Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

The Ambivalent American Jew: Politics, Religion and Family in American Jewish Life

Charles S. Liebman

0/5 ( ratings)

From the Preface

“The American Jew is torn between two sets of values – those of integration and acceptance into American society and those of Jewish group survival. These values appear to me to be incompatible. But most American Jews do not view them in this way. The thesis of this book is that the behavior of the American Jew is best understood as his unconscious effort to restructure his environment and reorient his own self-definition and perception of reality so as to reduce the tension between these values.

“Some observers of American Jewish behavior see the development of American Judaism as the adaptation of Judaism to the American environment. This oversimplifies the process. Jews respond to the American environment and to their own tradition, a tradition, by the way, that was in the process of being reshaped when mass immigration to the United States took place toward the end of the last century. In the process of their response, American Jews in turn reshaped, with a remarkable degree of success, both their tradition and their environment.

“The book is divided into three parts. Part one depicts the evolution of American Judaism from its European roots. … Part two illustrates the theme by focusing on special segments of the community – rabbis, youth, and radical college students – and on Jewish political liberalism, the great effort of American Jews to reshape their political environment to minimize the survival-integration tension. … Part three is a concluding chapter, with some thoughts on the future of Judaism in America.”

Language: English

Pages: 215

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Jewish Publication Society of America

Release: January 01, 1973

ISBN: 0827600003

ISBN 13: 9780827600003

The Ambivalent American Jew: Politics, Religion and Family in American Jewish Life

Charles S. Liebman

0/5 ( ratings)

From the Preface

“The American Jew is torn between two sets of values – those of integration and acceptance into American society and those of Jewish group survival. These values appear to me to be incompatible. But most American Jews do not view them in this way. The thesis of this book is that the behavior of the American Jew is best understood as his unconscious effort to restructure his environment and reorient his own self-definition and perception of reality so as to reduce the tension between these values.

“Some observers of American Jewish behavior see the development of American Judaism as the adaptation of Judaism to the American environment. This oversimplifies the process. Jews respond to the American environment and to their own tradition, a tradition, by the way, that was in the process of being reshaped when mass immigration to the United States took place toward the end of the last century. In the process of their response, American Jews in turn reshaped, with a remarkable degree of success, both their tradition and their environment.

“The book is divided into three parts. Part one depicts the evolution of American Judaism from its European roots. … Part two illustrates the theme by focusing on special segments of the community – rabbis, youth, and radical college students – and on Jewish political liberalism, the great effort of American Jews to reshape their political environment to minimize the survival-integration tension. … Part three is a concluding chapter, with some thoughts on the future of Judaism in America.”

Language: English

Pages: 215

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Jewish Publication Society of America

Release: January 01, 1973

ISBN: 0827600003

ISBN 13: 9780827600003

More books from Charles S. Liebman

Religious and Secular: Conflict and Accommodation Between Jews in Israel

Observing America’s Jews

Two Worlds of Judaism: The Israeli and American Experiences

Civil Religion in Israel: Traditional Judaism and Political Culture in the Jewish State

الصراع بين المتدينين والعلمانيين في إسرائيل

Suburban Differences and Metropolitan Policies: A Philadelphia Story

Relign Democrcy & Israeli Soc

Deceptive Images: Towards a Redefinition of American Judaism

The Jewishness of Israelis: Responses to the Guttman Report

Rate this book!

Write a review?