Lincoln and the Jews: a history (original) (raw)

Mended Eggs? Lincoln's Jewish Friends "Broken eggs can not be mended," Lincoln once wrote regarding his inability to rescind the Emancipation Proclamation (127). In the case of religion, though, Lincoln sought to mend the broken eggs between Jews and Christians, according to this entertaining book. Given the coverage and interest in the sixteenth president, it is surprising that Lincoln and the Jews is one of the first comprehensive studies on the subject. It combines the critical approach of an accomplished historian, Jonathan D. Sarna, with the passions of a collector of antiquities and material culture, Benjamin Shapell. The book's glossed pages have hundreds of high-quality color photographs of primary sources, ephemera, and portraits of notable figures, along with engaging prose and insightful commentary. Beautifully conceived and constructed, this book belongs on the coffee table of every Lincoln and/or American Civil War aficionado. Indeed, a more accessible book for a popular audience does not exist. Professional historians, conversely, may be disappointed. Lincoln and the Jews resembles the hagiography of pre-1950s amateur historians of Jewish history, whose chief aim was to underscore Jews as "good" Americans. Yet unlike that literature, this book celebrates Lincoln and the United States. In fact, it focuses on Lincoln's life and the democratic ethos that differentiated the United States from aristocratic Europe. Jews, of course, make appearances throughout Lincoln's life, beginning in earnest in the early 1840s. Some Jews joined the Republican ranks with Lincoln "to halt the spread of slavery and promote the spread of freedom" (25). One of Lincoln's Jewish friends was the first to encourage him to run for president. Indeed, those sporadic relationships are illustrative of the authors' main contention: Jews made a significant impact on Lincoln and vice versa. Lincoln referred specifically to