Rischin was born and raised in
Brooklyn,
New York City.
Harvard University awarded him a
Ph.D. in 1957. Ruschin became a professor at San Francisco State University in 1964. In addition to his professorship, he sat on the board for the
Journal of American Ethnic History and on the council of the
American Jewish History Society. During the
Monica Lewinsky scandal, Rischin was a signatory of "Historians in Defense of the Constitution" wherein 400 historians criticized efforts to
impeach President Bill Clinton. He was the longtime director of the
Western Jewish History Center, at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, from its founding in 1967; from 2005 until approximately 2010, an annual lecture was given there in his name. A collection of historical essays was published in Rischin's honor in 1996. A character in the 1967 novel
Meyer Meyer by Helen Hudson may have been partly modeled after him. ==Books==