Ruderman, David B2023-05-222017-12-012016-01-012017-07-27https://repository.upenn.edu/handle/20.500.14332/36334"The Blessing of Assimilation in Jewish History" was surely not Gerson Cohen's most important piece of scholarly writing. Unlike many of his classic academic essays which are still assigned in university course in medieval Jewish history—his insightful overview of the gaonic age; his creative reconstruction of the story of the four captives; or his typological study of the varieties of Jewish messianism, to name only a few—it was meant to be no more than a public address, in this case offered to the graduating class of the Hebrew Teachers College in Brookline, Massachusetts in June 1966.1All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of scholarly citation, none of this work may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher. For information address the University of Pennsylvania Press, 3905 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112.HistoryHistory of ReligionJewish StudiesArticle