Editor's Introduction

Abstract

Editor's Introduction Eric L. Goldstein Typically when a new editor takes the helm of a scholarly journal, he or she inherits an untidy collection of scholarly articles from the previous editor that, for various reasons, did not fit well into previous issues. This was not the case, however, in my recent assumption of the editorship of American Jewish History. Instead, the previous editor, Eli Faber, graciously handed me three articles that seemed ready made for an issue highlighting current trends among Israeli scholars of the American Jewish experience. I am happy to bring these articles to publication in the current issue, and I thank Prof. Faber for his work in soliciting them and shepherding them through the review process. For many decades, the field of American Jewish history suffered from a noticeable lack of interest in Israel. During the recent celebration of the 350th anniversary of American Jewry, historian David Ruderman, reflecting on his academic training at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the 1970s, recalled that he was "acutely aware of the relative indifference of my Israeli teachers to American culture," which included a tendency to ignore American Jewish history in favor of its European counterpart.1 Responding to this climate, the American Jewish Historical Society tried during the 1970s and early 1980s to increase knowledge of the American Jewish past among Israelis by partnering with Hebrew University's Institute of Contemporary Jewry to produce the "Texts and Studies Series in American Jewish History." This series brought to the Israeli reading public an original Hebrew-language volume on American Jewry's international connections by Moshe Davis, the director of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, as well as Hebrew translations of works by three noted writers in the field, Jacob Rader Marcus, Bertram W. Korn and Eli Ginzberg.2 In the more than three decades since those early efforts, not only have many more works of American Jewish history been translated for an Israeli readership, but the number of scholars in Israel interested in American Jewish history has also swelled, owing both to an influx of American [End Page vii] Jewish expatriates into the Israeli academy and to a growing appreciation among Israeli scholars more broadly for the historical significance of American Jewish life. Although today there are no academic positions in Israel specifically focused on the field of American Jewish history (the one that did exist at Tel Aviv University went out of existence in 2006 with the retirement of Prof. Robert Rockaway), there are a significant number of Israeli scholars researching and writing about various aspects of the American Jewish experience.3 The current issue presents a sampling of this work in the form of three articles by Israeli scholars of American Jewish history. Notable for their range, the articles by Zohar Segev, Hilda Nissimi and Rachel Rojanski deal with topics as diverse as American Zionism, Iranian Jewish immigrants to New York and the American Yiddish press. Often presenting insights and approaches different from those of their American colleagues, these authors and their work leave little doubt that Israel now serves as the source of an important stream in the production of scholarship on American Jews. Eric L. Goldstein Emory University Footnotes 1. David Ruderman, "Reflecting on American Jewish History," American Jewish History 91 (2003): 371. 2. Moshe Davis, Bet Yisrael ba-Amerikah: mehkarim u-mekorot (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1970); Jacob Rader Marcus, Mavo le-toldot Yahadut Amerikah bi-tekufat reshitah (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1971); Bertram W. Korn, Ha-Kibuts ha-Yehudi be-Amerikah be-shenot hitatsumato (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1971); Eli Ginzburg, Yehudei Amerikah: kehilah hofshit be-hithavutah (Jerusalem: Institute for Contemporary Jewry, 1980). 3. An excellent inventory of Hebrew-language works on the American Jewish experience, many of them by Israeli scholars, can be found in Jonathan D. Sarna and Janet Liss, Yahadut Artsot ha-Berit: bibliyografyah nivheret shel pirsumim be-Ivrit (Jerusalem: Institute for Contemporary Jewry and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1991). On Rockaway's retirement, see Jerusalem Post, Dec. 8, 2006. [End Page viii] Copyright © 2008 American Jewish Historical Society