The American Synagogue
A Sanctuary Transformed

Jack Wertheimer (Edited by)

9780521332903, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 February 1988

452 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.9 cm, 0.756 kg

"...The American Synagogue, A Sanctuary Transformed is an excellent collection of essays about American Jewry and its preeminent institution, the synagogue. What we find in this volume is not simply a "sanctuary" or even a single institution transformed, but rather, a variety of synagogues dynamically interacting with particular Jewish communities in America. The strength of this book is, in fact, the rich diversity it brings to the study of the synagogue--both historically and sociologically." Laura Levitt, Critical Review

Adapting to the shifting characteristics of the American Jewish population and the larger society of the United States, the synagogue has consistently served as American Jewry's vital forum for the exploration of the evolving ideological and social concerns of American Jews. From the Americanization of an immigrant congregation in Seattle to the growth of a synagogue center in Brooklyn, and from the agitation for religious reform in early nineteenth-century Charlestown to the introduction of American folk music in a Houston temple, the cases studied in this volume attest to the prominent role of the synagogue in shaping, as well as adapting to, social, cultural, and ideological trends. The book begins with an overview of the historical transformation and denominational differentiation of American synagogues. The essays in the second section offer in-depth analyses of the critical challenges to and changes in synagogue life through innovative studies of representative congregations. The problems of geographic relocation, the conflict between ethnic preservation and acculturation, the development of education in the synagogue, and the changing role of women in the congregation are all examined.

Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Overview: the synagogue in America - a historical typology Abraham J. Karp
Part I. The Denominational Perspective: 2. The orthodox synagogue Jeffrey S. Gurock
3. The reform synagogue Leon A. Jick
4. The conservative synagogue Jack Wertheimer
Part II. The American experience of a sephardic synagogue Marc D. Angel
6. Education in the synagogue: the transformation of the supplementary school Barry Chazan
7. From city to suburb: temple Mishkan Tefila of Boston Paula E. Hyman
8. The special sphere of the Middle-Class American Jewish woman: the synagogue sisterhood, 1890–1940 Jenna Weissman Joselit
9. Ethnic-religious ambiguities in an immigrant synagogue: the case of new hope congregation Benny Kraut
10. Conflict over reforms: the case of congregation Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina Robert Liberles
11. A synagogue center grows in Brooklyn Deborah Dash Moore
12. choosing a synagogue: the social composition of two German congregations in nineteenth-century Baltimore Marsha L. Rozenblit
13. The debate over mixed seating in the American synagogue Jonathan D. Sarna
14. Music in the American synagogue: a case study from Houston Kay Kaufman Shelemay
Index.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ]