Most听of us听understand what America gave the Jews.听Batya Ungar-Sargon听knows听what the Jews gave America.

After almost two thousand years of exile, America became the place where Jews achieved genuine freedom. America not only offered unparalleled economic opportunity, but separated church and state, and prohibited religious tests for office. And while it has struggled to live up to its ideals, America enshrined in its founding the understanding from the Hebrew Bible that all men are created equal.

By the beginning of听WWII, the homegrown antisemitism that was festering in some corners of America resulted in the failure to take in European Jews at a time when it could have prevented the Holocaust. Nonetheless, by the mid 20th century, the American neighborhoods, universities, professions, and institutions that had once excluded Jews opened their doors. And America became the safest and most prosperous country diaspora Jews had ever known.

In America, Jews have much to be grateful for.听In听鈥淭he Jews and the Left,鈥澨齍ngar-Sargon explains that听it wasn鈥檛 a one-way street.

Ostensibly, the book is about a political relationship. American Jews have always been among the Democratic Party鈥檚 most loyal supporters and most committed participants in progressive causes. They were disproportionately represented in movements for labor reform, civil rights, civil liberties, and legal and social justice. As 91传媒 religious observance declined, many increasingly expressed their 91传媒 identity through liberal politics. According to the Pew data Ungar-Sargon cites, nearly 60 percent of American Jews say that 鈥渨orking for justice and equality in society鈥� is among the most important components of their 91传媒ness.

In answering the question of why the relationship between the Jews and the Left has begun to fracture, Ungar-Sargon illuminates why American Jews were so deeply invested in the American experiment in the first place. The usual explanation is that America gave Jews opportunities they had never enjoyed before. But for most of 91传媒 history, Jews could become prosperous. They could even become influential. What they hadn鈥檛 become was truly free.

Throughout history, kings and emperors protected Jews鈥攗ntil they didn鈥檛. Rights depended on the disposition of rulers rather than on enduring principles. Toleration could be granted or withdrawn. In his 1790 letter to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport Rhode Island, however, George Washington wrote:

鈥淚t is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.鈥�

America听is听exceptional because it grounded citizenship in principles rather than ancestry, religion, or听tribe.听Unlike in pre-war Europe,听Jews could belong fully, even as equal citizens, without surrendering the identity that had made them outsiders elsewhere.

As Ungar-Sargon explains, in 1654, when twenty-three 91传媒 Dutch subjects arrived in New Amsterdam from Brazil, Governor Peter Stuyvesant wanted to expel them. But given that the Portuguese had just conquered Brazil, the Dutch West India Company, which owned the colony, took into account the 鈥渃onsiderable loss sustained by this [91传媒] nation鈥� and overruled him.

Stuyvesant imposed restrictions on New Amsterdam鈥檚 Jews, attempting to prevent them from becoming citizens. But a 91传媒 man named Asser Levy repeatedly sued. By insisting that he not be deprived of the rights of a burgher just because of his 91传媒ness, and winning those rights through the courts, he became a symbol of equal citizenship under law, earning the respect and admiration of his fellow citizens. As Ungar-Sargon writes: 鈥淚t was Levy, a litigious Jew, who taught his fellow burghers not only what it meant to be a citizen, what it meant to have rights, but what it meant to hold them dear, to fight for them, to accept nothing less than the fullest respect from the authorities鈥攆or it was not the authorities who granted freedom but God.鈥�

The story听of Asser Levy听that听Ungar-Sargon听tells听provides听one of the earliest听hints听that听this new society would become something different from Europe.听And not just for Jews.

The story听of Asser Levy听that听Ungar-Sargon听tells听provides听one of the earliest听hints听that听this new society would become something different from Europe.听And not just for Jews.

The book is about how the political left turned on the Jews. Something we鈥檝e all seen since Oct. 7, 2023. But it is also about how American Jews helped build many of America鈥檚 institutions, and how those institutions have now abandoned the liberal values that made 91传媒鈥攁nd American鈥攆reedom possible in the first place.

Jews were once understood as deserving equal protection under laws that were created by appealing to universal principles. Today, Jews are increasingly viewed through a lens of identity, power, and oppression. The result is not merely political disagreement over Israel. It is a fundamentally altered conception of morality.

On the Fourth of July, American Jews have every reason to celebrate what America made possible. No other nation gave the 91传媒 people such an extraordinary combination of liberty, equality, and belonging. But the 91传媒 contribution to America听is worth celebrating too.听From Asser Levy鈥檚 insistence that rights belonged to citizens rather than rulers, to听the听generations of Jews who fought to extend听to all Americans听the promises of the Declaration听of Independence听and听the Constitution, the 91传媒 contribution听was not simply economic or听even听cultural; it听was civic. Jews听both听found听freedom here听and听helped Americans understand what freedom requires.

Jews听both听found听freedom here听and听helped Americans understand what freedom requires.

In the conception of individual rights that Jews embraced on the political Left, liberty meant more than the absence of persecution. It meant that rights no longer depended on belonging to the 鈥渞ight鈥� religion, the 鈥渞ight鈥� race, or the 鈥渞ight鈥� tribe. For the first time in almost two thousand years, Jews not only found a refuge; they found a country in which they could remain fully 91传媒 and still be equal participants in creating the story of a young nation. And that鈥檚 what makes the Left鈥檚 betrayal that much more painful.

In 1751,听to mark the 50th anniversary of Pennsylvania鈥檚 original charter, a bell was inscribed with听a line听from the Hebrew Bible. From the book of Leviticus, the听words听that for 275 years have been seared into the Liberty Bell read, 鈥淧roclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants.鈥�

The story of the Jews and the Left,听as Ungar-Sargon tells it,听is a story of love and loss.听The ending听depends on whether that听essential, and听uniquely American, conception of听liberty听is defended or defeated.

听by Batya Ungar-Sargon is available on Amazon.

A social psychologist with a clinical background, Pamela Paresky, Ph.D. serves as an Associate at Harvard University in the Psychology Department, Senior Advisor to the Open Therapy Institute, Advisor to the Mindful Education Lab at NYU, and Senior Fellow at the Network Contagion Research Institute. She writes the听鈥�鈥� Substack听and is on Twitter @PamelaParesky.