Contemporary Antisemitism in the United States: A historical and social background

In this podcast, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Prof. Eli Lederhendler, Stephen S. Wise Professor of American Jewish History and Institutions at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the outgoing chair of the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry. Prof. Lederhendler is also the author of the article “American Antisemitism in its Historical and Social Background,” published by INSS in its collection of articles on contemporary antisemitism in the United States. In this article, Prof. Lederhendler examines antisemitism in the United States in the context of American social history and analyzes how the phenomenon has developed in the United States over the past hundred years. The podcast looks at what is different in the American governmental and legal systems that prevents their decline into anarchy or fascism. Is American antisemitism different when compared to other forms of bigotry, and in what way? How does antisemitism in the United States differ from the phenomenon in other countries? What are the socio-historic origins of the discourse surrounding antisemitism in America? Has antisemitism in America evolved over time? What were related pivotal events in the 20th century? And how did the American Jewish community react to attacks against them?