You are not signed in. Sign in.

List Books: Buy books on ListBooks.org

Creating the Jewish Future »

Book cover image of Creating the Jewish Future by Michael Brown

Authors: Michael Brown (Editor), Bernard Lightman
ISBN-13: 9780761990321, ISBN-10: 0761990321
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: AltaMira Press
Date Published: October 1998
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Find Best Prices for This Book »

Author Biography: Michael Brown

Book Synopsis

Since World War II, Jews have experienced unprecedented acceptance and assimilation. But now as outside threats diminish, newer, more complex issues arise. Michael Brown and Bernard Lightman gathered writers from Canada and the United States, Israel and Europe to consider directions for the Jewish community to take into the twenty-first century. Writers from a variety of disciplines within and without the academy discuss faith, Israel, Diaspora culture, education, gender roles and demography, always keeping theory and practice, the past and the present in careful balance. Helpful section introductions make this an excellent introductory text, but its timeliness and depth make it unavoidable reading for anyone involved in creating the Jewish future.

Table of Contents

Preface9
Contributors10
Introduction15
IFaith and Religion in a "Secular" Age23
1Introduction25
2The Revival of Jewish Mysticism and Its Implications for the Future of Jewish Faith27
3Crossing the Void: A Postmodern Jewish Theology45
4Learning as a Road to Faith60
IIThe Centrality of Israel in the Jewish World75
5Introduction77
6Religious and Secular Jews in Israel: A Cultural War?80
7'Ahad 'Ha' Am, Herzl, and the End of Diaspora Zionism101
IIIThe Future of Jewish Cultures in the Diaspora113
8Introduction115
9Lessons from the Sephardic Past118
10The Crisis of Jewish Secularism131
IVEducating for the Future143
11Introduction145
12Insuring Effective Jewish Education148
13Between Texts and Contexts: How May Tomorrow's Jewish Education Be Different?162
VChanging Gender Expectations and Roles in Jewish Communal Life181
14Introduction and Cri de Coeur183
15Where Do We Go From Here? Feminism and Changing Gender Expectations and Roles in Jewish Communal Life185
16Anticipating the Future: A Jewish Feminist Scenario199
VIDemography and Economics: The Institutional Response211
17Introduction213
18The Demographics and Economics of the Jewish Market in North America216
19Between Quality and Quantity: Demographic Trends and Jewish Continuity234
From Theory to Practice: An Afterword251
Index265

Subjects