Jewish Americans in the Civil War Era

In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, authors Richard Kreitner (Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery) and Shari Rabin (The Jewish South: An American History) discuss their new books on the broader Jewish experience from the Revolutionary era to the Civil War, how American Jews reckoned with slavery, Jewish participation in the Civil War, and some of the key American Jews who helped shape this tumultuous era. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.

This program is presented in partnership with the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month.

Resources

• Richard Kreitner, Fear No Pharaoh: American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, (2025)
• Shari Rabin, The Jewish South: An American History, (2025)
• Jonas Phillips, "Letter to George Washington," (Sept. 7, 1787)
• George Washington, "Letter to the Savannah, Ga., Hebrew Congregation," (June 14, 1790)
• George Washington, "Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island," (Aug. 18, 1790)
• August Bondi, Autobiography of August Bondi (1833-1907), (1910)

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