A unique people in a unique land : essays on American Jewish history /
Edward S. Shapiro.
- Brookline, MA : Academic Studies Press, (c)2022.
- 1 online resource (xvi, 399 pages)
- Studies in Orthodox Judaism .
Collection of mostly reprinted articles.
Includes bibliographies and index.
Part one. Identity. The mystery of American Jewish identity -- The Jewishness of the New York intellectuals : Sidney Hook, a test case -- Will Herberg's Protestant-Catholic-Jew : a critique -- The impact of war : America's Jews and World War II -- Part two. Religion. A shtetl in the sun : orthodoxy in southern Florida -- The crisis of conservative Judaism -- Modern orthodoxy in crisis : a test case -- The decline and rise of secular Judaism in America -- Part three. Antisemitism. John Higham and American antisemitism -- The World Labor Athletic Carnival of 1936 : an American anti-Nazi protest -- The approach of war : congressional isolationism and antisemitism, 1939-1941 -- Antisemitism Mississippi style -- The educational crusade of George W. Armstrong -- Interpretations of the Crown Heights riot -- The cognitive dissonance of American Jews -- Part four. Business. Jewish historians and American capitalism -- The absent American Jewish business mogul -- From participant to owner : the role of Jews in contemporary American sports -- Part five. Politics. Waiting for righty? : An interpretation of the political behavior of American Jews -- Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and American Jewish memory -- Jewish intellectuals and the American conservative movement.
"This book is a collection of two dozen essays published over the past four decades on American Jewish history and culture. They discuss the role that Jews have played in American culture, sports, politics, business, and religion, as well as the nature of American antisemitism. The essays argue that the Jewish experience in America has been unique and this uniqueness has encouraged Jews to define their Jewish identity in multiple ways. In no other country has Judaism and Jewishness taken on so many diverse forms. While America has not been the promised land for Jews, it has been a land of promise. Jews have prospered in America and become part of the social, cultural, political, and economic mainstream. But whether Judaism and Jewish identity have also prospered is another question"--