The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism

An historical and contemporary overview of the state of Jews and Judaism in the US.

Dana Evan Kaplan (Edited by)

9780521529518, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 8 August 2005

492 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.647 kg

'That said, American Judaism is an outstanding resource that is broad, introductory and accessible … It would serve as a superb reader for advanced undergraduate courses and will be a useful resource for both students and scholars.' Studies in Religion

This volume provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the most important and interesting historical and contemporary facets of Judaism in America. Written by twenty-four leading scholars from the fields of religious studies, American history and literature, philosophy, art history, sociology, and musicology, the book adopts an inclusive perspective on Jewish religious experience. Three initial chapters cover the development of Judaism in America from 1654, when Sephardic Jews first landed in New Amsterdam, until today. Subsequent chapters include cutting-edge scholarship and original ideas while remaining accessible at an introductory level. A secondary goal of this volume is to help its readers better understand the more abstract term of 'religion' in a Jewish context. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism will be of interest not only to scholars but also to all readers interested in social and intellectual trends in the modern world.

Introduction Dana Evan Kaplan
1. From preservation to innovation: Judaism in America, 1654–1880 Eli Faber
2. The reshaping of American Judaism, 1880–1945 Lloyd P. Gartner
3. Trends in American Judaism from 1945 to the present Dana Evan Kaplan
4. Denominationalism in American Judaism Lawrence Grossman
5. Patterns of American Jewish religious behavior Chaim Waxman
6. Thinking Judaism through: Jewish theology in America Byron L. Sherwin
7. The essence of American Judaism Charles Liebman
8. Contemporary Jewish education Isa Aron, Michael Zeldin and Sara Lee
9. The place of Judaism in American Jewish identity Debra Renee Kaufman
10. The Holocaust in Jewish American life Lynn Rapaport
11. Long distance nationalism: Zionism, Israel and American Jews Steve Rosenthal
12. Life cycle rituals: rites of passage in American Judaism Rela Mintz Geffen
13. Choosing lives: evolving gender roles in American Jewish families Sylvia Barack Fishman
14. The body and sexuality in American Jewish culture David Biale
15. The American Jewish urban experience Nathan Glazer
16. 'Sacred survival' revisited: American Jewish civil religion in the new millennium Jonathan Woocher
17. Judaism and democracy in America Alan Mittleman
18. The economics of American Judaism Carmel U. Chiswick
19. American Judaism and interfaith dialogue Yaakov Ariel
20. American midrash: urban Jewish writing and the reclaiming of Judaism Murray Baumgarten
21. Recent trends in new American Jewish music Mark Kligman
22. The visual arts in the American Jewish experience Matthew Baigell
23. Present and future tense: American Judaism in the 21st century Bruce Phillips
Afterword Jonathan D. Sarna.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], Religion: general [HRA]