Editors’ Introduction

Abstract

Editors’ Introduction Kirsten Fermaglich, Adam Mendelsohn, and Daniel Soyer This issue of American Jewish History marks two anniversaries. The more momentous is the centenary of 1917, the fateful year in which revolutionaries overthrew the Tsar, the British government issued the Balfour Declaration endorsing a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, and the United States entered World War I. All of these events contributed, directly and indirectly, to the transformation of the Jewish world in the twentieth century, and to remaking the place of American Jewry in that world. The second anniversary we mark in this issue is that of 1892, the year in which the American Jewish Historical Society was founded. That date, 125 years distant, was admittedly less transformative than the first, but still important for the development of our own field. Two articles in this issue explore the events of 1917. Gil Ribak takes a fresh look at the historic New York City mayoral campaign of Socialist Morris Hillquit. Ribak argues that Hillquit’s appeal, especially to immigrant Jews, came more from his anti-war platform than his Socialism. In coming to that conclusion, he explores the fears that the war aroused among immigrants, and debates among pro- and anti-war Socialists. Caitlin Carenen examines wartime tensions between American Zionists and the non-Zionist Jewish establishment. Analyzing debates over American Jewish war relief efforts, as well as over perceptions of American Jews’ patriotism, Carenen argues that Zionists’ heavy-handedness delayed a rapprochement between the two segments of American Jewry. This issue also includes a report by Rachel Lithgow, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society, and Josh Perelman, chief curator of the National Museum of American Jewish History, on “1917: One Year that Changed the World,” a major exhibit mounted by the two institutions this year. Several features mark the American Jewish Historical Society’s anniversary by considering the development of American Jewish Studies from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Shari Rabin’s article shows that compiling statistics was a central concern and lasting contribution of nineteenth-century American Jewish leaders. Even as they used the data they gathered to establish a sense of order and unity in an increasingly fractured community, they also saw their work as a contribution to “a future history of American Israelites.” Looking at the American Jewish Historical Society itself, Jeffrey Gurock chronicles the long struggle to professionalize the field. And two pieces—Gur Alroey’s [End Page ix] contribution on American Jewish historiography in Israel (the first of a series of articles examining the state of our field), and a roundtable originating in a 2016 conference at the University of Potsdam—not only detail the difficulties of establishing the field internationally, but also demonstrate the usefulness of taking a transnational approach to the study of American Jewry. Collectively, these articles—and this issue—show how far our field has come in the century since Cyrus Adler laid out his vision of a non-parochial and serious scholarly approach to American Jewish studies. [End Page x] Copyright © 2017 American Jewish Historical Society