TY  - BOOK
AU  - Eisen,Arnold M.
TI  - The chosen people in America: a study in Jewish religious ideology 
T2  - The Modern Jewish experience
SN  - 9780253313652
AV  - BM613 .C467 1983
PY  - 1983///
CY  - Bloomington, Indiana
PB  - Indiana University Press
KW  - Jews
KW  - Election, Doctrine of
KW  - History of doctrines
KW  - 20th century
KW  - Judaism
KW  - United States
KW  - History
N1  - 2; Part one : Introduction --; Part two : The "Second Generation" (1930-1955) --; Part three : The "Third Generation" (1955-1980) --; Part four : Conclusion; 2; b
N2  - What does it mean to be a Jew in America? What opportunities and what threats does the great melting pot represent for a group that has traditionally defined itself as "a people that must dwell alone?" Although for centuries the notion of "The Chosen People" sustained Jewish identity, America, by offering Jewish immigrants an unprecedented degree of participation in the larger society, threatened to erode their Jewish identity and sense of separateness.  Arnold M. Eisen charts the attempts of American Jewish thinkers to adapt the notion of chosenness to an American context. Through an examination of sermons, essays, debates, prayer-book revisions, and theological literature, Eisen traces the ways in which American rabbis and theologians-Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox thinkers-effected a compromise between exclusivity and participation that allowed Jews to adapt to American life while simultaneously enhancing Jewish tradition and identity
ER  -