Studies In Contemporary Jewry

The seventh volume of the acclaimed annual publication of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jews and Messianism in the Modern Era: Metaphor and Meaning examines the significance and meaning of messianic metaphors, themes, and ideals in modern Jewish history and culture. In addition to the standard symposia, book reviews, and lists of recent dissertations in Jewish studies, the volume includes contributions from such noted scholars of Jewish history as Jody Elizabeth Myerson on the messianic idea and Zionist ideologies; Aviezer Ravitsky on Zionism and the state of Israel as anti-messianic undertakings; Yaacov Shavit on realism and messianism in Zionism and the Yishuv; Hannan Hever on poetry and messianism in Palestine between the two world wars; Paul Mendes-Flohr on Jewish theological responses to political messianism in the Weimar Republic; and Richard Wolin on Jewish secular messianism.

This series is published yearly by the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It is edited by Jonathan Frankel, Peter Medding, and Ezra Mendelsohn, all distinguished professors of history at The Hebrew University. The volumes include symposia, articles, book reviews, and lists of recent dissertations by major scholars of Jewish history from around the world. Among the topics examined in this volume are the transformation of Russian Jewish communal life; Habsburg Jewry and its disappearance; the Bolsheviks and British Jews; and the Palestinian labor movement. This diverse collection is one of the first attempts to examine the over-all impact of the First World War and the Russian revolution on the Jewish people.

How has the Jewish family changed over the course of the twentieth century? How has it remained the same? How do Jewish families see themselves--historically, socially, politically, and economically--and how would they like to be seen by others? This book, the fourteenth volume of Oxford's internationally acclaimed Studies in Contemporary Jewry series, presents a variety of perspectives on Jewish families coping with life and death in the twentieth century. The book is comprised of symposium papers, essays, and review articles of works published on such fundamental subjects as the Holocaust, antisemitism, genocide, history, literature, the arts, religion, education, Zionism, Israel, and the Middle East. Published annually by the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Studies in Contemporary Jewry series features current scholarship in the form of symposia, articles, and book reviews by distinguished experts of Jewish studies from colleges and universities across the globe. Each volume also includes a list of recent dissertations. Volume XIV: Coping with Life and Death: Jewish Families in the Twentieth Century will appeal to all students and scholars of the sociocultural history of the Jewish people, especially those interested in the nature of Jewish intermarriage and/or family life, the changing fate of the Orthodox Jewish family, the varied but widespread Americanization of the Jewish family, and similar concerns.

Was the Holocaust a natural product of a long German history of Anti-Semitism? Or were the Nazi policies simply a wild mutation of history, not necessarily connected to the past? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between? This latest volume in the acclaimed Studies in Contemporary Jewry series, edited by internationally known scholars at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, presents essays on the origins of the Holocaust. The works in this volume are diverse in scope and opinion, ranging from general philosophical discourses to detailed analyses of specific events, and often reflecting the divergent ideologies and methods of the contributors. But each adds to the whole, and the result is a fascinating panorama that is sure to be indispensable to all students and scholars of the subject.

This is the newest volume of the annual Studies In Contemporary Jewry series. It contains original essays on Jews and crime in fact, fantasy, and fiction; verbal and physical violence in Israeli politics; Jews as revolutionaires; armed resistance by Jews in Nazi Germany; ethical dilemmas within the Israeli Defense Forces; violence in Israeli society and social stress; and other topics. As with other volumes, it also contains review essays and book reviews.

Literary Strategies: Jewish Texts and Contexts collects essays on Jewish literature which deal with "the manifold ways that literary texts reveal their authors' attitudes toward their own Jewish identity and toward diverse aspects of the 'Jewish question.'" Essays in this volume explore the tension between Israeli and Diaspora identities, and between those who write in Hebrew or Yiddish and those who write in other "non-Jewish" languages. The essays also explore the question of how Jewish writers remember history in their "search for a useable past." From essays on Jabotinsky's virtually unknown plays to Philip Roth's novels, this book provides a strong overview of contemporary themes in Jewish literary studies.

Volume XXIII of the distinguished annual Studies in Contemporary Jewry explores the role of sports in modern Jewish history. The centrality of sports in modern life--in popular and even in high culture, in economic life, in the media, in international and national politics, and in forging ethnic identities--can hardly be exaggerated, but in the field of Jewish studies this subject has been somewhat neglected, at least until recently. Students of American Jewish history, for example, often emphasize the role of sports in the Americanization of the immigrants, while students of Jewish nationalism pay closer attention to its appeal for the regeneration of the Jewish nation, as well as the creation of a new, healthy, Jewish body. The essays brought together in Jews and the Sporting Life expand the body of knowledge about the place sports occupied, and continue to occupy, in Jewish life. They examine the connection between sports and Jewish nationalism, particularly Zionism, and how organized Jewish sports have been an agent of nation-building. They consider the role of Jews as owners of sports teams, as amateur and professional athletes, and as fans and bettors. Other themes include sports and Jewish literature, and boxing as a sport that enabled Jewish men to prove their masculinity in a world that often stereotyped them as weak and "feminine." This volume concentrates on twentieth century developments in Israel, Europe, and the United States.

The eighth volume of the acclaimed annual publication of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this volume focuses on the history and development of American Jewish life since World War II. Contributions include "A 'Golden Decade' for American Jews, 1945-1955" by Arthur A. Goren, "American Judaism: Changing Patterns in Denominational Self-Definition" by Arnold Eisen, "Value Added: Jews in Postwar American Culture" by Stephen J. Whitfield, "The Postwar Economy of American Jews" by Barry R. Chiswick, "Jewish Migration in Postwar America: The Case of Miami and Los Angeles" by Deborah Dash Moore, and "All in the Family: American Jewish Attachments to Israel" by Chaim Waxman. The volume also contains essays, book reviews, and a list of recent dissertations in the field.

This brilliant collection of essays examines the dialogue between Jewish history and historiography in terms of changing national and popular myths, folk memory, and historical consciousness of Jews in modern times. From essays dealing with the origins of Jewish historiography in the nineteenth century, to its contemporary perspectives and methodologies, this book provides a great overview and varied insights into the field.