The Jew in America at 250

From the Editor’s Desk:

This special Semiquincentennial podcast is the capstone of our symposium at TraditionOnline.org considering “The Jew in America at 250.” It revisits a series we published in 1976 for the Bicentennial (read about both and sample all the contents).

In the course of human events 250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson concluded his Declaration of Independence “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we [the signers of the Declaration] mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Since Jews first arrived in the British colonies in the seventeenth century, and throughout 250 years of independence, they have similarly relied on the protection of divine Providence—just as we trusted in the promises of religious freedom, that great boon of American life. We and our American Jewish ancestors similarly pledged our lives, fortunes and sacred honor to the country—the malkhut shel hesed in R. Moshe Feinstein’s memorable phrase—which has done more than any other in history to enable Jewish flourishing—any other country, that is, aside from the one I have made my home for over three decades, the State of Israel.

We are now met at a peculiar moment in the great history of our American communities of faith and destiny. Some are asking if American Jewry, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. I for one—even from my perch in the east—am not so pessimistic about life there in sof ha-ma’arav, the distant west, nor do I think that the American Jewish experience has been in vain and, indeed, I pray that it may yet have a new birth of vitality and creativity. But I am mindful that, despite being a lifelong student of American political culture, I have at this point spent more of my life removed from American shores.

That’s why I was pleased to invite Rabbi Benjamin Samuels to guest edit our special symposium. This podcast brings together three of the many contributors to the series to reflect on the present condition and future trajectory of American Jewish life. Through a discussion of antisemitism and Zionism, Jewish education and civic responsibility, and the challenges of political polarization, the panel explores what it means to be both fully American and fully Jewish in this moment. The conversation considers questions of identity, citizenship, Israel, religious commitment, and communal leadership while looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges that will shape the future of American Jewish life.

 —Jeffrey Saks, Editor, TRADITION

Watch a video recording of the conversation.

Dr. Rebecca Cypess is Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Dean of the Undergraduate Faculty at Yeshiva University.

Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph is the Orthodox Union’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. 

Rabbi Etan Tokayer, President of the Rabbinical Council of America, is the Rabbi of Kingsway Jewish Center.

Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels, Ph.d, our moderator and guest editor, is a member of TRADITION’s editorial board, and the Rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah in Newton, MA.

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