The Hasidic Community of Williamsburg: A Study in the Sociology of Religion

by Poll,Solomon

• ISBN13: 9781412805735
• ISBN10: 1412805732
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-01-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

How is it the Hasidim, who separate themselves not only from non-Jews and unreligious” Jews but also from religious” Orthodox Jews whose religious ideology, intensity and frequency of traditional religious behavior do not meet Hasidic standards, creating a sociological wall between themselves and others whom they do not consider traditionally ‘religious,” are able to survive, indeed thrive, well into the twenty-first century while maintaining their social isolation and avoiding assimilation into the American culture, especially living amongst the cultural and ethnic diversity and temptations of New York City? The Hasidic Community of Williamsburg explores and explains this sociological phenomenon

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition	ix
Preface	xvii
PART ONE The Problem and Its Setting
1 An Ultrareligious Group	3	(9)
2 The Structure of the Jewish Community in Hungary	12	(9)
3 The Structure of the Jewish Community in the United States	21	(8)
4 The Transplantation of Hasidic Culture	29	(8)
5 The Threat of Assimilation	37	(15)
6 The Hasidic Family	52	(7)
7 The Social Stratification of the Hasidic Community	59	(11)
8 Organizations and Social Control	70	(15)
The Operation of Social Forces	78	(7)
PART TWO Economic Activities of the Hasidic Community
9 The General Patterns of Hasidic Economic Behavior	85	(30)
Inducements to Work	90	(3)
Occupational Preferences	93	(3)
Community Shops and Stores	96	(1)
The Merchandise	97	(3)
The Customer	100	(7)
Advertising	107	(6)
The Storekeeper	113	(2)
10 The Hasidic Occupational Hierarchy: Religious and Professional Services	115	(38)
Rebbishe Gescheften	118	(9)
Religious Professional Service	127	(20)
Secular Professional Service	147	(6)
11 The Hasidic Occupational Hierarchy: Nonprofessional Occupations	153	(95)
The Manufacture and Sale of Religious Articles	153	(22)
The Manufacture or Sale of Hasidic Foodstuffs	175	(37)
The Manufacture or Sale of Nonreligious Articles	212	(18)
Other Nonprofessional Occupations	230	(18)
12 A Sociological Analysis of the Hasidic Community	248	(19)
APPENDIX Some Problems in Studying the Hasidic Community	267	(12)
Glossary	279	(10)
Bibliography of Works Consulted	289	(4)
Index	293