Lance J. Sussman. Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism. American Jewish Civilization Series. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. 311 pp (original) (raw)
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Jewish History, 1995
The second half of the nineteenth century witnessed tremendous changes in the American philanthropic attitude toward the Jews of Palestine. It was during this period that the traditionalist pattern, characteristic of Diaspora Jews throughout the premodern era and focusing on the retention of Jewish identity, was transformed and given its unique American character, reflecting the hope for full Jewish acceptance into American society. At the same time, the philanthropic attitude toward Jewish Palestine became a controversial issue within the American Jewish community. These simultaneous developments-the change of focus and the growing controversy-were closely related. The new focus on the quest for full integration exposed the philanthropic pattern to a new type of criticism. Whereas before it was accepted as a legitimate affirmation of one's Jewish identity, and by implication of what differentiated a Jew from his non-Jewish environment, now it was considered legitimate only if it reinforced those values and images which were considered "American." This development is reflected in the philanthropic attitudes of two Jewish leaders: Isaac Leeser, the editor of The Occident and the spokesman of traditionalism in the United States until his death in 1868, and Isaac Mayer Wise, the "builder" of American Reform Judaism 1 and the editor of its organ, The Israelite. 2 Their attitudes demonstrate respectively two contrasting viewpoints: a traditionalist
THAT OTHER “PECULIAR INSTITUTION”: JEWS AND JUDAISM IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY SOUTH
Modern Judaism, 1987
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Southern Jewish History, v. 22 (2019), full issue
Southern Jewish History, 2019
COVER PICTURE: Rabbi Edward L. Israel of Baltimore’s Har Sinai Congregation, 1930s. Rabbi Israel’s career as a social activist is examined by Charles L. Chavis, Jr., in the article on pp. 43–87. (Courtesy of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, Baltimore. 2012.108.140.) TABLE OF CONTENTS In Memoriam: Leonard Dinnerstein (1934–2019) “Free From Proscription and Prejudice”: Politics and Race in the Election of One Jewish Mayor in Late Reconstruction Louisiana, by Jacob Morrow-Spitzer Rabbi Edward L. Israel: The Making of a Progressive Interracialist, 1923–1941, by Charles L. Chavis, Jr. A Call to Service: Rabbis Jacob M. Rothschild, Alexander D. Goode, Sidney M. Lefkowitz, and Roland B. Gittelsohn and World War II, by Edward S. Shapiro Hyman Judah Schachtel, Congregation Beth Israel, and the American Council for Judaism, by Kyle Stanton PRIMARY SOURCES: A Foot Soldier in the Civil Rights Movement: Lynn Goldsmith with SCLC–SCOPE, Summer 1965, by Miyuki Kita BOOK REVIEWS Eric L. Goldstein and Deborah R. Weiner, On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore, reviewed by Deborah Dash Moore Charles McNair, Play It Again, Sam: The Notable Life of Sam Massell, Atlanta’s First Minority Mayor, reviewed by Ronald H. Bayor James L. Moses, Just and Righteous Causes: Rabbi Ira Sanders and the Fight for Racial and Social Justice in Arkansas, 1926–1963, reviewed by Marc Dollinger Leon Waldoff, A Story of Jewish Experience in Mississippi, reviewed by Joshua Parshall EXHIBIT REVIEWS The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, reviewed by Elijah Gaddis Gone 2 Texas: Two Waves of Immigration, Soviet and South African, reviewed by Nils Roemer WEBSITE REVIEW: Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence Jewish Kentucky Oral History Project, reviewed by Joshua Parshall
Nathan Glazer's American Judaism: Evaluating Post--World War II American Jewish Religion
In 1957, the sociologist Nathan Glazer’s book American Judaism w as published in the University of Chicago's History of American Civilization series, setting it alongside studies of American Protestantism and American Catholicism . T he inclusion o f the book reflected a shift in American perceptions of Ju d a ism , and Glazer reacted with surprise to this offer of a seat at the table of American postwar religions. As he wrote in the introduction, he found it incredible that “the Jewish group, which through most of the history of the United States has form ed an insignificant percentage of the American people, has com e to be granted the status of a ‘most favored religion.’” He identified a central paradox of the cultural moment in which he was writing —that Judaism had rather suddenly gained popularity as a religion, even though according to him it fit awkwardly within that category. Unlike other religions, Glazer wrote, “Judaism is tied up organically with a specific people, indeed a nation." So strong was this association, he noted, that “the word Jew ’ in common usage refers ambiguously both to an adherent of the religion of Judaism and to a member of the Jewish people.” Glazer’s study probed the implications of the midcentury shift from the idea of J e w s as a “race ” (with its strong associations with “people” and “nation") to a "religion.”