Jews and Judaism in the US, 1918-2018

The narrative of the 20^th-century history of Jews and Judaism in the US in the 20^th is usually periodicized by legislation on immigration (1924), the Holocaust, and the coincidence of social changes in the US and political events in the Middle East in the late 1960s. Our class offers an overview of social, religious, political, and cultural developments structured differently. The interwar years come into sharper relief as an experience that shaped Jewry and Judaism in the second half of the century. The postwar years seem less of a “Golden Age” but as a period of transition. The final decades were characterized by internal strife, and the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018 revealed doubts about American (Jewish) exceptionalism. We will use primary and secondary sources to look at how American Jewry and Judaism changed over the course of these hundred years, concluding with a look at the current situation.