Polarized

With penetrating insights, profound understanding, sensitivity, and courage, Roberta Kwall has tackled what has arguably become the most divisive issue facing American Jews today--Zionism and support for the Jewish State. In Polarized, Kwall not only explores the origins and growth of this schism but proposes creative and unique ways of bridging it. Her book is essential reading for all who grapple with the challenges of Jewish identity today and care passionately about our people's bonds with Israel. -- Michael Oren * historian and former Israeli ambassador to the United States *
Roberta Kwall has written a powerful call for reinvigorating the mainstream center of Jewish life. At a time of growing dissension among Jews, even as antisemitism is spreading across the political spectrum, American Jewry desperately needs wise voices to help it navigate through this terrifying moment. This book is an essential contribution to that conversation. -- Yossi Klein Halevi * Senior Fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, author of New York Times bestseller Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor *
Kwall offers an incisive and wide-ranging diagnosis of the many challenges facing the American Jewish community, along with thoughtful and practical proposals to move forward. Her work will reward both communal leaders and lay readers. -- Rabbi David Wolpe * Scholar in Residence, Maimonides Fund; Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple *
As American Jews navigate internal divisions and external pressures, Roberta Kwall is the kind of guide we need: humane, knowledgeable, and deeply committed to Jewish community. Anyone who wants to understand the present and feel more hopeful for the future should read Polarized. -- Adam Kirsch * Senior Editor, The Atlantic, author of the New York Times bestseller, On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice *
Amid the clamor of polarization in American Jewish life, Professor Roberta Rosenthal Kwall offers a timely intervention. She shows how it is possible to discern multiple sides of controversial issues, talk with those with whom one disagrees, contextualize and document claims, preserve productive discourse amid principled disagreement, and press for a middle way. Valuable both as a record of our times and as a sound prescription for how to move forward. -- Jonathan D. Sarna * University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History (emeritus) and author of American Judaism: A History *
If you care about the Jewish world and the Jewish future, it’s important to read what Kwall has to say about the challenges facing our community. Whether or not you agree with her solutions, Polarized is an important contribution to a centuries-old debate about—Jewish debate. -- Dan Senor * co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Turbulent World; host of the podcast Call Me Back *
Kwall effectively maps the polarization of the American Jewish community and provides a blueprint for a more productive way forward. Her vision is an important contribution to the effort to tackle the aftermath of October 7 and ensure a strong, resilient American Judaism that takes its identity seriously while maintaining its deep connection to Israel. -- Michael Koplow * Chief Policy Officer, Israel Policy Forum *
In this incisive book, Roberta Kwall offers both diagnosis and direction, tracing how antisemitism has resurfaced across the media and academia. More than critique, this is a roadmap for resilience and renewal, speaking to Jews of every background, belief, and level of observance. Whether Jewish identity is lived religiously, culturally, or ethnically, readers will come away with a deeper understanding of this moment—and a clearer sense of how to meet it. -- Sarah Isgur * legal analyst for ABC News, author of Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court *
Professor Kwall has written a magnificent book that is stunning in its originality and its insights. At a time when the United States is more politically polarized than at any time since Reconstruction, Professor Kwall focuses on the reality of polarization among Jewish people. With meticulous research and beautiful prose, Professor Kwall both explains why this is a serious problem and offers a wise path forward. -- Erwin Chemerinsky * dean and professor, University of California, Berkeley School of Law *
Polarized is meant to be widely read, and it will find a grateful audience of readers who have been waiting for precisely what this book so winningly offers. -- Thane Rosenbaum * author of Beyond Proportionality: Israel's Just War in Gaza *
Kwall puts the finger on one of the key issues facing the Jewish Community: not disagreement itself, but the loss of the capacity to disagree while remaining a people. It is possible – and necessary – to have strong convictions about issues affecting the Jewish World, while preserving the fabric of communal. It is also necessary to discuss the parameters of belonging and how internal dissent needs to be managed. This is an intriguing book that explores the changing realities of the Jewish community and opens an important conversation: how to give voice to the silent (and exhausted) majority. -- Andrés Spokoiny * President and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network *