Straus Center Books

Edited by Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, Dr. Matthew Holbreich, and Dr. Jonathan Silver, this sourcebook, the first of its kind, assembles foundational documents of American history side by side with the biblical verses that inspired them, allowing readers to see with their own eyes the impact the Hebrew Bible has had on the American idea. The editors' selections of source material, including sermons, letters, and seminal presidential addresses, demonstrate how the music of the Hebrew Bible accompanied the entirety of the American republic's history and served as a primary source of political and cultural vocabulary in the minds of the Puritan settlers, revolutionaries, African slaves, leaders of the civil rights movement, and the broader population. 

The Jews have ever been a people molded by the written word, so it is no coincidence that certain texts have come to play critical roles in the continuum of Jewish discourse. Edited by Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern, Books of the People: Revisiting Classic Works of Jewish Thought presents ten foundational books written between the 10th and the 20th centuries that have dramatically influenced the development of Jewish thought, examined by contemporary scholars of Jewish studies. Each scholar revisits a particularly salient work and discusses its themes, its historical context, the circumstances and background of its author, and its relevance to contemporary society.

This collection of brilliant and never-before-published essays by six of the most perceptive observers of Jewish and American life gives fresh insight into the personal, political, and religious character of one of Israel’s most remarkable and controversial figures.