About the Book
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May 2024
JPS is honored to announce the publication of Saying No to Hate: Overcoming Antisemitism in America by Norman H. Finkelstein, an award-winning author of 23 non-fiction histories and biographies who taught Jewish history at Hebrew College for more than three decades before passing away in January 2024.
Saying No to Hate grounds readers contextually in the history of antisemitism in America by emphasizing the legal, political, educational, communal, and other strategies American Jews have used through the centuries to address high-profile threats.
Norman H. Finkelstein shows how antisemitism has long functioned in America in systemic, structural, and interpersonal ways, from missionaries, the KKK, and American Nazis to employment discrimination, social media attacks, and QAnon. He explains how historic antisemitic events such as General Ulysses S. Grant’s General Order No. 11 (1862); the Massena, New York, blood libel (1928); and the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue (2018) galvanized the Jewish community. Finkelstein shines light on Jews such as Louis Brandeis and Admiral Hyman Rickover who succeeded despite discrimination and on individuals and organizations that have tackled legal and security affairs, from the passage of Maryland’s Jew Bill (1826) to groups helping Jewish institutions better protect themselves from active shooter threats.
Far from a victim narrative, Saying No to Hate is as much about Jewish resilience and ingenuity as it is about hatred. Engaging high school students and adults with personal narratives, it prepares each of us to recognize, understand, and confront injustice and hatred today, in the Jewish community and beyond.
Praise
“While the alarming increase in antisemitism in the U.S. is cause for concern, storyteller Norman Finkelstein shows us this is just the latest iteration of prejudice Jews have fought on these shores for hundreds of years. Saying No to Hate should be required in every high school and college, and encouraged as necessary for adults as well, for its promise to open needed dialogues about long-standing hatred of Jews and the Jewish community’s courage and perseverance in combating it. More than a book, this is a tool for strengthening our society.”—Rabbi Charles E. Savenor, executive director, Civic Spirit
“Learning to recognize how antisemitism functions in America in systemic, structural, and interpersonal ways—which Norman Finkelstein teaches masterfully, in tandem with robust stories of Jewish resilience and courage—will help both adolescents and adults address instances of injustice and hatred today, in the Jewish community and beyond.”—Rabbi Laura Bellows, curriculum designer and facilitator of teen and adult learning programs
“Two-time National Jewish Book Award winner Finkelstein…draws on exhaustive research for an account that’s comprehensive, accessible, and nuanced.”—Publishers Weekly
“A survey of the origins and history of antisemitism and how only a vigorous response from the community can stop it. Finkelstein (1941-2024), a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Awards…shows how Jews fervently believed in America’s promise of equality and opportunity, despite efforts to restrict them…. A[n] even-toned overview of American antisemitism, suitable for all readers.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Saying No to Hate is a sobering, empowering primer on how antisemitism and the fight against it changed the face of America.”—Foreword Reviews
Norman H. Finkelstein
Norman H. Finkelstein (1941-2024) taught Jewish history at Hebrew College for more than thirty-five years and is the author of 23 nonfiction histories and biographies. Two of his books, Heeding the Call and Forged in Freedom (both available from JPS), won National Jewish Book Awards.
