Jeffrey S. Gurock recounts the history of Orthodox Jews in America, from the time of the early arrivals in the seventeenth 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. Anyone seeking to understand the American Jewish experience will find Orthodox Jews in America to be essential reading.
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Orthodox Jews in America
Jeffrey S. Gurock recounts the history of Orthodox Jews in America, from the time of the early arrivals in the seventeenth 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. Anyone seeking to understand the American Jewish experience will find Orthodox Jews in America to be essential reading.
Jeffrey S. Gurock recounts the history of Orthodox Jews in America, from the time of the early arrivals in the seventeenth 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. Anyone seeking to understand the American Jewish experience will find Orthodox Jews in America to be essential reading.
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.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: Within the Wide Tent of a Bronx Orthodox Congregation, Circa 1960 1
1 All Alone and Out of Control 21
2 American Challenges and Jewish Challengers 48
3 Religious Dilemmas of a Treif Land 84
4 Strategies of New York's Orthodox Activists 109
5 Crisis and Compromise 148
6 Brooklyn's Committed Communities 184
7 A More Faithful Following 199
8 Comfortable and Courted 226
9 Orthodox vs. Orthodox 256
10 Open and Closed to Feminism 273
Epilogue: The Tentative Orthodox of the Twenty-First Century 312
