The Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History
Newsletter Volume 1 Number 1 January 1995

American Jewish History and the Crisis in Jewish Identity
by Murray Friedman, Director, Feinstein Center

	This first issue of the Center for American Jewish History
Newsletter coincides with a growing interest in and concern about Jewish
continuity. While the Jewish community is caught up periodically with many
critical issues, concern about Jewish identity is not likely to disappear
soon. As the dialogue proceeds, a number of us have come to believe a
better understanding of our history is a prerequisite for building pride
and a sense of Jewish rootedness in American life. This is a heavy burden
for our dis cipline to carry, especially since the professional study of
American Jewish history is relatively new. Serious study started around
the turn of the century when the American Jewish Historical Society was
created. As Jeffrey Gurock and others have noted, this effort was closely
associated with what used to be called, ÒJewish public relations.Ó It grew
out of the uneasiness of many Jewish leaders about how Jews were perceived
by other Americans and the desire to improve the Jewish Òimage.Ó It,
therefore, f ocused on Jewish ÒherosÓ and the ÒJewish contributionÓ to
facets of American society and culture. 

	There were other factors mitigating against the serious
professional study of our past. As the children of the Òtenement
trailÓÑthe marvelous phrase coined by Samuel LubellÑgrew to adulthood,
many sought to distance themselves from what was, in their min ds, a
ÒlimitingÓ ghetto environment. This was a generation dominated by Leftist
political thought and those on the Left had little interest in religious
or ethnic identity. They were motivated by a desire to improve the
conditions of mankind generally rat her than that small piece of it
represented by Jews. Jews pursuing scholarly careersÑand they entered
academia in great numbers in the 1940Õs and 1950ÕsÑwere drawn to working
class and black history, as well as sociology and other fields related to
social change. 

	The Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars marked a turning point in the
Jewish sense of self. There was a sharp rise in interest and pride in the
embattled Jewish state which carried over to American Jewish culture
generally. This coincided also with a rise in eth nic identity more
generally among Americans. The transformation of the civil rights movement
to a race revolution that saw the rise of black nationalism, and
anti-Israel and anti-Jewish behavior also had an impact on a younger
generation of Jewish histori ans unburdened by the struggles of earlier
immigrant adjustment and the dominant Marxist thought of the period. 

	The possibilities opened by the Middle East peace making process
added another incentive for the study of our past in this country. The
Wall Street Journal reported recently the comment of Rabbi Billy Dreskin
of Temple Tifereth Israel where a wrenching d ebate has been underway
among young people in the congregation on whether to emphasize the
American Jewish experience rather than Israeli history in the religious
school curriculum. Among the parents, many of whom are intermarried,
support has emerged for focusing more on the history of diaspora
communitiesÑteaching, for example, about the American Jews who marched
with Martin Luther King during the civil right protests of the 1960Õs. 

	American Jewish life is at a critical point. As the widely
reported National Jewish Population Study in 1990 pointed out, older ties
of neighborhood and group have broken down as Jews have gained broader
acceptance. Simultaneously, however, the greater s ense of security we
feel has opened the door to reexamining and integrating the past into our
lives. We no longer need to run away from it. The experience of the
American Jewish Committee in Philadelphia with the explosive growth of its
local young adult group, BRIDGES, suggests that there is a great eagerness
among Jewish young people to find out about every aspect of the American
Jewish experience. 

	Henry Feingold, the distinguished editor of the five volume
series, The Jewish People in America, published in 1993 recently pointed
out that for Jews in the diaspora, history becomes a Òcrucial communal
binderÓ and indeed Òan essential instrument of sur vival.Ó This in no way,
he went on, implies a loss in objectivity or strict adherence to the facts
wherever they may lead. 

	The American Jewish community is entering a long and difficult
struggle. We can no longer live vicariously through the exploits and
achievements of Israel alone even though the Jewish state will always
claim American Jewish affection and support. The nee d exists for the
creation of an American Jewish community that is proud of its past, seeks
to preserve it and hand it down to our children and grand-children. The
study of American Jewish history, therefore, is one of the important ways
for preserving the future of the American Jewish community itself. 

Murray Friedman 
Director