Translating a Tradition: Studies in American Jewish History

by Ira Robinson

Overview

Divided into three sections, this work explains how the concepts and practices of traditional European Judaism were adapted to North American culture beginning in the late nineteenth century. Part I focuses on the ideas and activities of Cyrus Adler (1863-1940), one of the most prominent leaders of the traditionalist United States Jewish community in his era. The issues in these essays include the origins of American Jewish history as a field of study, the Kehilla experiments of the early twentieth century, and the relationship between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Orthodox Judaism. Part II deals with the beginnings of Hasidic Judaism in North America prior to the Second World War. It also includes several studies investigating the shaping of the worldview of Orthodox Judaism in contemporary North America. Part III examines the issue of contemporary American Jewish attitudes toward evolution and intelligent design.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934843062
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	07/01/2008
Series:	Judaism and Jewish Life
Pages:	332
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Ira Robinson is Professor of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religion of Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec. He is president of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies. His latest book is Rabbis and Their Community: Studies in the Eastern European Orthodox Rabbinate in Montreal, 1896-1930 (2007).

Table of Contents

Preface. I. Cyrus Adler: Toward the Biography of an American Jew. The Invention of American Jewish History. Cyrus Adler and The American: a Moment in the Intellectual History of American Jewry. Cyrus Adler the Philadelphian. Two North American Kehillot and Their Structure: Philadelphia and Montreal. Cyrus Adler, Bernard Revel and the Prehistory of Organized Jewish Scholarship in the United States. Cyrus Adler and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America: Image and Reality. Cyrus Adler: President of the Jewish Theological Seminary, 1915-1940. The Correspondence of Cyrus Adler and Racie Friedenwald Adler: New Perspectives on the Development of American Jewry in the Early Twentieth Century (with Dr. Maxine Jacobson). A Supplemental Bibliography of Cyrus Adler. II. Orthodox Judaism in North America. The First Hasidic Rabbis in North America. Anshe Sfard: the Creation of the First Hasidic Congregations in North America. Hasid and Maskil: The Hasidic Tales of an American Yiddish Journalist. Because of Our Many Sins: The Contemporary Jewish World as Reflected in the Responsa of Rabbi Moses Feinstein. That Marvelous Midos Machine: Audio Tapes as an Orthodox Educational Medium. “Practically I Am a Fundamentalist” : Twentieth Century Orthodox Jews Contend With Evolution and Its Implications. III. Contemporary American Judaism. American Jewish Views of Evolution and Intelligent Design. Index.

Editorial Reviews

"In distinguishing the fledgling American Jewish Historical Society from The Jewish Publication Society in 1892, Cyrus Adler insisted that the former must “publish at times dry as dust material”(7). Fortunately, Ira Robinson did not heed his subject’s advice. Translating a Tradition: Studies in American Jewish History is an engaging and important contribution to the field."

The American Jewish Archives Journal LXI, no. 2 (2009) - David Weinfeld

"An engaging and important contribution to the field." David Weinfeld, in the American Jewish Archives Journal (LXI, No. 2, 2009)

From the Publisher