carrying out a mission to be open to the communities they serve.
With the Holocaust still on their mind, many American Jews were highly sensitive to portrayals of Jews in popular culture. So when Roth’s sex-obsessed characters came along, the pushback was swift.
Thousands of Jewish immigrants and their children changed their names in America – but not at Ellis Island. The reasons are complicated and part of the Jewish struggle with their identity in America.
As Israel approaches the 70th anniversary of its establishment, many older American Jews will be celebrating. Many younger ones will wonder whether the Jewish state is something to celebrate at all.
Professor of Comparative and World Literature, Director, Program in Jewish Culture and Society, Director, Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, Memory Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign