Jewcentricity : Why the Jews Are Praised, Blamed, and Used to Explain Just about Everything

by Adam Garfinkle

• ISBN13: 9780470597835
• ISBN10: 0470597836
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2009-10-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Advance Praise for Jewcentricity"Adam Garfinkle punctures the myth of the omnipotence of the Jews with such intelligence and reflective sweep that we still can go on discussing the 'exaggerations' forever." --Leslie H. Gelb, former columnist for the New York Times and president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations"Jews, as the saying goes, are news. Why is that? In this elegant, witty, learned, insightful, always interesting, and occasionally alarming book, Adam Garfinkle explains the world's fascination with the practitioners of its oldest mono-theistic religion." --Michael Mandelbaum, author of Democracy's Good Name: The Rise and Risks of the World's Oldest Form of Government"One would have thought that everything that could be written or said about the relationship between Jews and their environment has been written and said. It was a pleasure, though hardly a surprise, that Adam Garfinkle, thinker, scholar, editor, and iconoclast at large, has been able to offer us fresh insights into this complex issue and apply his original mind to the subject matter." --Itamar Rabinovich, former Israeli ambassador to the United States and former president of Tel-Aviv University"There is a lot to argue about and ponder in this riveting manuscript. It is bound to cause a stir." --Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite"One way of looking at this brilliant book is to see it as an extended commentary on an old joke that defines a philo-Semite as an anti-Semite who likes Jews. Garfinkle shows, with many examples, what both characters have in common--a wildly exaggerated notion of the importance of Jews in the world. Garfinkle's argument is scholarly, lucid, witty, and very persuasive. It deserves a wide readership." --Peter L. Berger, director, Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Jewcentricity Defined

Jewcentricity in History

Chosen

On Philo-Semitism

Anti-Semitism, Properly Understood

Jewcentricity Globalized

Jewcentricity in America

Jewcentricity Central

The Two Religions of American Jews

Adjewlation: Jews in American Celebrity Culture

Meet the JACs

Professional Jews

Self-Hating Jews

Jewcentricity in the Middle East

The Anti-Israel Lobby

The (Non)-Centrality of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Muslim Jewcentricity

Post-Zionism

Epilogue: Now What?

Notes

Index

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