The Jews of Boston [Paperback]

Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Author), Jonathan D. Sarna (Editor), Ellen Smith (Editor), Mr. Scott-Martin Kosofsky (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

Published on the 350th anniversary of the first Jews to arrive in America, this comprehensive history of the Jews of Boston is now available in a revised and updated paperback edition. The stunning work combines illuminating essays by distinguished Jewish historians with 110 rare photographs to trace the community from its tentative beginnings in colonial Boston through its emergence in the twentieth century as one of the most influential and successful Jewish communities in America. The volume also presents fascinating information about Boston’s synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods as well as the evolution of Jewish culture in Boston and the United States.

Praise for the previous edition:

“The writing is engaging and lucid, and the superb, profuse illustrations enhance the text. While numerous community histories have been published, this volume is in a class by itself--and will set the standard for all future works of this kind.”—Library Journal

“For those of us who grew up with anecdotes of what being a Jew was like in, say, the South End in 1910, or in Roxbury or Chelsea in 1920, this history, collected in one place for the first time, fills in the blanks. It gives us the context for our inherited folk tales.”—Alan Lupo, Boston Globe

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This book of essays and photographs, released in hardcover in 1995 to critical acclaim, is now available in an updated, revised paperback edition at less than half the hardcover asking price. The content is outstanding. The essays (by Brandeis University's Sarna, museum curator Smith, and a host of other scholars) are at once weighty and accessible to general readers who are interested in the history of Boston's Jews. From the first recorded Jew in the city (Solomon Franco, in 1649) to the 21st century, this volume organizes the Jewish experience into chronological and thematic order, with various essays addressing assimilation, synagogues, philanthropy, Zionism, education and culture. More than 100 illustrations and photographs bring history to life: we see images of community centers and synagogues, yes, but we also see Jewish life in action: customers waiting outside a kosher butchery in Brookline; a multiracial klezmer musical troupe at the New England conservatory; a ladies' auxiliary of Beth Israel hospital in 1915. The book contains some new material not in the 1995 edition, including an essay by a Boston College historian on Jewish-Christian relations, and a piece by Sarna and Kosofsky on developments since 1995. More than just a community history, this excellent book uses Boston's experience as a window into understanding American Judaism more generally.
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From Booklist

Twelve essays by Jewish historians trace Boston's Jewish community from its colonial beginnings to the present, a span of nearly 350 years. Sarna begins with his essay on the historical perspective of the Jews, followed by two essays by Smith. The first, on the Jews of colonial Boston, goes back to 1649, when the first Sephardic scholar and trader arrived from Holland. Her second essay focuses on Jewish immigration to the city between 1840 and 1880 and how the Jews began to prosper in the late 1870s. Other essays discuss the emergence of a unified community, 1880 to 1917; the period from 1917 to 1967, when the Jewish population grew from an estimated 75,000 to 176,000; and the period between 1967 and 1994, a time of social change. Others focus on Boston's Jewish neighborhoods, Zionism, and the city's synagogues. And there are essays assessing Boston Jewish philanthropy, education, and culture. More than 250 historic photographs, engravings, and documents complement the text. George Cohen --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300107870
• ISBN-13: 978-0300107876
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #957,909 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-done Community History Reflecting Well-Deserved Pride in Its Accomplishments, August 23, 2008

By 

David M. Dougherty (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Jews of Boston (Paperback)

I purchased this book because it covered Jews in Colonial American and my prior knowledge had been confined to the very small Jewish communities (only a few dozen families) in New York City, Newport, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia before and during the Revolutionary War. I was somewhat disappointed to find that the Jew who came to Boston in 1649 remained in the colonies for less than three months. Others came and went for another century and apparently only one resided in Boston in 1695. New York remained the dominant Jewish community throughout and a permanent Jewish community was not truly established in Boston until 1843 when enough emigrants had arrived to ensure consistent minyanim.

Of note is that Protestants in America including those in Boston actively recruited Jews from Central Europe to emigrate in the early 19th century. They sincerely hoped (and expected) the Jews would convert to Christianity and saw themselves as saviors doing God's work in saving Jewish souls. Of course, the reality was that few converted.

The essays that make up this book are extremely well written although they add a gloss for the average reader. It is intended to generate a sense of pride in the Jewish community, and no doubt succeeds handsomely. Certainly this volume far eclipses works presenting histories of other ethnic and religious groups in the US such as Roman Catholics, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Presbyterians, etc. But the most valuable aspect for the non-Jew is that this volume presents the lives and histories of Jews for Jews, not Jews as how they want to be seen by non-Jews. Their posture towards a benevolent US, albeit heavily laced with virulent strains of anti-semitism, is fascinating. The US provided a (compared to the states in Europe) safe place for Jews to live and prosper and they responded with a surfeit of community activism and philanthropy.

As a final aside, this volume did not materially aid me in my research into colonial America. In particular I was searching for Jewish participation in the Revolutionary War, and if the reader can offer any references that could be of use, I would be most appreciative. Unfortunately, this book skipped over such items, and indeed all wars in which the US participated, except for the recruitment of 8,000 Jewish men into the "Jewish Legion" of the British Army in 1917 which fought in Palestine. Perhaps a future volume could add an essay or two concerning Jews in the US military.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Jews of Boston, October 28, 2009

By 

Teddy Bear's Nanny (New York City) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Jews of Boston (Paperback)

This is an excellent book for those interested in the history of Boston's Jewish community. It is well researched, has lots of interesting photos, and was perfect for my husband who needed some specific information regarding a person who had lived early in the 20th century.

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Jews of Boston" is superb!, May 28, 2011

By 

Sandra - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Jews of Boston (Paperback)

This review is from: The Jews of Boston (Paperback)

Being a second-generation West Ender and having to leave the West End by eminent domain, "The Jews of Boston" evoked a floodgate of emotions in me from which to reflect, learn, and view from photos. Granted, there is only a small section devoted to the West End, but it was also important and interesting to learn of the other Jewish neighborhoods in the Boston area. This book gives an excellent historical account of the struggles our people had to confront during the turn of the last century as they settled into Boston.

This book is very well written. Very informative. I like it very much! If you are a Jew from Boston, then you will feel very comfortable in immersing yourself in the history, geography and knowledge which can be found within these pages. You will get a sense of what type of life your parents/grandparents endured.

L'Chaim to nostalgia as we walk down memory lane.....!

S.