EVENTS

Please join us for a free, in-person book talk, Fear No Pharaoh, American Jews, the Civil War, and the Fight to End Slavery, with Richard Kreitner on June 14, 2025, from 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm, followed by a book signing. A dramatic history of how American Jews reckoned with slavery—and fought the Civil War. A dramatic history of how American Jews reckoned with slavery—and fought the Civil War. Since ancient times, the Jewish people have recalled the story of Exodus and reflected on the implications of having been slaves. Did the tradition teach that Jews should speak out against slavery and oppression everywhere, or act cautiously to protect themselves in a hostile world? In Fear No Pharaoh, the journalist and historian Richard Kreitner sets this question at the heart of the Civil War era. Using original sources, he tells the intertwined stories of six American Jews who helped to shape a tumultuous time, including Judah Benjamin, the brilliant, secretive lawyer who became Jefferson Davis’s trusted confidante; Morris Raphall, a Swedish-born rabbi who defended slavery as biblically justified; and Raphall's rival rabbis—the celebrated Isaac Mayer Wise, who urged Jews to stay out of the slavery controversy to avoid attracting attention, and David […]