Terms of Survival »

In Terms of Survival Robert Wistrich brings together research from a range of outstanding contributors focussed on the Jewish experience in the post-War world. The result is a panoramic overview of Jewish life since 1945, covering demographics, social and religious trends in Israel and the Diaspora, Jewish political behavior and cultural creativity. Essays provide unique insight into such issues as the impact of the communities in Western Europe and the USA, the challenge facing Jews in the former USSR, the persistence of anti-semitism, and responses to new currents of ethnic identity.

As we approach the end of the 20th century, the need for such stock-taking of the Jewish world as it has emerged from the catastrophe of the Holocaust and rejuvenated itself against considerable odds, is more pressing than ever. On the one hand, post-war Jewry, both in Israel and in the Diaspora, has become more self-assertive and politicized in the defense of its interests, and more militant in manifesting its Jewishness; on the other hand, the process of assimilation, the persistence of antisemitism and the hostility to Israel, as well as the terrible losses during the Holocaust which can never be compensated, feed continuing anxieties and uncertainties.

This collection is of value to all those interested in contemporary Jewish affairs, ethnicity in the modern world, religion and Israeli history. The extensive bibliographical material will nourish future research, while general readers will find the essays a window into the diverse, complex and fascinating saga of Jewish existence since the Holocaust.