Historian Jonathan Sarna leaves hospital, thanks supporters

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — Jonathan Sarna, a leading scholar of American Jewish history, has returned home from the hospital two months after collapsing at his daughter’s college graduation.

Sarna announced his homecoming in a post on his Facebook page.

“A long recovery still awaits, but I do not want to settle into rehabilitation and work before first thanking everyone on this list for your interest, your concern, your prayers, your cards, your encouragement, and your love,” he wrote, saying that the support “made all the difference over these past weeks and ultimately made it possible for me to defy all odds and turn the corner toward restored health.”

Sarna, 59, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University and a JTA board member, fell ill at the May 17 ceremony at Yale University.