Download or read book American Shtetl written by Nomi M. Stolzenberg and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-02-08 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling account of how a group of Hasidic Jews established its own local government on American soil Settled in the mid-1970s by a small contingent of Hasidic families, Kiryas Joel is an American town with few parallels in Jewish history—but many precedents among religious communities in the United States. This book tells the story of how this group of pious, Yiddish-speaking Jews has grown to become a thriving insular enclave and a powerful local government in upstate New York. While rejecting the norms of mainstream American society, Kiryas Joel has been stunningly successful in creating a world apart by using the very instruments of secular political and legal power that it disavows. Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers paint a richly textured portrait of daily life in Kiryas Joel, exploring the community's guiding religious, social, and economic norms. They delve into the roots of Satmar Hasidism and its charismatic founder, Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, following his journey from nineteenth-century Hungary to post–World War II Brooklyn, where he dreamed of founding an ideal Jewish town modeled on the shtetls of eastern Europe. Stolzenberg and Myers chart the rise of Kiryas Joel as an official municipality with its own elected local government. They show how constant legal and political battles defined and even bolstered the community, whose very success has coincided with the rise of political conservatism and multiculturalism in American society over the past forty years. Timely and accessible, American Shtetl unravels the strands of cultural and legal conflict that gave rise to one of the most vibrant religious communities in America, and reveals a way of life shaped by both self-segregation and unwitting assimilation.

Download or read book Letters to Josep written by Levy Daniella and published by . This book was released on 2016-03-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of letters from a religious Jew in Israel to a Christian friend in Barcelona on life as an Orthodox Jew. Equal parts lighthearted and insightful, it's a thorough and entertaining introduction to the basic concepts of Judaism.

Download or read book A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice written by Isaac Klein and published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. This book was released on 1979 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the Sabbath, calling women to the Torah, and counting them in the minyan.

Download or read book A Fortress in Brooklyn written by Nathaniel Deutsch and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of Hasidic Williamsburg, from the decline of New York to the gentrification of Brooklyn "A rich chronicle of the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg. . . . This expert account enlightens."—Publishers Weekly “One of the most creative and iconoclastic works to have been written about Jews in the United States.”—Eliyahu Stern, Yale University The Hasidic community in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is famously one of the most separatist, intensely religious, and politically savvy groups of people in the entire United States. Less known is how the community survived in one of the toughest parts of New York City during an era of steep decline, only to later resist and also participate in the unprecedented gentrification of the neighborhood. Nathaniel Deutsch and Michael Casper unravel the fascinating history of how a group of determined Holocaust survivors encountered, shaped, and sometimes fiercely opposed the urban processes that transformed their gritty neighborhood, from white flight and the construction of public housing to rising crime, divestment of city services, and, ultimately, extreme gentrification. By showing how Williamsburg’s Hasidim rejected assimilation while still undergoing distinctive forms of Americanization and racialization, Deutsch and Casper present both a provocative counter-history of American Jewry and a novel look at how race, real estate, and religion intersected in the creation of a quintessential, and yet deeply misunderstood, New York neighborhood.

Download or read book Spatial Behavior in Haredi Jewish Communities in Great Britain written by Shlomit Flint Ashery and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2019-09-25 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the strict orthodox Jewish (Haredi) community, which comprises many sects whose communal identity plays a central role in everyday life and spatial organization. The research reveals and analyses powerful mechanisms of residential segregation acting at the apartment-, building- and near-neighbourhood levels. Identifying the main engines of spontaneous and organised neighbourhood change and evaluating the difficulties of liberalism dealing with non-autonomous individuals in the housing market sheds light on similar processes occurring in other city centres with diverse population groups. Highlighting the impact of various organisational levels on the spatial structure of the urban enclave, the book focuses on the internal dynamics of ethno-religious enclaves that emerge from three levels of action: (1) individuals' relationships with their own and other groups; (2) the community leadership's powers within the group and in respect of other groups; and (3) government directives and tools (e.g planning). The study examines how different levels of communal organisation are reflected in the residential patterns of four British communities: the Litvish communities of Golders Green and Gateshead, and the Hassidic communities of Stamford Hill and Canvey Island.

Download or read book Jewish Difference and the Arts in Vienna written by Caroline A. Kita and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-14 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the mid-19th century, the works of Arthur Schopenhauer and Richard Wagner sparked an impulse toward German cultural renewal and social change that drew on religious myth, metaphysics, and spiritualism. The only problem was that their works were deeply antisemitic and entangled with claims that Jews were incapable of creating compassionate art. By looking at the works of Jewish composers and writers who contributed to a lively and robust biblical theatre in fin de siècle Vienna, Caroline A. Kita shows how they reimagined myths of the Old Testament to offer new aesthetic and ethical views of compassion. These Jewish artists, including Gustav Mahler, Siegfried Lipiner, Richard Beer-Hofmann, Stefan Zweig, and Arnold Schoenberg, reimagined biblical stories through the lens of the modern Jewish subject to plead for justice and compassion toward the Jewish community. By tracing responses to antisemitic discourses of compassion, Kita reflects on the explicitly and increasingly troubled political and social dynamics at the end of the Habsburg Empire.

Download or read book American Jewish Year Book 2020 written by Arnold Dashefsky and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-01 with total page 808 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American Jewish Year Book, which spans three different centuries, is the annual record of the North American Jewish communities and provides insight into their major trends. Part I of the current volume contains the lead article: Chapter 1, “Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshoot-spa: Non-Jews’ Use of Jewish Language in the US” by Sarah Bunin Benor. Following this chapter are three on domestic and international events, which analyze the year’s events as they affect American Jewish communal and political affairs. Three chapters analyze the demography and geography of the US, Canada, and world Jewish populations. Part II provides lists of Jewish institutions, including federations, community centers, social service agencies, national organizations, synagogues, Hillels, camps, museums, and Israeli consulates. The final chapters present national and local Jewish periodicals and broadcast media; academic resources, including Jewish Studies programs, books, journals, articles, websites, and research libraries; and lists of major events in the past year, Jewish honorees, and obituaries. While written mostly by academics, this volume conveys an accessible style, making it of interest to public officials, professional and lay leaders in the Jewish community, as well as the general public and academic researchers. The American Jewish Year Book has been a key resource for social scientists exploring comparative and historical data on Jewish population patterns. No less important, the Year Book serves organization leaders and policy makers as the source for valuable data on Jewish communities and as a basis for planning. Serious evidence-based articles regularly appear in the Year Book that focus on analyses and reviews of critical issues facing American Jews and their communities which are indispensable for scholars and community leaders. Calvin Goldscheider, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Ungerleider Professor Emeritus of Judaic Studies, Brown University They have done it again. The American Jewish Year Book has produced yet another edition to add to its distinguished tradition of providing facts, figures and analyses of contemporary life in North America. Its well-researched and easily accessible essays offer the most up to date scrutiny of topics and challenges of importance to American Jewish life; to the American scene of which it is a part and to world Jewry. Whether one is an academic or professional member of the Jewish community (or just an interested reader of all things Jewish), there is not another more impressive and informative reading than the American Jewish Year Book. Debra Renee Kaufman, Professor Emerita and Matthews Distinguished University Professor, Northeastern University

Download or read book Holy Days written by Lis Harris and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-07-03 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A beloved contemporary classic, Holy Days is a personal account of New York's Hasidic community, its beliefs, its mysteries, and its encounter with secularism in the present age. Combining a historical understanding of the Hasidic movement with a journalist's discerning eye, Harris captures in rich detail the day-to-day life of this traditional and often misunderstood community. Harris chronicles the personal transformation she experienced as she grew closer to the largely hidden men and women of the Hasidic world.

Download or read book American Jewish Year Book 2019 written by Arnold Dashefsky and published by Springer. This book was released on 2020-08-11 with total page 830 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Part I of each volume will feature 5-7 major review chapters, including 2-3 long chapters reviewing topics of major concern to the American Jewish community written by top experts on each topic, review chapters on "National Affairs" and "Jewish Communal Affairs" and articles on the Jewish population of the United States and the World Jewish Population. Future major review chapters will include such topics as Jewish Education in America, American Jewish Philanthropy, Israel/Diaspora Relations, American Jewish Demography, American Jewish History, LGBT Issues in American Jewry, American Jews and National Elections, Orthodox Judaism in the US, Conservative Judaism in the US, Reform Judaism in the US, Jewish Involvement in the Labor Movement, Perspectives in American Jewish Sociology, Recent Trends in American Judaism, Impact of Feminism on American Jewish Life, American Jewish Museums, Anti-Semitism in America, and Inter-Religious Dialogue in America. Part II-V of each volume will continue the tradition of listing Jewish Federations, national Jewish organizations, Jewish periodicals, and obituaries. But to this list are added lists of Jewish Community Centers, Jewish Camps, Jewish Museums, Holocaust Museums, and Jewish honorees (both those honored through awards by Jewish organizations and by receiving honors, such as Presidential Medals of Freedom and Academy Awards, from the secular world). We expand the Year Book tradition of bringing academic research to the Jewish communal world by adding lists of academic journals, articles in academic journals on Jewish topics, Jewish websites, and books on American and Canadian Jews. Finally, we add a list of major events in the North American Jewish Community.

Download or read book Jews and Mormons written by Frank J. Johnson and published by KTAV Publishing House, Inc.. This book was released on 2000 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of 1997's How Wide the Divide? A Mormon & an Evangelical in Conversation, old Dartmouth roommates Johnson, an LDS high priest, and Leffler, a retired Reform rabbi, enter into a dialogue about Mormonism and Judaism. But this t?te-?-t?te never quite matches the level of the historic 1997 book, because the writing is mediocre and because the authors lack the fundamental attitude of interfaith respect that characterized the earlier work. After discussing their traditions' history, theologies and basic practices, the authors focus on areas of common misunderstanding, including Mormons' claim to be descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel (a lineage many Jews dispute or find offensive). Some intriguing issues arise hereAe.g., the controversy over Mormons' former practice of performing proxy baptisms for Holocaust victimsAbut these points of interfaith controversy are underdeveloped. The book may have been aided by a less stilted, impersonal tone; we know from the author biography that Johnson converted to Mormonism thirty years ago, but we never learn why. The authors refer to each other as "Mr. Johnson" and "Rabbi Leffler," rather formal titles for men who have been friends for half a centuryAperpetuating the sense that this is not an interfaith conversation but a standard debate, with a projected winner and loser.

Download or read book The Chosen Few written by Maristella Botticini and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.

Download or read book Celebrating the Family written by Elizabeth H. Pleck and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2000-07-04 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pleck examines changes in the way Americans celebrate holidays like Christmas or birthdays.

Download or read book A Brief Introduction to Judaism written by Tim Dowley and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2019-06-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This brief introduction to Judaism is designed to help readers understand this important religious tradition. With both nuance and balance, this text provides broad coverage of various forms of Judaism with an arresting layout with rich colors. It offers both historical overviews and modern perspectives on Jewish beliefs and practices. The user-friendly content is enhanced by charts of religious festivals, historic timelines, updated maps, and a useful glossary. It is ideal for courses on Judaism and will be a useful, concise reference for all readers eager to know more about this important religious tradition and its place in our contemporary world.

Download or read book Imagining the American Jewish Community written by Jack Wertheimer and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2007 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lively collection of sixteen essays on the many ways American Jews have imagined and constructed communities

Download or read book Gates of Mitzvah written by Simeon J. Maslin and published by CCAR Press. This book was released on 1979 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive guide to Jewish observance throughout the life cycle is the best introduction to Reform Jewish practice available.

Download or read book Legends of the Hasidim written by Jerome R. Mintz and published by Jason Aronson Incorporated. This book was released on 1995 with total page 462 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study of the New York Hasidim was originally published in 1968 by the University of Chicago. The author, a professor of anthropology and Jewish Studies, explores the relaitonship of the community to its legends and examines the legends for their cultural content.

Download or read book Jewish Communities in Exotic Places written by Ken Blady and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jewish Communities in Exotic Places examines seventeen Jewish groups that are referred to in Hebrew as edot ha-mizrach, Eastern or Oriental Jewish communities. These groups, situated in remote places on the Asian and African Jewish geographical periphery, became isolated from the major centers of Jewish civilization over the centuries and embraced some interesting practices and aspects of the dominant cultures in which they were situated.