Jonathan D. Sarna, Ph.D.

Jonathan D. Sarna is University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University. He is also Chief Historian of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History. Sarna has studied at Brandeis, Boston Hebrew College, Mercaz Harav Kook, and Yale University, where he received his Ph.D. He has written or edited over thirty books on American Jewish history and life, including American Judaism: A History, which won the Jewish Book-of-the-Year Award, and When General Grant Expelled the Jews. Most recently, Sarna wrote the article on American antisemitism for the Cambridge Handbook.

July 11, 2024

Episode 4: Exclusion

In Gilded Age America, immigration from Europe rapidly grew the nation’s Jewish population, convincing many Americans that Jews were a dangerous and undesirable race. As lawmakers debated ways to restrict immigration, busine…
July 11, 2024

Episode 3: Merchants and Money

The California gold rush enticed many Jewish merchants west in search of prosperity in the mid-19th century, but their success drew unwelcome attention from state legislators, who passed laws requiring all businesses to clos…