Authors: Michael Brown (Editor), Bernard Lightman
ISBN-13: 9780761990321, ISBN-10: 0761990321
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: AltaMira Press
Date Published: October 1998
Edition: (Non-applicable)
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.
Preface | 9 | |
Contributors | 10 | |
Introduction | 15 | |
I | Faith and Religion in a "Secular" Age | 23 |
1 | Introduction | 25 |
2 | The Revival of Jewish Mysticism and Its Implications for the Future of Jewish Faith | 27 |
3 | Crossing the Void: A Postmodern Jewish Theology | 45 |
4 | Learning as a Road to Faith | 60 |
II | The Centrality of Israel in the Jewish World | 75 |
5 | Introduction | 77 |
6 | Religious and Secular Jews in Israel: A Cultural War? | 80 |
7 | 'Ahad 'Ha' Am, Herzl, and the End of Diaspora Zionism | 101 |
III | The Future of Jewish Cultures in the Diaspora | 113 |
8 | Introduction | 115 |
9 | Lessons from the Sephardic Past | 118 |
10 | The Crisis of Jewish Secularism | 131 |
IV | Educating for the Future | 143 |
11 | Introduction | 145 |
12 | Insuring Effective Jewish Education | 148 |
13 | Between Texts and Contexts: How May Tomorrow's Jewish Education Be Different? | 162 |
V | Changing Gender Expectations and Roles in Jewish Communal Life | 181 |
14 | Introduction and Cri de Coeur | 183 |
15 | Where Do We Go From Here? Feminism and Changing Gender Expectations and Roles in Jewish Communal Life | 185 |
16 | Anticipating the Future: A Jewish Feminist Scenario | 199 |
VI | Demography and Economics: The Institutional Response | 211 |
17 | Introduction | 213 |
18 | The Demographics and Economics of the Jewish Market in North America | 216 |
19 | Between Quality and Quantity: Demographic Trends and Jewish Continuity | 234 |
From Theory to Practice: An Afterword | 251 | |
Index | 265 |