The Columbia History of Jews and Judaism in America

by Raphael, Marc Lee

• ISBN13: 9780231132220
• ISBN10: 0231132220
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-15
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

This is the first anthology in more than half a century to offer fresh insight into the history of Jews and Judaism in America. Beginning with six chronological survey essays, the collection builds with twelve topical essays focusing on a variety of important themes in the American Jewish and Judaic experience.The volume opens with early Jewish settlers (1654-1820), the expansion of Jewish life in America (1820-1901), the great wave of eastern European Jewish immigrants (1880-1924), the character of American Judaism between the two world wars, American Jewish life from the end of World War II to the Six-Day War, and the growth of Jews' influence and affluence. The second half of the book includes essays on the community of Orthodox Jews, the history of Jewish education in America, the rise of Jewish social clubs at the turn of the century, the history of southern and western Jewry, Jewish responses to Nazism and the Holocaust; feminism's confrontation with Judaism, and the eternal question of what defines American Jewish culture.The contributions of distinguished scholars seamlessly integrate recent scholarship. Endnotes provide the reader with access to the authors' research and sources. Comprehensive, original, and elegantly crafted, The Columbia History of Jews and Judaism in Americanot only introduces the student to this thrilling history but also provides new perspectives for the scholar.Contributors: Dianne Ashton (Rowan University), Mark K. Bauman (Atlanta Metropolitan College), Kimmy Caplan (Bar-Ilan University, Israel), Eli Faber (City University of New York), Eric L. Goldstein (University of Michigan), Jeffrey S. Gurock (Yeshiva University), Jenna Weissman Joselit (Princeton University), Melissa Klapper (Rowan University), Alan T. Levenson (Siegal College of Judaic Studies), Rafael Medoff (David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies), Pamela S. Nadell (American University), Riv-Ellen Prell (University of Minnesota), Linda S. Raphael (George Washington University), Jeffrey Shandler (Rutgers University), Michael E. Staub (City University of New York), William Toll (University of Oregon), Beth S. Wenger (University of Pennsylvania), Stephen J. Whitfield (Brandeis University)

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Chronological Essays
America's Earliest Jewish Settlers, 1654-1820	p. 21
Expanding Jewish Life in America, 1826-1901	p. 47
The Great Wave: Eastern European Jewish Immigration to the United States, 1880-1924	p. 70
American Judaism Between the Two World Wars	p. 93
Triumph, Accommodation, and Resistance: American Jewish Life from the End of World War II to the Six-Day War	p. 114
Influence and Affluence, 1967-2000	p. 142
Topical Essays
The Ever Dying Denomination: American Jewish Orthodoxy, 1824-1965	p. 167
The History of Jewish Education in America, 1700-2000	p. 189
A Regional Context for Pacific Jewry, 1880-1930	p. 217
Fun and Games: The American Jewish Social Club	p. 246
A Multithematic Approach to Southern Jewish History	p. 263
American Jewish Responses to Nazism and the Holocaust	p. 291
Holocaust Consciousness and American Jewish Politics	p. 313
What Is American Jewish Culture?	p. 337
Rites of Citizenship: Jewish Celebrations of the Nation	p. 366
A Bright New Constellation: Feminism and American Judaism	p. 385
Contemporary Jewish Thought	p. 406
There's No Space Like Home: The Representation of Jewish American Life	p. 433
Contributors	p. 459
Index	p. 463
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