Download or read book Returning to Tradition written by M. Herbert Danzger and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1989-04-26 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An outstanding book, original, well written, and incisive. It will become the point of departure for all other research in the area.-William B. Helmreich, author of The World of the Yeshiva Danzger's volume treats a subject that is both fascinating and complex. Especially noteworthy is his exploration of an inclusionary strain in Orthodox Jewish life that is often overlooked by sociologists and other contemporary observers.-Norman Lamm, Yeshiva University The issues raised in this book are critical for our times.-Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Founding Rabbi, Lincoln Square Synagogue In a clear and lucid style, he examines the reasons for return, the schools established by Orthodox Judaism to deal with this return, and the values and conflicts thus engendered.-Library Journal If one were to select the most important of the books on baalei teshuvah, 'returnees to Judaism, ' the choice would clearly be Danzger's Returning to Tradition. This book goes far beyond the work of Janet Aviad and others. It offers the reader a clear, unified, and comprehensive approach to understanding the world of the baal teshuvah.It is based on many years of careful research into that community, both in Israel and in the United States. The author is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the group he has chosen to study. He knows where they hang out, what their problems are, and the diversity of backgrounds from which they originate...First rate.-William B. Helmreich, American Jewish Histor

Download or read book The World of Orthodox Judaism written by Eli W. Schlossberg and published by Jason Aronson, Incorporated. This book was released on 1997-04-01 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a friendly, engaging explanations of the traditions and lifestyles of Orthodox Jews. Informative for both Jews and non-Jews, Eli W. Schlossberg draws on personal experiences as an Orthodox Jew active in the international business world to answer the most commonly asked questions people have about religious Jewish life. The World of Orthodox Judaism is a concise resource for anyone interested in learning more about the customs and standards of Orthodox Jewish life.

Download or read book Tradition in a Rootless World written by Lynn Davidman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "[Davidman's] rich ethnographic observations and lucid prose illuminate two of the more important aspects of modern religion generally: the changing role of women and the resurgence of traditional faith."—Robert Wuthnow, author of Meaning and Moral Order

Download or read book Orthodox by Design written by Jeremy Stolow and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2010-04-28 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Orthodox by Design, a groundbreaking exploration of religion and media, examines ArtScroll, the world’s largest Orthodox Jewish publishing house, purveyor of handsomely designed editions of sacred texts and a major cultural force in contemporary Jewish public life. In the first in-depth study of the ArtScroll revolution, Jeremy Stolow traces the ubiquity of ArtScroll books in local retail markets, synagogues, libraries, and the lives of ordinary users. Synthesizing field research conducted in three local Jewish scenes where ArtScroll books have had an impact—Toronto, London, and New York—along with close readings of key ArtScroll texts, promotional materials, and the Jewish blogosphere, he shows how the use of these books reflects a broader cultural shift in the authority and public influence of Orthodox Judaism. Playing with the concept of design, Stolow’s study also outlines a fresh theoretical approach to print culture and illuminates how evolving technologies, material forms, and styles of mediated communication contribute to new patterns of religious identification, practice, and power. Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in the scholarship category, Jewish Book Council

Download or read book Hidden Heretics written by Ayala Fader and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book concerns a cohort of ultra-orthodox Jews based in the greater New York area who, while retaining membership and close familial and other ties with their strictly observant communities, seek out secular knowledge about the world on the down low (so to speak), both online and via in-person encounters. Ayala Fader conducted her ethnographic research in these rarified social circles for years, developing relationships of trust with the mostly young married men and women who have taken to clandestine methods to find alternative social spaces in which to question what it means to be ethical and what a life of self-fulfillment looks like. Fader's book reveals the stresses and strains that such "double-lifers" experience, including the difficulty these life choices inject into relationships with wives, husbands, and one's children. Not all of these "double-lifers" become atheists. Fader's interlocutors can be placed on a broad spectrum ranging from religiously observant but open-minded at one end to atheism on the other. The rabbinical leadership of these ultra-orthodox communities are well aware of this phenomenon and of how unfiltered internet access makes such alternative forms of seeking an ever-present temptation. (Some ultra-orthodox rabbis have been sounding the alarm for years, claiming that the internet represents more of a threat to community survival today than the Holocaust did in the last century.) Fader's book examines the institutional responses of ultra-orthodox communities to the double-lifers. These include what is typically referred to as a Torah-based type of "religious therapy" conducted by trained members of these communities who as therapists and "life coaches" blend elements of modern psychiatry with ultra-orthodoxy and "treat" troubling, potentially life-altering doubt and skepticism as symptoms of underlying emotional pathology"--

Download or read book Becoming Frum written by Sarah Bunin Benor and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When non-Orthodox Jews become frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar. Becoming Frum explains how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers. Some take on as much as they can as quickly as they can, going beyond the norms of those raised in the community. Others maintain aspects of their pre-Orthodox selves, yielding unique combinations, like Matisyahu’s reggae music or Hebrew words and sing-song intonation used with American slang, as in “mamish (really) keepin’ it real.” Sarah Bunin Benor brings insight into the phenomenon of adopting a new identity based on ethnographic and sociolinguistic research among men and women in an American Orthodox community. Her analysis is applicable to other situations of adult language socialization, such as students learning medical jargon or Canadians moving to Australia. Becoming Frum offers a scholarly and accessible look at the linguistic and cultural process of “becoming.”

Download or read book Orthodox Jews in America written by Jeffrey S. Gurock and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 802 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although there are many good books on the history of Jews in America and a smaller subset that focuses on aspects of Orthodox Judaism in contemporary times, no one, until now, has written an overview of how Orthodoxy in America has evolved over the centuries from the first arrivals in the 17th century to the present. This broad overview by Gurock (Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History, Yeshiva Univ.; Judaism's Encounter with American Sports) is distinctive in examining how Orthodox Jews have coped with the personal, familial, and communal challenges of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and social integration, as well as uncovering historical reactionary tensions to alternative Jewish movements in multicultural and pluralistic America. Gurock raises penetrating questions about the compatibility of modern culture with pious practices and sensitively explores the relationship of feminism to traditional Orthodox Judaism. There are several excellent reference sources on Orthodox Jews in America, e.g., Rabbi Moshe D. Sherman's outstanding Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook, to which this is an accessible and illuminating companion; recommended not only for serious readers on the topic but for general readers as well.David B. Levy, Touro Coll. Women's Seminary Lib., Brooklyn, NY Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Download or read book Modern Orthodox Judaism A Documentary History written by Zev Eleff and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2016-07-01 with total page 567 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern Orthodox Judaism offers an extensive selection of primary texts documenting the Orthodox encounter with American Judaism that led to the emergence of the Modern Orthodox movement. Many texts in this volume are drawn from episodes of conflict that helped form Modern Orthodox Judaism. These include the traditionalists’ response to the early expressions of Reform Judaism, as well as incidents that helped define the widening differences between Orthodox and Conservative Judaism in the early twentieth century. Other texts explore the internal struggles to maintain order and balance once Orthodox Judaism had separated itself from other religious movements. Zev Eleff combines published documents with seldom-seen archival sources in tracing Modern Orthodoxy as it developed into a structured movement, established its own institutions, and encountered critical events and issues—some that helped shape the movement and others that caused tension within it. A general introduction explains the rise of the movement and puts the texts in historical context. Brief introductions to each section guide readers through the documents of this new, dynamic Jewish expression.

Download or read book Becoming Un Orthodox written by Lynn Davidman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leaving a religion is not merely a matter of losing or rejecting faith. For many, it involves dramatic changes of everyday routines and personal habits. Davidman bases her analysis on in-depth conversations with forty ex-Hasidic individuals. From these conversations emerge accounts of the great fear, angst, and sense of danger that come of leaving a highly bounded enclave community. Many of those interviewed spoke of feeling marginal in their own communities; of strain in their homes due to death, divorce, or their parents' profound religious differences; experienced sexual, physical, or verbal abuse; or expressed an acute awareness of gender inequality, the dissimilar lives of their secular relatives, and forbidden television shows, movies, websites, and books. Becoming Un-Orthodox draws much-needed attention to the vital role of the body and bodily behavior in religious practices. It is through physical rituals and routines that the members of a religion, particularly a highly conservative one, constantly create, perform, and reinforce the culture of the religion. Because of the many observances and daily rituals required by their faith, Hasidic defectors are an exemplary case study for exploring the centrality of the body in shaping, maintaining, and shedding religions. This book provides both a moving narrative of the struggles of Hasidic defectors and a compelling call for greater collective understanding of the complex significance of the body in society.

Download or read book We re Missing the Point written by Gidon Rothstein and published by Ktav Publishing House. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "We re Missing the Point: What s Wrong with the Orthodox Jewish Community and How to Fix It argues that many communities of Orthodox Jews today have lost sight of basic, indispensable aspects of what it means to be a Jew. Building from sources that should be unequivocal and unarguable, Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein shows how a Judaism more focused on the core essentials would express itself differently from what we see today, in directing us more insistently toward a certain type of a God-centered focus, while also laying out many areas of autonomy and personal choice we similarly neglect. Working his way from sources to practical suggestions, Gidon Rothstein lays out a vision for how Jews can get back at least to making progress on the main road God wanted, instead of stumbling down side alleys"--front flap.

Download or read book The Non orthodox Jew s Guide to Orthodox Jews written by David Baum and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Non-Orthodox Jews Guide to Orthodox Jews offers an all-encompassing view of Orthodox Jews beliefs and actions and explains the issues that non-Orthodox Jews often find puzzling or exasperating. Readers will encounter surprisingly refreshing discussions of topics such as happiness, good and evil, personal integrity, suffering, heaven and hell, prophecy, prayer, charity, economics, feminism, love and sexuality, marriage, evolution, morality, political correctness, assimilation, intermarriage and Zionism. They will also discover that Orthodox Jews are modern, twenty-first-century men and women who embrace the benefits of modern society while affirming and perpetuating an all-important chain that stretches back more than three millennia.

Download or read book Off the Derech written by Ezra Cappell and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2020-08-01 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, many formerly ultra-Orthodox Jews have documented leaving their communities in published stories, films, and memoirs. This movement is often identified as "off the derech" (OTD), or off the path, with the idea that the "path" is paved by Jewish law, rituals, and practices found within their birth communities. This volume tells the powerful stories of people abandoning their religious communities and embarking on uncertain journeys toward new lives and identities within mainstream society. Off the Derech is divided into two parts: stories and analysis. The first includes original selections from contemporary American and global authors writing about their OTD experiences. The second features chapters by scholars representing such diverse fields as literature, history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, religion, and gender studies. The interdisciplinary lenses provide a range of methodologies by which readers can better understand this significant phenomenon within contemporary Jewish society.

Download or read book The Pharisees written by Joseph Sievers and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2021-12-02 with total page 634 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multidisciplinary appraisal of the Pharisees: who they were, what they taught, and how they’ve been understood and depicted throughout history For centuries, Pharisees have been well known but little understood—due at least in part to their outsized role in the Christian imagination arising from select negative stereotypes based in part on the Gospels. Yet historians see Pharisees as respected teachers and forward-thinking innovators who helped make the Jewish tradition more adaptable to changing circumstances and more egalitarian in practice. Seeking to bridge this gap, the contributors to this volume provide a multidisciplinary appraisal of who the Pharisees actually were, what they believed and taught, and how they have been depicted throughout history. The topics explored within this authoritative resource include: the origins of the Pharisees the meaning of the name “Pharisee” Pharisaic leniency, relative to the temple priesthood, in judicial matters Pharisaic concerns for the Jewish laity Pharisaic purity practices and why they became popular the varying depictions of Pharisaic practices and beliefs in the New Testament Jesus’s relationship to the Pharisees the apostle Paul and his situation within the Pharisaic tradition the question of continuity between the Pharisaic tradition and Rabbinic Judaism the reception history of the Pharisees, including among the rabbis, the church fathers, Rashi, Maimonides, Luther, and Calvin the failures of past scholarship to deal justly with the Pharisees the representations, both positive and negative, of the Pharisees in art, film, passion plays, and Christian educational resources how Christian leaders can and should address the Pharisees in sermons and in Bible studies Following the exploration of these and other topics by a team of internationally renowned scholars, this volume concludes with an address by Pope Francis on correcting the negative stereotypes of Pharisees that have led to antisemitic prejudices and finding resources that “will positively contribute to the relationship between Jews and Christians, in view of an ever more profound and fraternal dialogue.” Contributors: Luca Angelelli, Harold W. Attridge, Vasile Babota, Shaye J. D. Cohen, Philip A. Cunningham, Deborah Forger, Paula Fredriksen, Yair Furstenburg, Massimo Grilli, Susannah Heschel, Angela La Delfa, Amy-Jill Levine, Hermut Löhr, Steve Mason, Eric M. Meyers, Craig E. Morrison, Vered Noam, Henry Pattarumadathil, Adele Reinhartz, Jens Schröter, Joseph Sievers, Matthias Skeb, Abraham Skorka, Günter Stemberger, Christian Stückl, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Randall Zachman.

Download or read book Tradition in a Rootless World written by Lynn Davidman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1991-07-29 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past two decades in the United States have seen an immense liberalization and expansion of women's roles in society. Recently, however, some women have turned away from the myriad, complex choices presented by modern life and chosen instead a Jewish orthodox tradition that sets strict and rigid guidelines for women to follow. Lynn Davidman followed the conversion to Orthodoxy of a group of young, secular Jewish women to gain insight into their motives. Living first with a Hasidic community in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then joining an Orthodox synagogue on the upper west side of Manhattan, Davidman pieced together a picture of disparate lives and personal dilemmas. As a participant observer in their religious resocialization and in interviews and conversations with over one hundred women, Davidman also sought a new perspective on the religious institutions that reach out to these women and usher them into the community of Orthodox Judaism. Through vivid and detailed personal portraits, Tradition in a Rootless World explores women's place not only in religious institutions but in contemporary society as a whole. It is a perceptive contribution that unites the study of religion, sociology, and women's studies.

Download or read book Orthodox Judaism in America written by Marc Raphael and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1996-05-14 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The last in a series of three volumes edited by Marc Lee Raphael surveying some of the major rabbinic and lay personalities who have shaped Judaism in America for the past two centuries, this work focuses on Orthodox Judaism. Along with a basic description of the achievements of some of the most notable leaders, a bibliography of their writings and sources for further study is included as well as an essay on Orthodox rabbinic organizations and a survey of American Orthodox periodicals. Of interest to scholars, students, and lay persons alike, this volume will inform readers about the earliest communities of Jews who settled in America as they developed the institutions of Orthodox Jewish life and set a public standard of compliance with Jewish law. These early American Jews followed a Spanish-Dutch version of Sephardic customs and rites. Their synagogues used traditional prayer books, promoted the celebration of Jewish holidays, established mikvahs, acquired Passover provisions, and arranged for cemetery land and burial services. While many of these Sephardic immigrants did not maintain halakha in their daily regimen as did their European counterparts, they set a public standard of compliance with Jewish law, thus honoring Jewish tradition. Further immigration of thousands of Jews from Western and Central Europe in the middle of the 19th century brought a world of traditional piety and extensive Jewish learning to America, exemplified by Rabbi Abraham Rice, who served in Baltimore, and Yissachar Dov (Bernard) Illowy, who served communities from Philadelphia to New Orleans. Such men marked the beginning of a learned and scholarly rabbinate in America. This volume provides valuable biographical insights regarding some of the most notable religious leaders in American Orthodoxy.

Download or read book Defenders of the Faith written by Samuel C. Heilman and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this first in-depth portrait of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel today, Samuel Heilman introduces a community that to many may seem to be the very embodiment of the Jewish past. To outsiders who stumble upon these neighborhoods and find bearded men in caftans, children with earlocks, and women in long dresses, black kerchiefs and stockings, it may appear that these people still hold fast to every tradition while turning their backs to the contemporary world. But rather than being a relic from the past, ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim, are very much part of the contemporary landscape and are playing an increasingly prominent role in the Jewish world and in Israeli politics. Defenders of the Faith takes us inside the world of this contemporary fundamentalist community, its lifestyle and mores, including education, religious practices and beliefs, sexual ethics, and marriage. Heilman explores the reasons why this group is more militant and extreme than its pre-Holocaust brethren, and provides insight into the worldview of this small but influential sector of modern Jewry.

Download or read book Changing the Immutable written by Marc B. Shapiro and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A consideration of how segments of Orthodox society rewrite the past by eliminating that which does not fit in with their contemporary world-view. This wide-ranging and original review of how this policy is applied in practice adds a new perspective to Jewish intellectual history and to the understanding of the contemporary Jewish world"--