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Orthodox Jews in America » (New Edition)

Book cover image of Orthodox Jews in America by Jeffrey S. Gurock

Authors: Jeffrey S. Gurock
ISBN-13: 9780253220608, ISBN-10: 0253220602
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Date Published: April 2009
Edition: New Edition

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Author Biography: Jeffrey S. Gurock

Jeffrey S. Gurock is Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History at Yeshiva University. He is former Associate Editor of American Jewish History and former chair, Academic Council, American Jewish Historical Society. His books include Judaism's Encounter with American Sports (IUP, 2005). He lives in Riverdale, New York.

Book Synopsis

Jeffrey S. Gurock recounts the history of Orthodox Jews in America, from the time of the early arrivals in the 17th century to the present, and examines how Orthodox Jewish men and women coped with the personal, familial, and communal challenges of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and social integration. His absorbing narrative portrays the varied lifestyles of Orthodox Jews and exposes the historical tensions that have pitted the pious against the majority of their co-religionists who have disregarded Orthodox teachings and practice. Exploring Orthodox reactions to alternative Jewish religious movements that have flourished in a pluralistic America, Gurock illuminates contemporary controversies about the compatibility of modern culture with a truly pious life, providing a nuanced view of the most intriguing present-day intra-Orthodox struggle — the relationship of feminism to traditional faith. The book exposes the hypocrisy of Jews who, while outwardly devout in their careful observance of religious ritual, have behaved as moral miscreants. Anyone seeking to understand the American Jewish experience will find Orthodox Jews in America to be essential reading.

David B. Levy - Library Journal

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.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Prologue: Within the Wide Tent of a Bronx Orthodox Congregation, Circa 1960 1

1 All Alone and Out of Control 21

2 American Challenges and Jewish Challengers 48

3 Religious Dilemmas of a Treif Land 84

4 Strategies of New York's Orthodox Activists 109

5 Crisis and Compromise 148

6 Brooklyn's Committed Communities 184

7 A More Faithful Following 199

8 Comfortable and Courted 226

9 Orthodox vs. Orthodox 256

10 Open and Closed to Feminism 273

Epilogue: The Tentative Orthodox of the Twenty-First Century 312

Notes 325

Index 369

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