Orthodox Jews in America by Dr. Jeffrey S. Gurock, the Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University, has been selected as a finalist of the 2009 National Jewish Book Award in the category of American Jewish Studies. The book was selected by a panel of three judges who are all authorities in their field. The National Jewish Book Awards, now in its 59th year, is the longest-running program of its kind in North America. The presentation of the National Jewish Book Awards will be held at a gala ceremony, open to the public, on Tuesday, March 9th at 7:30 p.m. at the Center for Jewish History.

Gurock's book was published by Indiana University Press. He is the author or editor of 13 books including Judaism’s Encounter with American Sports; A Modern Heretic and a Traditional Community: Mordechai M. Kaplan, Orthodoxy and American Judaism, which he co-authored with Jacob J. Schacter; American Jewish Orthodoxy in Historical Perspective, a compendium of 15 of his most important essays on the history of Orthodoxy in the United States; and American Jewish History, a 13-volume series that reproduces over 200 of the most important articles written in the field of American Jewish history, which he selected and edited.