Jewish identity, persecution, and survival across centuries come into sharp focus through three groundbreaking historical works that challenge conventional narratives. Through comparative historical analysis and biographical methodology, these scholarly reviews examine watershed moments in Jewish intellectual and social history. Mel Scult's biography of Mordecai Kaplan illuminates how the Reconstructionist founder navigated modernity's challenges to Jewish life in America, weaving traditional Judaism with democratic and pluralistic values. While Kaplan's evolutionary framework may appear dated, his core questions about Jewish-American identity remain pressing. Hillel Levine's economic analysis reveals how Jews' intermediary positions between Polish landlords and peasants generated social tensions that laid groundwork for later genocidal policies. Kenneth Stow upends traditional "lachrymose" interpretations of medieval Jewish history, demonstrating that secular authorities, not ecclesiastical ones, primarily drove Jewish expulsions as emerging nation-states viewed Jews as threats to Christian polity. Together, these works reframe our understanding of Jewish adaptation across different periods and geographical contexts, offering fresh insights into recurring patterns of Jewish-gentile relations and the evolution of Jewish thought under external pressures.