Contemporary American Judaism - Transformation and Renewal

Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-0-231-13728-7
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 446 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 238 mm, Gewicht: 816 g

No longer controlled by a handful of institutional leaders based in remote headquarters and rabbinical seminaries, American Judaism is being transformed by the spiritual decisions of tens of thousands of Jews living all over the United States. A pulpit rabbi and himself an American Jew, Dana Evan Kaplan follows this religious individualism from its postwar suburban roots to the hippie revolution of the 1960s and the multiple postmodern identities of today. From Hebrew tattooing to Jewish Buddhist meditation, Kaplan describes the remaking of historical tradition in ways that channel multiple ethnic and national identities.

While pessimists worry about the vanishing American Jew, Kaplan focuses on creative responses to contemporary spiritual trends that have made a Jewish religious renaissance possible. He believes that the reorientation of American Judaism has been a "bottom up" process, resisted by elites who have reluctantly responded to the demands of the "spiritual marketplace." The American Jewish denominational structure is therefore weakening at the same time that religious experimentation is rising, leading to the innovative approaches supplanting existing institutions. The result is an exciting transformation of what it means to be a religious American Jew in the twenty-first century.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kaplan, Dana

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums außerhalb Israels/Palästinas
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Moderne & Gegenwart
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien: Leben & Praxis, Soziale Aspekte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword, by Rabbi David EllensonPrefaceAcknowledgmentsChronology of EventsIntroduction1. A Historical Overview from 19452. The Reengagement with Spirituality3. The Rise and Fall of American Jewish Denominationalism4. Facing the Collapse of the Intermarriage Stigma5. Inclusivity as a Social Value6. Radical Responses to the Suburban Experience7. The Popularization of Jewish Mystical Outreach8. Herculean Efforts at Synagogue RenewalConclusion: The Future of Judaism in AmericaAfterword, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-ShalomiNotesGlossaryIndex

Über Autor(innen)

Dana Evan Kaplan is the rabbi of Temple B'nai Israel in Albany, Georgia, and adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at Gratz College. His books include The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, American Reform Judaism: An Introduction, Platforms and Prayer Books: Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaismand Contemporary Debates on Reform Judaism: Conflicting Visions. Many of his publications can be found at www.DanaKaplan.com.