Description
Book SynopsisDivided into three sections, this work explains how the concepts and practices of traditional European Judaism were adapted to North American culture beginning in the late nineteenth century. Part I focuses on the ideas and activities of Cyrus Adler (1863-1940), one of the most prominent leaders of the traditionalist Jewish community in the United States in his era. The issues in these essays include the origins of American Jewish history as a field of study, the Kehilla experiments of the early twentieth century, and the relationship between the Jewish Theological Seminary and Orthodox Judaism. Part II deals with the beginnings of Hasidic Judaism in North America prior to the Second World War. It also includes several studies investigating the shaping of the worldview of Orthodox Judaism in contemporary North America. Part III examines the issue of contemporary American Jewish attitudes toward evolution and intelligent design.
Trade Review"In distinguishing the fledgling American Jewish Historical Society from The Jewish Publication Society in 1892, Cyrus Adler insisted that the former must “publish at times dry as dust material”(7). Fortunately, Ira Robinson did not heed his subject’s advice. Translating a Tradition: Studies in American Jewish History is an engaging and important contribution to the field." -- David Weinfeld * The American Jewish Archives Journal LXI, no. 2 (2009) *
Table of ContentsContentsPreface ...viiI. Cyrus Adler: Toward the Biography of an American JewThe Invention of American Jewish History ...14Cyrus Adler and The American: a Momentin the Intellectual History of American Jewry ...28Cyrus Adler the Philadelphian ...43Two North American Kehillot and Their Structure:Philadelphia and Montreal ...59Cyrus Adler, Bernard Revel and the Prehistoryof Organized Jewish Scholarship in the United States ...66Cyrus Adler and the Jewish Theological Seminaryof America: Image and Reality ...77Cyrus Adler: President of the Jewish TheologicalSeminary, 1915-1940 ...98The Correspondence of Cyrus Adler and RacieFriedenwald Adler: New Perspectives on theDevelopment of American Jewry in the EarlyTwentieth Century (with Dr. Maxine Jacobson) ...167An Addendum to Cyrus Adler's Bibliography ...195II. Orthodox Judaism in North AmericaThe First Hasidic Rabbis in North America ...200Anshe Sfard: the Creation of the First HasidicCongregations in North America ...216Hasid and Maskil: The Hasidic Tales of anAmerican Yiddish Journalist ...233Because of Our Many Sins: The ContemporaryJewish World as Reflected in the Responsa ofRabbi Moses Feinstein ...251That Marvelous Midos Machine: Audio Tapes Prefaceas an Orthodox Educational Medium ...268"Practically I Am a Fundamentalist ":Twentieth Century Orthodox Jews ContendWith Evolution and Its Implications ... 282III. Contemporary American JudaismAmerican Jewish Views of Evolutionand Intelligent Design ...304Index
