Jewish Museum of the American West

05/25/2026

Command Sergeant Major (Retired) Samuel P. Yudin recently retired f...

02/02/2026

Amusing Jews Ep: 134: Jewish Electoral Pioneers – with author Mark Rutzick

Mark Rutzick is a retired attorney who was twice appointed to the federal government’s Senior Executive Service. His new book is Breaking New Ground: The Untold Story of Early America’s Jewish Electoral Pioneers—1788 to 1920.

Amusing Jews is a project of Jewish Museum of the American West.

Mark Rutzick is a retired attorney who was twice appointed to the federal government’s Senior Executive Service. His new book is Breaking New Ground: The Unt...

08/13/2025

𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐔𝐄! Western States Jewish History 54:1 is now available.

Subscription info: https://www.ttupress.org/journals/western-states-jewish-history/

𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐒
“Introduction to Special Issue on Australian Jewish History,” by Jason Schulman

“A Personal Reflection on the Development of the Field of Australian Jewish History,” by Suzanne D. Rutland

“‘How I Long for Sarah Dear’: How Distance Impacted the Formation of Jewish Families in the Colony of Victoria, Australia, 1850s–1870s,” by Elizabeth Offer

“‘His Love for Opera and Greasepaint’: The Briners and the Western Australian Opera Society, 1946–1950,” by Evangeline Jarman

“How Unprecedented Was the Explosion of Antisemitism in Australia After October 7? A Look at Australian Responses to the Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, and the 1982 Lebanon War,” by Jasmine Beinart

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖𝐒
Blaine Lamb, Jewish Settlers in the Arizona Territory, reviewed by Naomi Sandweiss

Joel Gereboff and Jonathan L. Friedmann, eds., Jewish Historical Societies: Navigating the Professional-Amateur Divide, reviewed by Jason Schulman

Rebecca Clarren, The Cost of Free Land, Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance, reviewed by Oliver B. Pollak

Avi Y. Decter, Exploring American Jewish History through 50 Historic Treasures, reviewed by Jonathan L. Friedmann

Jody Myers, Eating at God’s Table: How Foodways Create and Sustain Orthodox Jewish Communities, edited by Joel Gereboff

Pierre Birnbaum, Tears of History: The Rise of Political Antisemitism in the United States, reviewed by Jason Schulman

07/14/2025

Check it out! Jewish Museum of the American West director Jonathan L. Friedmann talks about his new book, 'Chai Noon: Jews and the Cinematic Wild West' (University of Wisconsin Press).

Jonathan L. Friedmann is the president of the Western States Jewish History Association; vice president, academic dean, and director of programs at Ezzree In...

06/11/2025

NEW BOOK! Jewish Museum of the American West director Jonathan Friedmann's CHAI NOON: JEWS AND THE CINEMATIC WEST (University of Wisconsin Press, 2025) explores Jewish contributors who have shaped the Western ever since the silent era, both onscreen and offscreen, and filmmakers who have sought to infuse the genre with a distinctly Jewish sensibility.

Only a few Westerns contain explicitly Jewish stories or themes, and very rarely do Old West tales involve identifiably Jewish characters. Yet Jewish contributors have shaped the Western—once Hollywood’s most popular genre—ever since the silent era, both onscreen and offscreen, and some filmma...