Cosmopolitans, a community chronicle

This past weekend while trolling my local neighborhood bookstore, I came across Cosmopolitans, a new book that explores the Jewish history of the Bay Area. The culmination of thirty years of research by local author Fred Rosenbaum, Founding Director of Lehrhaus Judaica, Cosmopolitans chronicles the impact, the extraordinary achievements and contributions of the area’s Jewish population since the Gold Rush. I read the backcover and and some of the reviews and thought, “Hmmm, interesting, but I’ll get it later.”

At home I researched the book some more on the web and quickly determined it was a must-read. The coup de grace was discovering that this book is yet another example of our Federation’s good work: it was partially funded by a grant from the Federation’s Endowment Fund! So I returned to the bookstore. I can tell you that so far the book is truly engrossing. But professional reviewers are oh, so much more eloquent than I at telling why a book is so enthralling, so I’ll let them do it – but I agree with everything they say! Don’t miss it.

"An absorbing and colorfully detailed story of a minority's outsized impact on its society, particularly in the spheres of the arts, business and politics."—Publishers Weekly

"At last, the Jews of San Francisco Bay have a history worthy of their community's storied past. Cosmopolitans captures the vibrancy, the distinctiveness, the highlights and the lowlights of San Francisco Jewry."—Jonathan D. Sarna, author of American Judaism: A History

“Cosmopolitans, set in the uncommonly diverse Bay Area, is a truly unique chapter of the Jewish experience in America.”—University of California Press -Harriet Hardy