The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History

The last two centuries have witnessed a radical transformation of Jewish life. Marked by such profound events as the emancipation from the ghettoes of Europe, the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel, Judaism's long journey through the modern age has been a complex and tumultuous one, leading many Jews to ask themselves not only where they have been and where they are going, but what it means to be a Jew in today's world.

Tracing the dramatic changes in Jewish religion, culture, and identity from the seventeenth century to 1948, The Jew in the Modern World, Third Edition, remains the most complete sourcebook on modern Jewish history available. Now thoroughly expanded and updated, this critically acclaimed volume of primary materials features previously unpublished and inaccessible sources concerning the Jewish experience in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa; women in Jewish history; American Jewish life; the Holocaust; and Zionism and the nascent Jewish community in Palestine on the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel. The documents are arranged chronologically in each chapter and are meticulously and extensively annotated and cross-referenced. Providing useful tables detailing Jewish demographic trends, this unique text is ideal for courses in modern Jewish history, Zionism and Israel, the Holocaust, or modern European history.


About the Author
Paul Mendes-Flohr is Professor of Modern Jewish Thought in the Divinity School and an associate member of the department of history at the University of Chicago. He is the author or editor of numerous books and serves as the editor-in-chief, with Peter Schäfer and Bernd Witte, of the twenty-two-volume German edition of the collected works of Martin Buber.

Jehuda Reinharz is the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History at Brandeis University and President of the Mandel Foundation. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of numerous books, including Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Statesman (OUP, 1993) and Chaim Weizmann: The Making of a Zionist Leader (OUP, 1985). His most recent book (with Yaacov Shavit) is Glorious, Accursed Europe (2010).