Jewish Studies
A guide to help you navigate the Jewish Studies resources at IU Bloomington
Library of Congress Subject Headings:
The major subject heading is, not surprisingly, Jews--United States, but the high number of results can make it less useful. Consequently, you may want to try one of the other terms below.
- American literature--Jewish authors
- Jewish women--United States
- Jews--Canada
- Jews--Cultural assimilation--United States
- Jews--United States--History
- Jews--United States--Intellectual life
- Jews--United States--Social life and customs
- Jews in popular culture--United States
- Judaism--United States (as well as Reformed Judaism--United States, Conservative Judaism--United States, Orthodox Judaism--United States, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews--United States)
- American Jewish Archives JournalMany issues include a "recent acquisitions" section, which includes short descriptions of the new collections.
- American Jewish Liturgies byCall Number: Wells Library - Stacks -- Z6371.L5 W33 1997ISBN: 0878209123Publication Date: 1997Wachs' American Jewish Liturgies offers scholars, rabbis, and anyone interested in liturgical history, a bibliography of Jewish liturgy published in the United States up to 1925. With 1,300 separate entries that catalogue prayerbooks, devotionals, memorials, children's prayers, hymnals, and scores, it attempts to be as comprehensive as possible and represents the very first time such an extensive bibliography has been brought together on the topic. It is invaluable for the information it provides on the creation, evolution, and distribution of Jewish liturgy in the United States through 1925. Four indices (Geographical, Name, Title, and Liturgical) makes it easy to find information of particular interest.
- Judaica Americana: A Bibliography of Publications to 1900 byCall Number: Auxiliary Library Facility - Stacks -- Z6373.U5 S58 1990ISBN: 0313250235Publication Date: 1990N.B.: It may be easier to use UPenn's digital edition of the book.
This important work brings under control a significant body of printed monographic and serial literature pertaining to Jews, Judaism, and Jewish culture published in the United States, in any language, through the year 1900. Taken as a whole, it provides extensive documentation of American Jewish communal activity and, equally important for the study of Jewish-Christian relations, hundreds of titles are included as relevant primary sources for assessing Christian attitudes on the development, history, and testimony of the Jewish religion and the Jewish nation from early times to the close of the nineteenth century. - Judaica Americana: An Annotated Bibliography of Publications from 1960-1990 byCall Number: Wells Library - Reference Reading Room -- Z6373.U5 K34 1995ISBN: 0926019759Publication Date: 1995N.B.: It may be easier to use UPenn's digital edition of the book.
Comprehensive bibliography for material published between 1960 and 1990.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Jewish StudiesAn extensive bibliography compiled by scholars in Jewish Studies and related fields.
- RAMBI Index of Articles on Jewish StudiesSelective bibliography of academic articles covering all of the fields of Jewish studies as well as the study of Eretz Israel and the State of Israel. RAMBI is based largely on the collections of the National Library of Israel. Includes references to articles in Hebrew, Latin, or Cyrillic letters.
See also the general Background, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries page.
Jewish American Chronology by Call Number: Wells Library - Stacks -- E184.35 .B38 2011ISBN: 9780313376047Publication Date: 2011-06-07Arranged chronologically, the entries illustrate how a variety of different Jewish groups and individuals have adapted to America, both changing in accordance with time and place and retaining tradition and culture, even as they became thoroughly American.
Encyclopedia of American Jewish History by Call Number: Wells Library - Reference Reading Room -- E184.35 .E53 2008ISBN: 9781851096381Publication Date: 2008Written by the most prominent scholars in American Jewish history, this encyclopedia illuminates the varied experiences of America's Jews and their impact on American society and culture over three and a half centuries.
Encyclopedia of Jewish American Popular Culture by Call Number: E-book, also available in print: Wells Library - Stacks -- E184.35 .E54 2009ISBN: 9780313339899Publication Date: 2009This unique encyclopedia chronicles American Jewish popular culture, past and present in music, art, food, religion, literature, and more. Over 150 entries, written by scholars in the field, highlight topics ranging from animation and comics to Hollywood and pop psychology.
American Jewish Desk Reference by Call Number: Wells Library - Stacks -- E184.35 .A44 1999ISBN: 0375402438Publication Date: 1999This authoritative reference of nearly 900 entries covers all aspects of America's lively and influential Jewish culture--history, religion, rituals, family life, law, politics, business, education, music and the arts, sports, entertainment, books, language, science, and more.
See also the Newspapers, Periodicals, and Newsmedia page
Freely available websites:
- American Jewish Archives Online Resources in American Jewish HistoryLinks to numerous open access resources covering a range of topics.
- American Jewish Historical Society Digital CollectionsCollections particularly related to the American Soviet Jewry Movement
- American Jewish Population Project"Gain insight into the American Jewish population, down to the county level, with dynamic visualizations and an interactive map. These data describe the demographic characteristics and political identities of the population, informing the work of students, researchers, community leaders, and others interested in the American Jewish population profile."
- Early New York Synagogue Archives"The synagogue is the traditional prayer and meeting space for Jewish communities. The history of New York synagogue life is an essential piece of New York City history. It tells the story of the Jewish immigration and the continuity of Jewish life in the “New World” from the 18th century until today."
- Isaac Mayer Wise Digital Archive"This digital archive is a freely accessible comprehensive electronic edition of Rabbi Wise's correspondence and extensive published writings. Consisting of approximately 3,300 items captured in nearly 20,000 digital images, the collection documents the life and work of the architect of Reform Judaism in America."
- Jewish Diaspora Collection (JDoC)The Jewish Diaspora Collection (JDoC) is a collaborative and cooperative digital library designed to preserve and provide wide access to Jewish heritage materials from Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean. Modelled on the Digital Library of the Caribbean, JDoC provides a host site and portal for digitized versions of hidden and/or endangered Jewish cultural, historical and research materials currently held in archives, libraries, and private collections.
JDoC also preserves digital copies of materials held in the Isser and Rae Price Library of Judaica. Thanks to the breadth and depth of its collections, the Price Library is considered the foremost Jewish studies research collection in the southeastern United States, and its rare, late 19th to early 20th century imprints place it among the leading academic research libraries in the world. - Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica"The Arnold and Deanne Kaplan Collection of Early American Judaica, donated to the University of Pennsylvania Libraries in 2012 by the Kaplans, and growing each year, teaches us about the everyday lives, families, communal institutions, religious organizations, voluntary associations, businesses, and political circumstances of Jewish life throughout the western hemisphere over four centuries. It also provides a unique window into the changing character of colonial and early American life and culture in the United States."
- Washington State Jewish ArchivesThe collections of the Jewish Archives are physically housed in the Special Collections Division of the University of Washington Libraries. The Jewish Archives are a collaborative project between Special Collections and the Washington State Jewish Historical Society.
Databases requiring IUB authentication:
- Immigration: Records of the INS, 1880-1930Primary source documents covering the investigations made during the massive immigration wave at the turn of the 20th century.
- Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996Digital archive covering all aspects of 20th-century human migration. includes firsthand accounts from reputable sources around the world, covering such important events as post-World War II Jewish resettlement, South African apartheid, Latin American migrations to the United States and much more.
- Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954Explore the history of Jewish communities in America from the arrival of the first Jews in the 17th century right through to the mid-20th century.
- Migration to New WorldsMigration to New Worlds explores the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
- North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries, and Oral HistoriesFull text of letters, diaries, autobiographies, and oral histories of immigrants to America and Canada. Covers 1840 to present, but heaviest focus is on 1920-1980.
- Documenting White Supremacy and its Opponents in the 1920sDigital access to papers promoting as well as those opposing white nationalism. Includes local, regional, and national newspapers published by Klan organizations and by sympathetic publishers from across the U.S. It also includes key anti-Klan voices from newspapers published by ethnic, Catholic, and Jewish organizations.
Print sources:
American Jewish History by Call Number: E-bookISBN: 9781611685091Publication Date: 2014Presenting the American Jewish historical experience from its communal beginnings to the present through documents, photographs, and other illustrations, many of which have never before been published, this entirely new collection of source materials complements existing textbooks on American Jewish history with an organization and pedagogy that reflect the latest historiographical trends and the most creative teaching approaches.
The American Jewish Woman by Call Number: E-book, also available in print: Wells Library - Stacks -- HQ1172 .M37 SupplISBN: 0870687522Publication Date: 1981One-hundred seventy-seven documents dating from the 17th century to 1980.
A Double Bond: The Constitutional Documents of American Jewry by Call Number: IUPUI University LibraryISBN: 0819185868Publication Date: 1992A Double Bond examines the constitutional framework of American Jewry. The essays by Hannah Kliger and Nitza Druyan illuminate key parts of American Jewish history through their analysis of the constitutional documents of major Jewish institutions. A close look at excerpts from the actual documents themselves, included in Part III, makes an excellent reference source for the reader. Co-published with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.- The Jew in the American World by Call Number: Auxiliary Library Facility - Stacks -- E184.J5 J465 1996ISBN: 0814325475Publication Date: 1996This volume is a documented history of the Jewish people in North America from the late 16th century. It chronicles the evolving domestic, religious and political experiences of Jews in the American colonies and later the United States.
Jewish Radicals by Call Number: E-bookISBN: 9780814757437Publication Date: 2012Jewish Radicals explores the intertwined histories of Jews and the American Left through a rich variety of primary documents. Written in English and Yiddish, these documents reflect the entire spectrum of radical opinion, from anarchism to social democracy, Communism to socialist-Zionism.
- American ReligionCall Number: E-resource
- Studies in American Jewish LiteratureCall Number: E-resourceAnother IUCAT record exists for an earlier publication of the same name, published in 1975-1979. Some issues also available in print (earlier publication and current publication).