THEO 061 Judaism in America

Transcription

1 Prof. Jonathan Ray Office: New North 128 THEO 061 Judaism in America Before Ellis Island, before the Lower East Side, Jewish immigrants had already spent over 200 years working to establish a uniquely American form of Judaism. This course will examine the transformation of American Jewish identity from its beginnings in the Colonial period to the present day. Topics will include the development of the various religious movements (Reform, Conservative, etc.), the rise of the American synagogue and mutual aid societies, approaches to social justice, and reactions to anti-semitism. Required Readings: Jacob Rader Marcus ed., The Jew in the American World Jonathan D. Sarna, American Judaism Jack Wertheimer, A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America All books are available at the campus bookstore. All other texts will be made available through Blackboard or library reserves Course requirements: Class attendance: - More than 3 absences (for any reason) will adversely affect your grade Preparation:! - Students must be prepared to discuss the assigned readings and texts - Students are required to bring the relevant texts to each class Papers: - 2 short papers of (approximately 5 pages each) that employ primary and secondary sources Exams:! - A mid-term and a final exam Grading: Class attendance and participation (10%) Papers - 30% [15% each] 1

2 Midterm - 30% Final Exam - 30% COURSE SCHEDULE Section 1: Introduction and Background Neusner, Defining Judaism, The Blackwell Companion to Judaism, pp Wertheimer, A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America, pp. xi-xix Section 2: A New World: Jews and Judaism in the Colonial Period Sarna, American Judaism, ch. 1 Marcus: pp ; Section 3: The Birth of American Judaism Sarna, American Judaism, ch. 2 Leon Jick, The Americanization of the Synagogue, pp Marcus: pp. 71 (preface); Section 4: Religious Reforms and Reform Judaism in America Sarna, American Judaism, ch. 3 Meyer, Michael. America: The Reform Movement's Land of Promise, in The American Jewish Experience (hereafter, AJE), pp Marcus, pp ;

3 Section 5: The Impact of the Great Migration Sarna, American Judaism, ch. 4 Glazer, American Judaism, pp Marcus, pp ; Section 6: American Anti-Semitism Sarna, American Judaism, ch. 5 Jonathan D. Sarna. American Anti-Semitism, in History and Hate: The Dimensions of Anti-Semitism, ed. David Berger, pp P. Mendes-Flohr and J. Reinharz eds., The Jew in the Modern World, pp ; Section 7: Jews between Race and Religion: Leonard Dinnerstein, Anti-Semitism in America, Eric L. Goldstein, Different Blood Flows in our Veins: Race and Jewish Self-Definition in Late Nineteenth-Century America, American Jewish History 85,1 (1997) First Paper Due Section 8: Social Justice and Self-Preservation Lucy S. Dawidowicz, The Jewishness of the Jewish Labor Movement in the United States, in The American Jewish Experience, pp Daniel Soyer, Transnationalism and Americanization in East European Jewish Immigrant Public Life, in The American Jewish Community, ed. J. Wertheimer, pp

4 Section 9: American Zionism Melvin I. Urofsky, Zionism: An American Experience, in AJE, pp Marcus, pp Mid-Term Examination Section 10: The Impact of the Holocaust and the Creation of the State of Israel Henry Feingold, Who Bears Guilt for the Holocaust: The Human Dilemma, in AJE Melvin I. Urofsky, A Cause in Search of Itself: American Zionism After the State, American Jewish History (Sept. 1979): Jack Wertheimer, A People Divided, pp Philip Roth, Eli the Fanatic, in Goodbye, Columbus, and Five Short Stories Section 11: The Synagogue Center and Jewish Communal Life Lance Sussman, The Suburbanization of American Judaism as Reflected in Synagogue Building and Architecture, American Jewish History 75 (1985), pp Mel Scult, Americanism and Judaism in the Thought of Mordecai Kaplan, in N. Cohen and R. Selzter, eds., The Americanization of the Jews, pp Mordecai Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization, pp Section 12: The 1960s and Beyond Wertheimer, A People Divided, pp J.J. Goldberg, Six Days in June: The Triumph of Jewish Insecurity, in Jewish Power: Inside the American Jewish Establishment, pp R. Ellwood, Judaism in the Later Sixties, The Sixties Spiritual Awakening, pp

5 Marcus, pp , Section 13: American Judaism and Jewish Women: Ellen M. Umansky, Spiritual Expressions: Jewish Women s Religious Lives in the Twentieth-Century United States, in Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, ed. Judith R. Baskin, pp Shulamit Magnus, Miriam s Well, in Uses of Tradition, ed. Jack Wertheimer, pp Marcus, pp (skip no. II) Section 14: Contemporary Jewish Life in America Sarna, pp Wertheimer, A People Divided, pp David Berger, The Rebbe, the Jews and the Messiah, Commentary, September (2001): Marcus, pp ; Second Paper Due N. B. Syllabus Subject to Change 5