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Is

Lincoln And The Jews

A new book details the profound and positive effect

the 16th president had on American Jews.

'LC

•

INCOLN

and the

J EWS

/ •-

-52- -.L.,'

A HISTORY

Nothing brings history to life more vividly than han wri en letters,

maps, and photographs. This book is a spectacular collection of primary

ir documents that cast new light on Lincoln it is a treasure."

tler:915. 131fIli

—DORIS K EAt i

!pi

JONATHAN D. SARNA
BENJAMIN SHAPELL

and

Suzanne Chessler
I Contributing Writer

T

here is a chart that
gives graphic represen-
tation to the many asso-
ciations shared by President
Abraham Lincoln and Jewish
citizens from various walks of
life.
The chart appears at the
beginning of the book Lincoln

and the Jews: A History
(Thomas Dunne Books; $40).
Its pages, planned by authors

42

March 12 • 2015

Jonathan Sarna and Benjamin
Shapell, are filled with narra-
tives and documents that con-
vey the impact of those associa-
tions.
Released this month, the
book anticipates the 150th
anniversary of Lincoln's assas-
sination (on April 14, 1865) and
the end of the Civil War.
"This book turned out to
be three books — Lincoln
and the Jews, a biography of
Lincoln shown through his
own handwritten words and
a new perspective on key
moments in U.S. history?' says
Shapell, founder of the Shapell
Manuscript Foundation, an
independent educational orga-
nization with documents repre-
senting world-renowned indi-
viduals. Many of the documents
in the book are from Shapell's
collection.
At a time when Jews made
up less than one-half of 1 per-
cent of the American popula-
tion — which was rife with
prejudice — Lincoln's profound
relationships with Jewish indi-
viduals had a lasting impact on
American Jews.
"The subject of Lincoln's
relationship with Jews is so
tightly woven into the story of
Lincoln's personal character
and the historic steps he took as
president that all three elements

end up being central, interlock-
ing themes," Shapell says.
The chapters, which describe
Lincoln's friendships and
governmental appointments,
call attention to the ways this
president protected the rights of
Jewish Americans.
Sarna, a professor of
American Jewish history at
Brandeis University and the
president of the Association for
Jewish Studies, credits Lincoln
with carrying out the first
instance of affirmative action
involving American Jews: The
appointment of Chemie Levy to
a respected military position is
partly based on Lincoln's belief
that "a Hebrew" had not been
appointed during his adminis-

tration.
"It turned out to be more
interesting because Lincoln had
appointed Jews," Sarna says.
"He just didn't know he had
appointed them."
Sarna identifies Abraham
Jonas and Issachar Zacharie
as two Jews especially close to
Lincoln, who called the former
one of my most valued friends"
in a letter. "Jonas was a friend
of Lincoln at an early age,"
Sarna says. "Both were inter-
ested in politics and worked
as lawyers in Illinois. Lincoln
appointed Jonas as postmas-
ter; and when Jonas died, he

"

appointed Jonas' wife as post-
master?'
Zacharie, Lincoln's chiropo-
dist, worked hard to get Lincoln
re-elected in 1864. There is evi-
dence that he was involved in
an unsuccessful effort to make
peace with the Confederacy.
"Lincoln turns out to have
played a big role in broadening
America so that Jews could gain
acceptance as equals," Sarna
says. "He treated them as equals
and made sure that, during his
presidency, they would be so

treated.
"For example, when the mili-
tary chaplaincy was set up, it
was restricted to ministers of
some Christian denominations.
Jews understood that meant
they were restricted. Lincoln
worked to change that law and
succeeded.
"If Lincoln hadn't gone to bat
for Jews when the chaplaincy
matter came up, the whole his-
tory of Jews in America would
have been different?'
Sarna has appeared at the
JCC Metro Detroit Jewish Book
Fair to discuss earlier projects
— American Judaism: A History
and When General Grant
Expelled the Jews. And Shapell's
parents, Holocaust survivors,
left Europe in 1950 and headed
for Michigan to be with his
mother's aunt, who left Europe

