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Orthodox Jews in America
Jeffrey S. Gurock
€ 35.07
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Description for Orthodox Jews in America
Paperback. Tells the history of Orthodox Jews in America, from the 17th century onwards, and examines how Orthodox Jewish men and women coped with the personal, familial, and communal challenges of religious freedom, economic opportunity, and social integration. This title is suitable for those seeking to understand the American Jewish experience. Series: Modern Jewish Experience. Num Pages: 400 pages, 17 b&w photos. BIC Classification: 1KBB; HBTB; JFSR1. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 5969 x 3963 x 25. Weight in Grams: 658.
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.
Product Details
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2009
Publisher
Indiana University Press United States
Number of pages
400
Condition
New
Series
Modern Jewish Experience
Number of Pages
400
Place of Publication
Bloomington, IN, United States
ISBN
9780253220608
SKU
V9780253220608
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 7 to 11 working days
Ref
99-50
About 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.
Reviews for Orthodox Jews in America
Gurock's work is a densely packed, deeply researched, and rich amalgam of history, speculation, and mediation between contending poisitions that is written . . . from within the tradition of Jewish worship he seeks to analyze.
Journal of American Ethnic History
The author has penned the first social history of Orthodox Jews in America from the first arrivals in the 17th century to the present. . . [He] illuminates controversies about the compatibility of modern culture with a truly pious life, thus providing a nuanced view of the most intriguing present-day intra-Orthodox struggle – the relationship of feminism to traditional faith.73 Summer/Fall 2010
Menorah Review
Jeffrey Gurock is positioned more propitiously than any other historian to take on an overall social history of American Jewish Orthodoxy.
Karla Goldman A great storyteller, Professor Gurock masterfully weaves together personal narrative, sermons, and social observations to create gripping narratives of Orthodox Jewry in America. . . . [Orthodox Jews in America] brings together several decades of Gurock's incisive research and thinking on American Orthodoxy while offering a still deeper and more nuanced analysis of its overall development.
Shuly Rubin Schwartz 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.May 15, 2009
David B. Levy
Touro College, Women's Seminary Library
Gurock systematically describes how the devout built the communal infrastructure and developed a cadre of skilled functionaries to meet the requirements of ritual observance...
Jewish Book World
Gurock's new book is full of interesting details and analysis about how Orthodox Judaism has evolved in America, and how Orthodox Jews have made managed the challenges of American life. This is a well-written social history, illustrated with intriguing photographs. December 4, 2009
The Jewish Week
Gurock is the unrivaled expert on Orthodox Jews and Judaism in the United States, something he proves ably with this book.February 2010
Lila Corwin Berman
Temple University
This volume, superbly written and referenced and the product of dense scholarly research, is well worth the read. Volume LXI, no. 2, 2009
American Jewish Archives Journal
[T]his is a very good historical and social introduction to the history of Orthodox Judaism and it will certainly find an important place in any collection that deals with American Jewry. The author has a pleasant writing style and provides rich documentation in the notes. Vol. 37, No. 1, March 2011
Religious Studies Review
Journal of American Ethnic History
The author has penned the first social history of Orthodox Jews in America from the first arrivals in the 17th century to the present. . . [He] illuminates controversies about the compatibility of modern culture with a truly pious life, thus providing a nuanced view of the most intriguing present-day intra-Orthodox struggle – the relationship of feminism to traditional faith.73 Summer/Fall 2010
Menorah Review
Jeffrey Gurock is positioned more propitiously than any other historian to take on an overall social history of American Jewish Orthodoxy.
Karla Goldman A great storyteller, Professor Gurock masterfully weaves together personal narrative, sermons, and social observations to create gripping narratives of Orthodox Jewry in America. . . . [Orthodox Jews in America] brings together several decades of Gurock's incisive research and thinking on American Orthodoxy while offering a still deeper and more nuanced analysis of its overall development.
Shuly Rubin Schwartz 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.May 15, 2009
David B. Levy
Touro College, Women's Seminary Library
Gurock systematically describes how the devout built the communal infrastructure and developed a cadre of skilled functionaries to meet the requirements of ritual observance...
Jewish Book World
Gurock's new book is full of interesting details and analysis about how Orthodox Judaism has evolved in America, and how Orthodox Jews have made managed the challenges of American life. This is a well-written social history, illustrated with intriguing photographs. December 4, 2009
The Jewish Week
Gurock is the unrivaled expert on Orthodox Jews and Judaism in the United States, something he proves ably with this book.February 2010
Lila Corwin Berman
Temple University
This volume, superbly written and referenced and the product of dense scholarly research, is well worth the read. Volume LXI, no. 2, 2009
American Jewish Archives Journal
[T]his is a very good historical and social introduction to the history of Orthodox Judaism and it will certainly find an important place in any collection that deals with American Jewry. The author has a pleasant writing style and provides rich documentation in the notes. Vol. 37, No. 1, March 2011
Religious Studies Review