Marc Dollinger
The Jews of California
Summary
“If you want to be poor all your life,” an eastern European Jewish immigrant was told, “go to New York. If you want to be rich, go to the other side,” meaning California, where economic prosperity and social acceptance promised Golden State Jews opportunities unknown in the East. For many new Jewish immigrants, California became the new promised land, even as it challenged many New York-centered assumptions about American Jewish life. Whether you are native to California, New York, or anywhere else in the world, this provocative talk just might undo the way you think about American Jewry.
Marc Dollinger
Prof. Marc Dollinger is the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Chair in Jewish Studies and Social Responsibility in the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. He has authored many articles and four books, including Quest for Inclusion: Jews and Liberalism in Modern America, California Jews and American Jewish History: A Primary Source Reader, and Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance in the 1960s. He is currently writing his fifth book, Power and Privilege: Jews, The Identity Project and the Modern University.