Michael Hoberman

Michael Hoberman is a Professor of English at Fitchburg State University and the author of Imagining Early American Jews, forthcoming in early 2026 from Oxford University Press.

Columbia’s Jewish Commencement
In 1800, Sampson Simson delivered a history lesson in Hebrew about the deep-rootedness of New York City’s Jews to the trustees of Columbia College
byMichael Hoberman
Jews in the Wilderness
One man’s role in the shaping of the nation’s best-loved and most spectacular long-distance footpath reminds us of the close, if often disregarded, bonds that Jews have formed with the North American landscape
byMichael Hoberman
Hey, I’m Your Cousin
Tracking the descendants of America’s early Sephardic elite, from WASP blue bloods to the great-great-grandchildren of slaves
byMichael Hoberman
American Pastorals
At the height of our national ease, Philip Roth and Allegra Goodman each warned us that the end of history was just an illusion
byMichael Hoberman
The Counterlife of Judah P. Benjamin
Enigmatic, bigoted, prominent figure of the Confederacy—and by one measure the highest-ranking Jew in the history of American government. What are we to do with him now?
byMichael Hoberman
Jews out West
19th-century Jewish American writers described America’s vastness in lyrical—and liturgical—terms
byMichael Hoberman