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 America not 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)

Autorentext

Marc Lee Raphael is the Nathan and Sophia Gumenick Professor of Judaic Studies, professor of religious studies, chairman of the Department of Religious Studies, and director of the Program in Judaic Studies at the College of William and Mary. He will publish his memoir, Diary of a Los Angeles Jew, 1947-1972: Autobiography as Autofiction, in 2008 and is beginning a history of the synagogue in America for New York University Press. He and his wife, Linda Schermer Raphael, live in Washington, D.C.

Inhalt

Introduction, by Marc Lee Raphael
Chronological Essays
1. America's Earliest Jewish Settlers, 1654-1820, by Eli Faber
2. Expanding Jewish Life in America, 1826-1901, by Dianne Ashton
3. The Great Wave: Eastern European Jewish Immigration to the United States, 1880-1924, by Eric L. Goldstein
4. American Judaism Between the Two World Wars, by Jeffrey S. Gurock
5. Triumph, Accommodation, and Resistance: American Jewish Life from the End of World War II to the Six-Day War, by Riv-Ellen Prell
6. Influence and Affluence, 1967-2000, by Stephen J. Whitfield
Topical Essays
7. The Ever Dying Denomination: American Jewish Orthodoxy, 1824-1965, by Kimmy Caplan
8. The History of Jewish Education in America, 1700-2000, by Melissa Klapper
9. A Regional Context for Pacific Jewry, 1880-1930, by William Toll
10. Fun and Games: The American Jewish Social Club, by Jenna Weissman Joselit
11. A Multithematic Approach to Southern Jewish History, by Mark K. Bauman
12. American Jewish Responses to Nazism and the Holocaust, by Rafael Medoff
13. Holocaust Consciousness and American Jewish Politics, by Michael E. Staub
14. What Is American Jewish Culture?, by Jeffrey Shandler
15. Rites of Citizenship: Jewish Celebrations of the Nation, by Beth S. Wenger
16. A Bright New Constellation: Feminism and American Judaism, by Pamela S. Nadell
17. Contemporary Jewish Thought, by Alan T. Levenson
18. There's No Space Like Home: The Representation of Jewish American Life, by Linda S. Raphael
Contributors
Index