Dan Judson

In 1854 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published a poem about his visit to a deserted synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island entitled: “The Jewish Cemetery at Newport.” Longfellow, perhaps the most famous poet in America at the time, writes with great empathy for Jews who suffered from unwarranted anti-semitism, but he believes that Judaism as a religion was finished. He ends the poem declaring that Judaism was a dead nation that shall never rise again. The history of American Judaism would suggest that Longfellow got it a touch wrong.

In this lecture we will explore the past of American Judaism to examine the present. Some of the crucial issues facing Judaism today: rising secularism, polarization regarding Israel, the end of Jewish denominations, high levels of intermarriage, will be examined through a historic lens. This lecture will tell the story of American Judaism almost entirely through the prism of Rhode Island Judaism, which despite its size, has seen and continues to see all of the significant trends in Jewish life.

Watch the video

Dr. Rabbi Dan Judson is the Dean of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Newton, MA.  The Rabbinical School is a leading institution of Jewish learning and innovation which attracts students from diverse Jewish backgrounds to study for the rabbinate. Prior to becoming the Dean, Dr. Judson was the Associate Dean and Lecturer in Jewish history. He was for 10 years the Rabbi at Temple Beth David of the South Shore, a synagogue in Canton, MA. 

Rabbi Judson received his doctorate in Jewish history from Brandeis University’s Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department. His research focuses on the intersection of money and religion in American history. He utilizes finances – how synagogues funded themselves, paid rabbis, and ran capital campaigns – as a lens to see broader issues in the development of American Judaism. Often utilizing a comparative approach, his research sheds light on the ways in which the Jewish community were influenced by predominant Christian values and mores.  His dissertation received the Nachum and Anne Glatzer Prize for outstanding dissertation.

Dr. Judson’s book, Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues (Brandeis University Press, 2018) is the only book to bring an economic lens to the study of American Jewish religious history. It was named a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish studies. The Jewish Book Council which sponsors the award, reviewed the book saying it was “remarkably well researched and entertaining… [reading it] one understands just how deeply our finances mirror our beliefs.”  Dr. Judson’s articles on the development of American Judaism have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals.

Dr. Judson also researches contemporary synagogue finances. His work specifically on synagogues which have eliminated synagogue dues has had a significant impact on synagogues nationwide. His research and ideas on this topic has been featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The New York Jewish Week and many other regional Jewish newspapers.

Rabbi Judson was the Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow at Harvard University in 2007. He also served as a national faculty member of the Union of Reform Judaism where he consulted with hundreds of synagogues on their finances.  

Rabbi Judson is also a storyteller who has appeared on the national Moth radio hour on NPR [https://themoth.org/storytellers/daniel-judson]. He has competed in the Boston story tellers championship and is the yearly story-teller-in-residence at the Museum of Fine Arts Chanukkah event in partnership with the Boston Jewish Arts Collaborative.