A History of Orthodox Judaism in America

I came across this work totally by accident while trying to find something else. Google has some excerpts available online. It is the third volume in a three-volume series on Judaism in America and is the volume dealing with Orthodox Judaism. The few excerpts available on Google make for some fascinating reading. I was enthused enough to try and buy the book. Unfortunately, the cheapest price I have found so far is $119 for the book. Yup, you are reading that number correctly. The price is definitely going to keep people like me from buying the book. And I have to ask why. Surely a book like this, which outlines the personalities and the movements that were important in establishing orthodoxy here in the US, should be of general interest to a large audience of frum Jews. I can see no harm and only good in this book's being available for all frum Jews, and yet it isn't "priced to sell."

I found the book listed in the catalog in the reference section of the library of the college where I teach. Clearly I'm going to be spending some time in the library reading. I have to ask though, how many of the students and faculty have any idea that the book exists, never mind that the school has a copy? It's a truism among college instructors that if you want to make sure that a book is NOT read, stick it into the reference section. Okay, maybe it's the "dark and stormy night" weather and the late hour, but why would someone price a book outside of the range of possible for most people and then bury it in a reference section of a library, unless they didn't want most people to read it?

Just a very brief piece of information from the book. One interesting highlight in the history of the Agudas HaRabonim was that the idea was originally thought up by some rabbis way out of town as a means of connecting all Orthodox rabbis. The rabbis in New York at the time when this was first suggested could see no reason for such a group, since they were all in contact with each other anyway. Anyone see the irony in this?


Anyway, you might find some enjoyment in reading what is available online, and then maybe trying to find the book in a library.

Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook -
by Moshe D. Sherman - 1996 --Greenwood Press--304 pages