Harold Brackman
ARTICLES BY: Harold Brackman
Jews, African-Americans and Communism in Harlem
Before World War I, German sociologist Max Weber argued that “the Protestant ethic” had engendered “the spirit of capitalism.” His colleague, Werner Sombart, countered that...
Plagues, Pandemics, and Anti-Jewish Pathology
The Mongols -- fearsome warriors on horseback -- conquered China. Yet their greatest impact on world history came when Mongol armies transported rats, infected with...
Dreyfus’ Long Shadow for American Jews
The post-World War I period -- including 1919’s Red Scare, passage of racist immigration restriction acts, mass KKK marches on the nation’s capital, and Henry...
What Kind of a Jew Was Freud?
Sigmund Freud described himself as a “Godless Jew.” Freud made heroes of “Semitic conquerors” like Carthaginian general Hannibal. Speaking before Vienna’s B’nai B’rith Lodge in...
America’s Founding Fathers and the Jews
Around Presidents’ Day every year, there are well-meaning declarations that America’s founding fathers were friendly to Jews and Zionism. Friendly quotations are easy to find, but...
Amazon, Antisemitism, and Free Speech
Amazon has changed its mind and stopped selling the Nation of Islam’s The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews, a pseudo-historical, malevolent fable produced by...
Bernie Sanders and the Last Hurrah of Jewish Socialism
I view Bernie Sanders from the perspective of a historian knowledgeable about Jews and the American Left. Historically considered, he is the ideological heir of...
Antisemitism on the American Right — and Its Ties to Russia
The FBI has arrested members of “The Base” for plans to transform a massive pro-gun rally in Richmond, Virginia, into a violent riot. The Base...
Debunking the Myth of a Jewish ‘Jack the Ripper’
In 1887, London celebrated Queen Victoria’s 50th Jubilee. In 1888, the impoverished East End -- home to as many as 100,000 Jews -- exploded in...
Soleimani and Israel
In parts of the Mideast where there are Shiite Muslims, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani -- the terrorist organizer of Shiite militias region-wide -- was mourned....
The White House’s Executive Order on Antisemitism Is Needed
Some very strong supporters of Israel have raised questions about the White House's new Executive Order (EO) on antisemitism mandating stronger enforcement of Title VI...
Jews and Slavery Reparations
In The Chicago Tribune, Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center, has offered his prescription for racial healing through reparations for slavery. Rabbi...
In the Face of Rising Antisemitism, Look to Italian Holocaust Survivor and Politician Liliana Segre
In 2019 as in 1939, the Jewish future is being threatened by the moral paralysis that the Irish poet William Butler Yeats once lamented: “The...
Still Looking for the Lost Tribes of Israel
On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus -- together with his Hebrew-speaking interpreter Luis de Torres -- made landfall in the Bahamas, greeted by enigmatic Arawak...
