This Companion provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the most important and interesting historical and contemporary facets of Judaism in America. Written by twenty-four leading scholars from the fields of religious studies, history, literature, philosophy, art history, sociology, and musicology, the survey adopts an inclusive perspective on Jewish religious experience. Three initial chapters cover the development of Judaism in America from 1654, when Sephardic Jews first landed in New Amsterdam, until today.

Dana Evan Kaplan, Eli Faber, Lloyd P. Gartner, Lawrence Grossman, Chaim Waxman, Byron L. Sherwin, Charles Liebman, Isa Aron, Michael Zeldin, Sara Lee, Debra Renee Kaufman, Lynn Rapaport, Steven Rosenthal, Rela Mintz Geffen, Sylvia Barack Fishman, David Biale, Nathan Glazer, Jonathan Woocher, Alan Mittleman, Carmel U. Chiswick, Yaakov Ariel, Murray Baumgarten, Mark Kligman, Matthew Baigell, Bruce Phillips, Jonathan D. Sarna.