Perspectives In Jewish Population Research


Book Description

Addressing methodological and substantive research problems common to local Jewish population studies, the contributorsto this book present the most recent research findings on suchproblems as how to design studies that will make a contributionto social science knowledge as well as have a strong impacton the planning process; methods of sampling that will optimizethe trade-offs between costs and accuracy; how to develop acomparative framework so that results from individual communitiesmay be fruitfully understood in a larger context; and whichquestions should be asked in surveys and how. Detailed essaysdiscuss every step of the research process. The book includesa compendium of findings from several recent. population studiesas well as an annotated inventory of questionnaire items, allof which should prove useful to researchers and communitiesplanning to undertake Jewish population studies.




Studies in Contemporary Jewry


Book Description

This volume critically examines the State of Israel forty years after its establishment. Topics include the integration of Middle Eastern Jews in Israeli society, the Arab minority in Israel, the dilemma of Haredi Jewry, Israeli democracy in transition, and the changing legitimations of the State of Israel. Other essays in the volume include debates on the significance of mixed marriages in North America, and the distinctive character of American Zionism. This series is published yearly by the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is edited by Jonathan Frankel, Peter Y. Medding, and Ezra Mendelsohn, all distinguished professors of contemporary Jewish history at the University. The volumes include symposia, articles, book reviews, and lists of recent dissertations by major scholars of Jewish history from around the world.




An Introduction to Judaism


Book Description

An ancient religion practiced through most of recorded history and having profound influence on both Christianity and Islam, Judaism is also a modern religion that still transforms the lives of many people. Neusner surveys how Judaism took shape as people responded to political and religious crises and describes how Judaism is practiced in American today.




Jewish Life and American Culture


Book Description

Jews in the United States are uniquely American in their connections to Jewish religion and ethnicity. Sylvia Barack Fishman in her groundbreaking book, Jewish Life and American Culture, shows that contemporary Jews have created a hybrid new form of Judaism, merging American values and behaviors with those from historical Jewish traditions. Fishman introduces a new concept called coalescence, an adaptation technique through which Jews merge American and Jewish elements. The author generates data from diverse sources in the social sciences and humanities, including the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey and other statistical studies, interviews and focus groups, popular and material culture, literature and film, to demonstrate the pervasiveness of coalescence.




Studies in Contemporary Jewry: VIII: A New Jewry?


Book Description

The eighth volume of the acclaimed annual publication of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this volume focuses on the history and development of American Jewish life since World War II. Contributions include "A 'Golden Decade' for American Jews, 1945-1955" by Arthur A. Goren, "American Judaism: Changing Patterns in Denominational Self-Definition" by Arnold Eisen, "Value Added: Jews in Postwar American Culture" by Stephen J. Whitfield, "The Postwar Economy of American Jews" by Barry R. Chiswick, "Jewish Migration in Postwar America: The Case of Miami and Los Angeles" by Deborah Dash Moore, and "All in the Family: American Jewish Attachments to Israel" by Chaim Waxman. The volume also contains essays, book reviews, and a list of recent dissertations in the field.




A Breath of Life


Book Description

A vigorous portrayal of the effects of a distinct form of feminism on the spiritual and secular lives of Jewish women.




American Jewish Life, 1920-1990


Book Description

This volume contains articles on Jewish life from 1920 to the present. Its entries include studies of the economy and migration in postwar America, the impact of Holocaust survivors on American Society and the reaction to gender stereotypes within American Culture.




Jewish Options


Book Description




Ethnicity in Contemporary America


Book Description

Thoroughly revised and updated in this second edition, this clear and thoughtful text offers a geographical analysis of the history of U.S. immigration patterns and the development of selected ethnic minority groups. The book focuses especially on their origin, diffusion, socioeconomic characteristics, and settlement patterns within the United States. The book sets the context with opening chapters that discuss migration theory and the history of U.S. migration from 1607 to the present, including major U.S. immigration legislation, and provide a background for the time of entry, volume, and spatial distribution of various groups. Case-study chapters then analyze each of those groups, including Native Americans and those of African, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Cuban, Jewish, Japanese, Chinese, and Indochinese origin. The final section of the book explores rural and urban ethnic enclaves, focusing especially on immigrant groups of European heritage and their impacts on the cultural landscape of the United States.




The Future of Judaism in America


Book Description

This book explores the state of the American Jewish world in the early 21st century, after decades of accelerating change that has transformed it and all other religious groups in the United States. It reveals a community in an unparalleled state of flux grappling with a society in which religious identity is more and more considered an individual choice, rather than an inheritance, and where fewer adults feel impelled to identify with any religious tradition at all. In chapters written by leading experts, the book examines the community’s evolving demographics, the direction of the principal denominational movements, contemporary religious trends, interactions with other American religious communities and engagements in the country’s secular politics. This text uniquely covers all these aspects of Judaism in America making it appealing to students and researchers in such fields as the sociology of religion, Judaism, and American history.