Alternatives to Assimilation: Response of Reform Judaism to American Culture, 1840-1930 (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture & Life) - Softcover
Historians have long debated whether the mid-nineteenth century American synagogue was transplanted from Central Europe or represented an indigenous phenomenon. Alternatives to Assimilation examines the Reform movement in American Judaism from 1840 to 1930 in an attempt to settle this issue. Alan Silverstein describes the emergence of organizational innovations such as youth groups, sisterhoods, brotherhoods, a professionalized rabbinate, a rabbinical college, and a national congregational body as evidence of Jews responding uniquely to American culture, in a fashion parallel to innovations in American Protestant churches. Silverstein places the developments he traces within the context of American religious and cultural history. He notes the shifting roles of American women, children, and ethnic groups as well as America's changing receptivity to trans-Atlantic cultural influences. He also utilizes census records, as well as congregational and national archives, in synthesizing a view of the Reform movement from its local temples and nationwide organizations. By offering a viable response to American culture's rampant secularization and to its pressure on Jews to relinquish their distinctive traditions and commitments, the Reform movement also inspired emerging Conservative and Orthodox Jewish movements to offer their own constituents tangible institutional alternatives to assimilation.
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Review:
"Silverstein provides an important corrective to the commonplace attitude that Reform was primarily a vehicle for assimilation and loss of Jewish identification. He shows rather that Reform developed along lines parallel to Protestant churches because both religions were subject to parallel trends towards acculturation. By providing alternatives to complete assimilation, this process helped to save Judaism in America. Essential." --Choice
About the Author:
Alan Silverstein is Rabbi of Congregation Agudath Israel in Caldwell, New Jersey, and President of the Rabbinical Assembly.
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- PublisherBrandeis University Press
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 0874517265
- ISBN 13 9780874517262
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages330
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Alternatives to Assimilation: The Response of Reform Judaism to American Culture, 1840 - 1930 (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life)
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Brandeis University Press
(1994)
ISBN 10: 0874517265
ISBN 13: 9780874517262
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Softcover
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Book Description Softcover. Condition: New. First Edition. Product DescriptionExplores the influence of American culture and history on the development of Reform Jewish institutions. Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture, and Life.Review"Silverstein provides an important corrective to the commonplace attitude that Reform was primarily a vehicle for assimilation and loss of Jewish identification. He shows rather that Reform developed along lines parallel to Protestant churches because both religions were subject to parallel trends towards acculturation. By providing alternatives to complete assimilation, this process helped to save Judaism in America. Essential." --ChoiceFrom the Publisher6 x 9 trim. 15 tables. LC 94-29489. Seller Inventory # DADAX0874517265
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