Rabbi Outcast: Elmer Berger and American Jewish Anti-Zionism
"This is a seminal book, nothing less than the rediscovery of American Jewry’s dissenting tradition. Ostensibly about the fascinating and controversial Rabbi Elmer Berger, it is really much more—a nuanced and readable portrait of people and ideas undeservedly erased from American Jewish history."—Murray Polner, former editor ofPresent Tense, author ofRabbi: The American Experience, and coeditor ofShalom: The Jewish Peace Letter"An important book for anyone interested in understanding the complex history of how American Jews have related to the State of Israel. Jack Ross not only tells a fascinating story about the life and times of Rabbi Elmer Berger, a deeply committed anti-Zionist, but he also makes it clear that Zionism is not the religion of all American Jews and certainly was not in the decades before Israel was created."—John J. Mearsheimer, R. Wendell Harrison Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago, and coauthor ofThe Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy"As Jews of conscience continue to speak out today against Israeli atrocities in Palestine, Israel’s claim to represent world Jewry has lost all credibility. As this book will show you, there is not and has never been consensus among Jews on the Zionist project."—Anna Baltzer, author ofWitness in Palestine"In his informative and engaging biography of Berger, Jack Ross resurrects the memory of an important Jewish dissident, a man with whom many may disagree, but whose important insights into the nature and consequences of Zionism may be ignored only at our own peril."—Thomas Kolsky, History News Network Book Review, July 7, 2011