American Jewry and the Re-Invention of the East European Jewish Past

Markus Krah

Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2018

American Jewry and the Re-Invention of the East European Jewish Past

Markus Krah

Volume 9 in the series New Perspectives on Modern Jewish History

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110499438

Overview
Contents

About this book

Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards Finalist!

The postwar decades were not the “golden era” in which American Jews easily partook in the religious revival, liberal consensus, and suburban middle-class comfort. Rather it was a period marked by restlessness and insecurity born of the shock about the Holocaust and of the unprecedented opportunities in American society. American Jews responded to loss and opportunity by obsessively engaging with the East European past. The proliferation of religious texts on traditional spirituality, translations of Yiddish literature, historical essays , photographs and documents of shtetl culture, theatrical and musical events, culminating in the Broadway musical Fiddler on the Roof, illustrate the grip of this past on post-1945 American Jews. This study shows how American Jews reimagined their East European past to make it usable for their American present. By rewriting their East European history, they created a repertoire of images, stories, and ideas that have shaped American Jewry to this day.

Author / Editor information

Markus Krah, School of Jewish Theology, University of Potsdam.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Illustrations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	VIII
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	XI
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. The Search for New Modes of Jewishness in Postwar America Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	21
2. Launching a Discourse: YIVO’s Bridge From the Old World to the New Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
3. New (York) Jewish Intellectuals: The Past as Culture Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
4. Religious Culture as an Antidote to Liberal Judaism and Secular Jewishness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
5. Spiritual Needs, the Past, and the Denominational Landscape Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
6. From East European Radicalism to Postwar American Progressivism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
7. Presenting a Rich Jewish Culture: The Eternal Light and Life Is with People Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
8. Making Jewishness Meaningful: In School and in Hasidism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
9. Tevye in Kasrilevke, the Fiddler in America: East European Jewishness in Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	212
10. Conclusion: Re-Inventing Jewishness Out of Memory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	261
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Audience: Scholars interested in American-Jewish and East European Jewish History.
Pages
- Front matter: 14
- Main content: 290
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 30
Keywords: Amerikanisches Judentum; Osteuropäisches Judentum

eBook

Published: November 20, 2017
ISBN: 9783110499438

Hardcover

Published: November 20, 2017
ISBN: 9783110499926

Paperback

Published: July 8, 2019
ISBN: 9783110655841