American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed »

Leading historians of modern Jewry offer the first comprehensive account of American synagogue history.

Wertheimer has brought together a group of social historians who have helped demonstrate the centrality of the synagogue to the American Jewish experience, and who have given us a rich beginning for the exploration of synagogue history.

Preface; Acknowledgments;
1. Overview: the synagogue in America - a historical typology Abraham J. Karp;
Part I. The Denominational Perspective:
2. The orthodox synagogue Jeffrey S. Gurock;
3. The reform synagogue Leon A. Jick;
4. The conservative synagogue Jack Wertheimer;
Part II. The American experience of a sephardic synagogue Marc D. Angel;
6. Education in the synagogue: the transformation of the supplementary school Barry Chazan;
7. From city to suburb: temple Mishkan Tefila of Boston Paula E. Hyman;
8. The special sphere of the Middle-Class American Jewish woman: the synagogue sisterhood, 1890-1940 Jenna Weissman Joselit;
9. Ethnic-religious ambiguities in an immigrant synagogue: the case of new hope congregation Benny Kraut;
10. Conflict over reforms: the case of congregation Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina Robert Liberles;
11. A synagogue center grows in Brooklyn Deborah Dash Moore;
12. choosing a synagogue: the social composition of two German congregations in nineteenth-century Baltimore Marsha L. Rozenblit;
13. The debate over mixed seating in the American synagogue Jonathan D. Sarna;
14. Music in the American synagogue: a case study from Houston Kay Kaufman Shelemay; Index.