Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii INTRODUCTION: Jews and the American Soul 1 PART I. One Nation under Stress, Divisible: Jewish Immigrants and the National Psyche CHAPTER 1: Jews and the Psychodynamics of American Life 11 PART II. The Moral Universe of the Jews CHAPTER 2: Benjamin Franklin in Hebrew: The Musar Sage of Philadelphia 39 CHAPTER 3: Jews and the Crisis of the Psyche 50 CHAPTER 4: Freud and Adler: The Rise of Jewish Psychoanalytic Moralism 64 PART III. Jewish Morality and the Psychological Shift of American Culture ,1890-1945 CHAPTER 5: Popular Psychology: The Great American Synthesis of Religion and Science 87 CHAPTER 6: Jewish Psychological Evangelism: A Collective Biography of the First Generation 103 CHAPTER 7: The Moronic Immigrant and the Neurotic Jew: Jews and American Perceptions of Intelligence, Personality, and Race 140 CHAPTER 8: The Specter of the Mob: Jews and the Battle for the American Unconscious 165 PART IV. Peace of Mind: Judaism and the Therapeutic Polemics of Postwar America CHAPTER 9: Rabbi Liebman and the Psychic Pain of the World War II Generation 195 CHAPTER 10: Peace of Mind :A New Jewish Gospel of Love 217 CHAPTER 11: Clare Boothe Luce and the Catholic-Jewish Clash over Freud in America 241 PART V. Jews and the American Search for Meaning, 1950-2000 CHAPTER 12: Jews and the Creation of American Humanism 261 CHAPTER 13: Joyce Brothers: The Jewish Woman as Psychologist of Suburban America 295 CHAPTER 14: Holocaust, Hasidism, Suffering, Redemption 321 Conclusion 349 Notes 353 Index 419

Promotional Information

Why do Americans worry so about their souls? Andrew Heinze's amazing book offers an amazing answer--an extraordinary and unexpected dialogue among modern American Jewish writers and figures about the essence of humanity, the soul. Ranging across American Jewish writing on psychology, neurosis, self-help, humanism, and the Holocaust, Heinze explains how Jewish intellectuals uncovered and explicated the marrow of American identity even as, or precisely because, they sought to secure their place in an America that did not always want them. Heinze uplifts an unexpected, enlightening story with insight, grace, and not infrequent irony--a simply fascinating read. -- Jon Butler, Yale University This telling of the American story gives a clarifying resonance to a heretofore muted theme. The nation's culture, politics, and civic religion have been powerfully influenced by Jewish contributions. But it has taken this vigorous work by Andrew Heinze to make them plain. This book will surely change the way America understands itself. -- James Carroll, author of the bestselling "Constantine's Sword" Jews and the American Soul is the most forthright, probing, nuanced, and carefully documented book yet addressed to the ways in which modern American culture has been influenced by Jews. A truly distinctive work of American history. -- David Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley I do not know any books like this one. Heinze concludes that Jewish ways of thinking about human personality and the meaning of human life have spread to millions of Americans. The implications of this conclusion are startling. A wonderful, compelling book, a major accomplishment. It has changed the way I think about the 'American soul.' -- Deborah Dash Moore, Vassar College Andrew Heinze's Jews and the American Soul is a shrewd and unsettling account of the influence of some surprising Jewish figures upon contemporary popular culture in the United States. -- Harold Bloom, author of "The Western Canon" and "The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation"

About the Author

Andrew R. Heinze is Professor of American History and Director of the Swig Judaic Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. Raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Amherst College and earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. Andrew Heinze has written widely on history, religion, and current events and is the author of Adapting to Abundance.

Reviews

Runner-Up for the 2005 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish History, Jewish Book Council Finalist for the 2004 Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Book Award, University of Scranton One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books for 2004 "[M]asterfully weaves together several strands of American and Jewish intellectual, cultural and social history ... this important book succeeds brilliantly."--Paul Lerner, Times Literary Supplement "[A] groundbreaking, wonderfully researched and consistently provocative book... Heinze has a fluid, readable style and supports his larger arguments and history with an abundance of compelling anecdotes and facts... [He] writes splendid social history. This is an important addition not only to Jewish studies, but to American cultural studies as well."--Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review) "Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the full history of [the] psychologization of American ideas about the psyche and human nature without considering the vast influence of Jewish writers... This is a sharply argued contribution to American cultural and intellectual history that will deservedly be cited for decades to come."--Robert C. Fuller, American Historical Review "Heinze's argument is that Christian America doesn't realize how Jewish it is. And while it would have been simple enough to round up the usual suspects ... Heinze's choices are refreshing."--Joel Yanofsky, National Post "[This] fascinating and innovative book could not have arrived at a better time... The book deserves a wide readership."--Elaine Margolin, Jerusalem Post "[O]utstanding ... Heinze cogently and elegantly traces the flow of Jewish values, attitudes, and arguments into the mainstream of American thought."--Ilana Mercer, Jewish Chronicle (London) "This ambitious undertaking raises many very interesting questions about the role of Jewish thinkers in exploring the American mind. Andrew Heinze presents 20th-century Jewish psychiatrists, psychologists, and rabbis who have never been included in discussions of this topic before."--Choice "One of the more remarkable revelations of Andrew Heinze's Jews and the American Soul is ... The interpenetration of the American and the Jewish outlook ... Ranging from the thunderous impact of Freudianism through the popular ministrations and down-to-earth advice of Dr. Joyce Brothers... Heinze writes well and often colorfully."--Charles Morris, Commonweal "A major contribution... Anyone interested in the afterlife of European psychology in America; anyone interested in the difference between Jewish and non-Jewish attitudes towards psychological structures needs to read this book... You will find it a pleasure to read and you will learn something new on every page (and in virtually every footnote)."--Sander L. Gilman, American Jewish History "Heinze makes an admirably detailed study of how Jews in America became party to the important discussion of the place of the psyche in the lives of Americans."--Edmund Connelly, The Occidental Quarterly "Andrew R. Heinze's Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century is a sweeping, ambitious study of Jewish contributions to Americans' self-understanding... In his chronicle of Jews who have aided Americans in their search for meaning, Heinze has provided us with fascinating insights into the cultural work of many of these conversations."--Marjorie N. Feld, American Studies

Runner-Up for the 2005 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish History, Jewish Book Council Finalist for the 2004 Weinberg Judaic Studies Institute Book Award, University of Scranton One of Publishers Weekly's Best Books for 2004 "[M]asterfully weaves together several strands of American and Jewish intellectual, cultural and social history ... this important book succeeds brilliantly."--Paul Lerner, Times Literary Supplement "[A] groundbreaking, wonderfully researched and consistently provocative book... Heinze has a fluid, readable style and supports his larger arguments and history with an abundance of compelling anecdotes and facts... [He] writes splendid social history. This is an important addition not only to Jewish studies, but to American cultural studies as well."--Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review) "Indeed, it is difficult to imagine the full history of [the] psychologization of American ideas about the psyche and human nature without considering the vast influence of Jewish writers... This is a sharply argued contribution to American cultural and intellectual history that will deservedly be cited for decades to come."--Robert C. Fuller, American Historical Review "Heinze's argument is that Christian America doesn't realize how Jewish it is. And while it would have been simple enough to round up the usual suspects ... Heinze's choices are refreshing."--Joel Yanofsky, National Post "[This] fascinating and innovative book could not have arrived at a better time... The book deserves a wide readership."--Elaine Margolin, Jerusalem Post "[O]utstanding ... Heinze cogently and elegantly traces the flow of Jewish values, attitudes, and arguments into the mainstream of American thought."--Ilana Mercer, Jewish Chronicle (London) "This ambitious undertaking raises many very interesting questions about the role of Jewish thinkers in exploring the American mind. Andrew Heinze presents 20th-century Jewish psychiatrists, psychologists, and rabbis who have never been included in discussions of this topic before."--Choice "One of the more remarkable revelations of Andrew Heinze's Jews and the American Soul is ... The interpenetration of the American and the Jewish outlook ... Ranging from the thunderous impact of Freudianism through the popular ministrations and down-to-earth advice of Dr. Joyce Brothers... Heinze writes well and often colorfully."--Charles Morris, Commonweal "A major contribution... Anyone interested in the afterlife of European psychology in America; anyone interested in the difference between Jewish and non-Jewish attitudes towards psychological structures needs to read this book... You will find it a pleasure to read and you will learn something new on every page (and in virtually every footnote)."--Sander L. Gilman, American Jewish History "Heinze makes an admirably detailed study of how Jews in America became party to the important discussion of the place of the psyche in the lives of Americans."--Edmund Connelly, The Occidental Quarterly "Andrew R. Heinze's Jews and the American Soul: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century is a sweeping, ambitious study of Jewish contributions to Americans' self-understanding... In his chronicle of Jews who have aided Americans in their search for meaning, Heinze has provided us with fascinating insights into the cultural work of many of these conversations."--Marjorie N. Feld, American Studies

Heinze (American history & director, Swig Judaic studies, Univ. of San Francisco; Adapting to Abundance) examines how modern American culture has been greatly influenced by Jewish American psychologists and thinkers. One of the chief merits of his work is that he does not disdain popular psychologists. So while there is plenty of material on the enduring thinkers of the past century, e.g., Adler, Maslow, and Eriksen, there are also chapters on such popular figures as Rabbi Joshua Liebman, who wrote a widely read-but now forgotten-self-help book after World War II, titled Peace of Mind. These figures found a way to transform their Jewish backgrounds into advice and thought that could greatly influence all Americans. Most recently, the works of Rabbi Harold Kushner have helped many Americans come to an understanding of suffering and evil in the world. An informed lay reader can appreciate Heinze's scholarly study. Best for larger public libraries and academic libraries that have strong collections in popular culture and thought.-Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.