Prof. Rebecca Kobrin in Conversation with Prof. Kim Phillips-Fein on "Credit to the Nation"

The Institute was pleased to host Prof. Rebecca Kobrin for a discussion of her recent book Credit to the Nation on Thursday, September 24. She was joined in conversation by Prof. Kim Phillips-Fein of Columbia University’s History Department.

This event was co-sponsored by the Harriman Institute.

What are immigrants to do when business opportunities abound in their new home, but banks refuse essential financial support? How could they make the journey in the first place without helping hands? In this lively history, Rebecca Kobrin chronicles the turn-of-the-twentieth-century Jewish immigrants who stepped up by doing the lending themselves. Arriving from the Russian Empire and settling primarily in New York, they made livelihoods by assisting fellow Jews so they could purchase passage to the United States and, after arriving, obtain credit that other lenders would not dare provide.

Credit to the Nation traces the novel practices of bankers who not only enabled the flourishing of American Jewry but also revolutionized the US financial industry. Drawing on previously unexamined archival materials in Russian, Yiddish, German, and English, Kobrin tells a story that is also crucial to the history of New York, as immigrant bankers’ financing of real estate transformed wide swathes of the city. Lenders drove a boom in the prices of tenement buildings, but heavy speculation eventually precipitated the downfall of immigrant banking. Kobrin notes in particular the case of the Bank of United States—a private lender catering primarily to Jewish businessmen—which the Federal Reserve refused to bail out from bankruptcy in 1930. Immigrants’ grasping for credit, and the rise and fall of immigrant banks, gave way to a contemporary banking industry that, ironically, refuses credit to today’s immigrants. Kobrin reminds us that now, as before, the denial of credit pushes entrepreneurial Americans into unregulated money-lending and the trap of endless debt.

Rebecca Kobrin

Rebecca Kobrin is the Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History, in Columbia University’s Department of History, where she teaches in the field of American Jewish History, specializing in modern Jewish migration. She also served as the Co-Director of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia.

Her research, teaching, and publications engage in the fields of international migration, urban history, Jewish history, American religion, and diaspora studies. She received her B.A. (1994) from Yale University. She earned a Ph.D. (2002) from the University of Pennsylvania. She served as the Blaustein Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale University (2002-2004) and the American Academy of Jewish Research Post-Doctoral Fellow at New York University (2004-6). Her book Jewish Bialystok and Its Diaspora (Indiana University Press, 2010), was awarded the Jordan Schnitzer prize (2012). She is the editor of Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism (Rutgers University Press, 2012), and is co-editor with Adam Teller of Purchasing Power: The Economics of Jewish History (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015). In 2015, she was awarded Columbia University’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award for her outstanding teaching and her inspirational mentoring of her students.

She is one of the principal investigators leading the award-winning digital humanities Mapping Historical New York project, an award-winning map that visualizes the demographic and spatial changes wrought in New York City between 1850 and 1940.

Kim Phillips-Fein

Kim Phillips-Fein is a historian of 20th-century American politics and political economy, whose interests include the history of political institutions and ideas, the history of labor and capitalism and the history of New York City. She got her B.A. from the University of Chicago (1997) and her Ph.D. from Columbia (2005). She is the author of Invisible Hands: The Businessmen's Crusade Against the New Deal (Norton, 2009) and Fear City: New York's Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics. Her articles have appeared in many scholarly and popular publications, including the Journal of American History, Labor: The Working-Class History of the Americas, The New York Times, The New Republic and The Nation. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, and she is currently serving on the Executive Board of the Labor and Working-Class History Association. She comes to Columbia from New York University, where she taught at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study and the History Department of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The discussion is available to view below.

This event was co-sponsored by:

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Rebecca Kobrin’s "Credit to the Nation" Highlighted by Columbia News

IIJS Prof. Rebecca Kobrin discusses her recent book, Credit to the Nation: Eastern European Jewish Immigrant Bankers and the Shaping of American Finance, with Columbia News.

In her new book, Prof. Rebecca Kobrin traces the novel practices of bankers who not only enabled the flourishing of American Jewry but also revolutionized the US financial industry. Drawing on previously unexamined archival materials in Russian, Yiddish, German, and English, Kobrin tells a story that is also crucial to the history of New York, as immigrant bankers’ financing of real estate transformed wide swathes of the city.

“These forgotten East European Jewish immigrant bankers were a twofold credit to the nation: Through their offers of credit, they made it possible for thousands to make it to America, and then make it in America by offering uncollateralized loans.”

Read the full Columbia News article here.

"Jewish Action" reviews "A Woman Is Responsible for Everything", by Elisheva Carlebach and Debra Kaplan

Jewish Action published a review of A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe, coauthored by IIJS faculty member Elisheva Carlebach and Debra Kaplan.

Published by Harvard University Press, A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe explores the lived experiences, religious practices, economic activity, and communal roles of Ashkenazi Jewish women across early modern Europe (ca. 1500–1800), drawing on a wide range of archival, printed, and material sources.

“Thanks to Professors Kaplan and Carlebach, anyone even marginally interested in Jewish history can access the ways Ashkenazi Jewish women of the early modern period lived, died, argued, married, wrote, did business and nearly everything in between.”— Jewish Action

Read the full Jewish Action review here.

Jewish Studies @ CU Libraries: "Old Books, New Bindings"

In a new post by Michelle Margolis (July 15, 2026) Jewish Studies @ CU Libraries highlights recent conservation work—supported by donor generosity and the Gottschalk Foundation—focused on restoring and stabilizing book bindings so materials can be used safely and prepared for a fall 2027 exhibition on the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa.

Items from Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Read the full blog post: “Old Books, New Bindings”

Professor Rebecca Kobrin’s “Credit to the Nation” Featured in The Wall Street Journal

Professor Rebecca Kobrin’s new book, Credit to the Nation: East European Jewish Bankers and American Finance, 1870–1920, was recently featured in The Wall Street Journal. The review highlights the book’s account of how Jewish immigrant bankers extended credit to new arrivals while helping shape economic and communal life in the United States during a period of mass migration.

Published by Harvard University Press, Credit to the Nation explores the networks of trust, migration, finance, and entrepreneurship that connected Eastern Europe and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

IIJS Professor Rebecca Kobrin Receives 2026 Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching

Prof. Kobrin delivers remarks at the IIJS 75th Anniversary Celebration

The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies is delighted to share that Professor Rebecca Kobrin, Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History, has been named a recipient of Columbia University’s 2026 Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching.

This prestigious honor recognizes exceptional dedication to teaching and mentorship across the University. Professor Kobrin was selected following strong endorsement from the faculty nominating committee, which praised her thoughtful, often innovative approach in the classroom and the profound and lasting impact she has had on her students. Testimonials from past and present students spoke to the depth of her mentorship and the meaningful influence of her teaching on their academic paths and personal development.

We warmly congratulate Professor Kobrin on this well-deserved recognition of her outstanding contributions to teaching and mentorship.

"A Woman Is Responsible for Everything" Receives Two National Jewish Book Awards

We are delighted to share that A Woman Is Responsible for Everything: Jewish Women in Early Modern Europe (Princeton University Press, 2025), co-authored by IIJS Co-Director and Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society Elisheva Carlebach and Prof. Debra Kaplan (Bar-Ilan University), received two National Jewish Book Awards! The book was awarded the Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award for Scholarship and the Barbara Dobkin Award for Women’s Studies.

In A Woman Is Responsible for Everything, Carlebach and Kaplan draw on meticulous research and extensive archival and material sources to reveal Jewish women’s lives across three centuries, revealing how women were central to the economic, religious, and communal life of their communities. Richly documented with archival images, the work illuminates the lives of women whom scholars have long overlooked, contributing a new chapter to the history of Jewish women and a broader understanding of the Jewish past.

To learn more about the award, please visit the Jewish Book Council’s announcement page. Additional information about the book is available through Princeton University Press.

New Research by Professor Rebecca Kobrin on October 7 and Its Impact on Israeli Students at Columbia

We are proud to share recent research by IIJS Co-Director Professor Rebecca Kobrin, examining the events and aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. This work offers critical insight into the surge of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents on U.S. college campuses, including the experiences of Israeli students at Columbia.

Her study examines how the October 7 Hamas attacks and ensuing campus activism affected Israeli students’ sense of belonging at Columbia University, arguing that the concept of “anti-Israelism” is essential to understanding these dynamics fully. 

Read her research in detail, linked below:

Anti-Israelism, Social Media and the College Campus in the Aftermath of October 7: The Case of Columbia

Rebecca Kobrin is the Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History at Columbia University, specializing in modern Jewish migration, immigration history, urban studies, and business history. She earned her B.A. from Yale and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Yale and NYU. Kobrin is the author of Jewish Bialystok and Its Diaspora, which won the Jordan Schnitzer Prize, and has edited several volumes, including Chosen Capital and Salo Baron. Her forthcoming book, A Credit to the Nation (Harvard University Press, 2024), explores the world of East European immigrant bankers in America. She has received Columbia’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award for her exceptional teaching and mentoring and is a principal investigator of the award-winning Historical NYC Project, a digital humanities initiative mapping New York City’s demographic shifts from 1850 to 1940.

IIJS Co-Director, Elisheva Carlebach, receives AJS Gender Justice Caucus Mentorship Award

Elisheva Carlebach, the Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society and IIJS Co-Director, has been honored with the Association for Jewish Studies “Gender Justice Caucus Mentorship Award.” This award recognizes outstanding service in the profession through the mentorship of women scholars in Jewish Studies.

A leading professor in early modern European Jewish history, Professor Carlebach is celebrated for her transformative impact as a mentor, particularly her dedication to supporting women in the field. She has been a tireless advocate for emerging female scholars, offering guidance on navigating institutional gender biases and fostering their academic and personal growth. Her commitment to mentoring extends far beyond academic achievements, as she inspires confidence, nurtures intellectual curiosity, and creates supportive networks that uplift the next generation of scholars. Professor Carlebach’s unparalleled dedication has shaped countless careers and left an indelible mark on Jewish studies.

IIJS Professor and Director Emeritus Jeremy Dauber on Satanism, Psychopaths, and the Real American Horror Story

Columbia Magazine’s Julia Joy interviews Professor Jeremy Dauber about his new book, American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond, which traces the nation’s enduring fascination with the macabre. Dauber reflects on why the horror genre deserves serious attention, the historical events that shaped it, and the reasons people are drawn to its dark and unsettling stories.

Read the full article via this link.

IIJS Lecturer Wins Top Faculty Honor

We are delighted to announce that Agnieszka Legutko, Senior Lecturer in Yiddish and Director of the Yiddish Language Program in the Department of Germanic Languages, has been awarded Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ 2024 Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award.

The Lenfest Award is “given annually to faculty of unusual merit across a range of professional activities, including scholarship, University citizenship, and professional involvement — with a primary emphasis on instruction and mentorship of undergraduate and graduate students.”

According to Dean of Arts and Sciences Amy Hungerford’s announcement, Dr. Legutko was recognized “for her exceptional record of teaching and mentoring students through dynamic and interactive classes and field engagements, her innovative course design that integrates digital tools into the study of Yiddish language and culture, and her contributions to the ongoing success and expansion of the Yiddish language program at Columbia.”

Dean Hungerford’s announcement, as well as the full list of 2024 Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award recipients, can be viewed on the Columbia Arts and Sciences website.

Director Emeritus Jeremy Dauber Featured in Columbia Magazine

On June 12, 2023, Columbia Magazine published an interview with Jeremy Dauber, the Director Emeritus of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies and the Atran Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture. Dr. Dauber discusses the inspiration behind, and content of, his latest book, a biography of Mel Brooks titled Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew (Yale University Press Jewish Lives, 2023).

The interview touches on Mel Brooks’ lasting relevance, the power of humor as a weapon against hate, and Brooks’ life in the context of the American Jewish story. An excerpt from the interview is quoted below; you can view this interview in full on Columbia Magazine’s website.

Your book is part of the Jewish Lives biography series, which spotlights a pantheon of greats — Einstein, Anne Frank, Wittgenstein. Why include the man who gave us Blazing Saddles?

The short answer is “because they asked.” But really because Brooks did so much to shape not just Jewish comedy and American comedy, but also how American Jews thought about themselves in the second part of the twentieth century. With all the documentaries and books we’ve seen, that story is still under told. 

IIJS Faculty Member Jeremy Dauber Releases New Biography of Mel Brooks

We are pleased to announce the release of a new book by Jeremy Dauber, the Atran Professor of Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture at Columbia University and Director Emeritus of the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies.

Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew (Yale University Press Jewish Lives, 2023) is a spirited dive into the life and career of a performer, writer, and director who dominated twentieth-century American comedy.

Mel Brooks, born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn in 1926, is one of the great comic voices of the twentieth century. Having won almost every entertainment award there is, Brooks has straddled the line between outsider and insider, obedient and rebellious, making out-of-bounds comedy the American mainstream.

In Mel Brooks: Disobedient Jew, Jeremy Dauber considers Brooks’s extensive body of work, illuminating the man behind Your Show of Shows, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Spaceballs. Dauber argues that Brooks has seen the most success when he has found a balance between his unflagging, subversive, manic energy and the constraints imposed by comedic partners, the Hollywood system, and American cultural mores.

Dauber also explores how Brooks’s American Jewish humor went from being solely for niche audiences to an essential part of the American mainstream, paving the way for generations of Jewish (and other) comedians to come. This is a book for anyone interested in movies, humor, American culture, or Jewishness.

The book is available for purchase through Yale University Press.

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Faculty in Columbia News

  • “A glimpse into New York City at the turn of the 20th century can now be viewed at an exceptional level of detail: 6.5 million unique census records from 1850, 1880, and 1910 are pinpointed to residential addresses on the recently launched website Mapping Historical New York: A Digital Atlas.” IIJS Professor Rebecca Kobrin was part of the project’s leadership team in this multi-year collaboration between Columbia’s Department of History and the Center for Spatial Research (GSAPP). Read more here.

  • Columbia News caught up with Jeremy Dauber to interview him about his latest book, American Comics: A History, as well as which comics he read as a child, what he’s teaching this year, and who he would like to sit next to at a dinner party. Read more here.

Faculty in the News: Remembering Paula Hyman and a Review

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  • Rebecca Kobrin and other noted scholars reflect on the legacy of “the Feminist Scholar Who Remade Jewish Studies”, Paula Hyman, who taught at Columbia from 1975-1982. Read here.

  • The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 6: Confronting Modernity, 1750–1880, edited by Elisheva Carlebach, is critiqued in the Jewish Review of Books.

Passover on the Page: A History of Haggadot from Medieval to Modern Times

In 2020, Michelle Margolis Chesner, the Norman E. Alexander Jewish Studies Librarian, presented a history of haggadot for Congregation Ramath Orah in Manhattan.