Jonathan Sarna

Princeton University’s decision to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from its public policy school because of the former president’s “racist thinking and policies” points to the complexity of Black-Jewish relations in the United States, and to problems in our definition of greatness. The man whom African Americans revile as a villain turns out to have been a hero to the Jewish people.

Last week, in the wake of the economic downturn caused by Covid-19 as well as losses from cancelling its summer camp season, the Union for Reform Judaism announced it would be firing sixty employees, furloughing others, and reducing all staff salaries. Jewish professionals across the country, reeling from projected losses throughout Jewish organizational life, immediately took notice.