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The Making of Norman Mailer

The young man went to war and became a novelist. But did he ever really come back?
by David Denby via The New Yorker on December 19, 2022
Black-and-white photograph of Jacob Schiff, banker and philanthropist, from a side profile

The Sanitizing of Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism’s origins lie in a donor plan to neutralize and refine the radical Jewish immigrant masses.
by Allen Lipson via Jewish Currents on October 19, 2022
Rabbi Meir Kahane stands among Jewish Defense League protestors, 1977.

Are We all Kahanists Now?

Shaul Magid attempts to show us how much contemporary Jews have inherited from a man most have tried to forget.
by Sara Yael Hirschhorn via Jewish Review of Books on July 13, 2022
A Jewish family welcomes home their Navy man and gathers for a Passover Seder at their home in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1943.

How a Coffee Company and a Marketing Maven Brewed Up a Passover Tradition

A collaboration between advertiser Joseph Jacobs and the famous coffee company produced the classic U.S. haggadah.
by Kerri Steinberg via The Conversation on April 13, 2022
Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson visiting Soviet Jewish émigrés in Israel.

Henry "Scoop" Jackson and the Jewish Cold Warriors

An alliance between Jewish activists and congressional neocons made Soviet Jewry a key issue in superpower relations—and reshaped American Jewish politics.
by Hadas Binyamini via Jewish Currents on February 24, 2022
Judah P. Benjamin.

Biographical Fallacy

The life of Judah Benjamin, a Southern Jew who served in the Confederate government, can tell us only so much about the American Jewish encounter with slavery.
by Richard Kreitner via Jewish Currents on February 3, 2022
Riesman giving fundraising speech

My Grandfather the Zionist

He helped build Jewish American support for Israel. What’s his legacy now?
by Abraham Josephine Riesman via Intelligencer on June 23, 2021
A 1951 meeting between ADL leadership and Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

The Anti-Democratic Origins of the Jewish Establishment

The history of the ADL and AJC reveals that they were created to consolidate the power of wealthy men and stifle the grassroots left.
by Emmaia Gelman via Jewish Currents on March 12, 2021
Crowd at 2015 Purim Ball in New York City

How New York's 19th-Century Jews Turned Purim Into an American Party

In the 19th century, Purim became an occasion to hold parties to raise money for charities. These parties helped American Jews gain a standing among the elite.
by Zev Eleff via The Conversation on February 23, 2021
John Ossoff.

The Politics of Nostalgia

Nostalgia is not merely reductive; it is also productive.
by Rachel B. Gross via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on February 2, 2021
The Indiana-Kentucky border along the Ohio River.

A True Friend

How Felix Moses, a Jewish Confederate soldier, was recast in a Lost Cause myth.
by Daniel Elkind via Lapham’s Quarterly on September 15, 2020
Judah P. Benjamin statue torn off its pedestal.

The Counterlife of Judah P. Benjamin

Enigmatic, bigoted, prominent figure of the Confederacy—and one of the highest-ranking Jew in the history of American government. What do we do with him now?
by Michael Hoberman via Tablet on August 11, 2020

Working Off the Past, from Atlanta to Berlin

A Jewish American reflects on a life spent amidst the ghosts of the American South and the former capital of the Reich.
by Susan Neiman via New York Review of Books on August 26, 2019

Reconsidering the Jewish American Princess

How the JAP became America’s most complex Jewish stereotype.
by Jamie Lauren Keiles via Vox on December 5, 2018

How A Corporation Convinced American Jews To Reach For Crisco

A Proctor & Gamble ad-man on the Lower East Side recognized a big marketing opportunity when he saw one.
by Deena Prichep via NPR on December 2, 2018

Lonesome on the Lower East Side

The story of the Bintel Brief, an early twentieth-century advice column for Jewish immigrants.
by Jessica Weisberg via Lapham’s Quarterly on April 4, 2018

Want to Hear a Dirty Joke? Get a Woman to Tell It

The Courage and Comic Genius of Groundbreaking Female Stand-Ups
by Eileen Pollack via Literary Hub on January 4, 2018

Donald Trump, Jews and the Myth of Race

Until the 1940s, Jews in America were considered a separate race. Their journey to whiteness has important lessons.
by Jonathan Zimmerman via Salon on April 9, 2017

Bernie Sanders Bids for Jewish History

The Vermont senator isn’t religious, but a victory in Iowa or New Hampshire would be the first ever for a Jewish presidential candidate.
by Russell Berman via The Atlantic on January 27, 2016
Rembrandt painting of the "Head of Christ"

Never Again, Once Again

Invoking the memory of Jewish persecution to denounce the assault on immigrants today is not an offense but a moral imperative.
by Peter E. Gordon via New York Review of Books on February 7, 2026
Three young kids standing in a European town

Visiting the Old Country by Way of Kew Gardens, Queens

My grandmother lived in Kew Gardens, Queens. It was just an average New York commute, but for me it meant stepping out of one reality and into another.
by Jane Ziegelman via Literary Hub on January 20, 2026
Portraits of Zohran Mamdani and Baruch Charney Vladeck

Mayor Zohran Mamdani Walks in a Rich Jewish Tradition

When I look at Mamdani, I don’t see some radical departure. I see him as an heir to the Yiddish socialism that helped build New York.
by Molly Crabapple via The Guardian on January 1, 2026
Illustration of a man typing on a computer with the Star of David as the computer's image.

The Return of the Jewish Question

The “Jewish Question” is a scapegoating conspiracy. This essay traces its appeal, partial truths, and why it falsely absolves America of blame.
by David Azerrad via Compact on December 22, 2025
Norman Podhoretz.

The ‘Filthy Little Slum Child’ Who Remade the American Right

The intellectual world that Norman Podhoretz created.
by Franklin Foer via The Atlantic on December 18, 2025
Photo of Norman Podhoretz

The Longest Journey Is Over

With the death of Norman Podhoretz at 95, the transition from New York’s intellectual golden age to the age of grievance and provocation is complete.
by David Klion via The Nation on December 17, 2025
Zohran Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani, John Lindsay, and the Specter of "Kahanism" in 2025 America

What does 1968 have to do with 2025?
by Shaul Magid via Shaul's Substack on November 5, 2025
Leo Frank.

Justice Miscarried: The Trial, Conviction, and Murder of Leo Frank

Leo Frank’s trial, death sentence, eventual commutation, and finally his lynching all show the nation’s problematic history with anti-Semitism.
by Ryan Reft via The Saturday Evening Post on October 29, 2025
The French battleship Richelieu being maneuvered by tugboats up the East River for repairs and refitting.

A Helluva Town

A new history of New York City during World War II captures the glory, tawdriness, poverty, narcissism, beauty, and grime of this “aggregation of villages.”
by Brenda Wineapple via New York Review of Books on October 9, 2025
The Israeli flag covering the word "antisemitism."

How “Antisemitism” Became a Weapon of the Right

At a time when allegations of antisemitism are rampant and often incoherent, historian Mark Mazower offers a helpfully lucid history of the term.
by Lily Meyer via The New Republic on September 18, 2025
Drawing of Adolph Hitler with its shadow being the pointed hood worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

When the Black Press Stood by the Jews Against the Nazis

This important but little-known chapter of Black-Jewish history in the United States is worth remembering.
by Dan Freedman via Moment on September 10, 2025
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