| From Suburb to Shtetl the Jews of Boro Park: The Jews of Boro Park Revised Edition Contributor(s): Mayer, Egon (Author), Helmreich, William B. (Author) |
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ISBN: 141281328X ISBN-13: 9781412813280 Publisher: Routledge OUR PRICE: $58.40 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: June 2010 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Sociology - General - Social Science | Jewish Studies - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social |
| Dewey: 305.892 |
| LCCN: 2009050633 |
| Physical Information: 214 pages |
| Themes: - Religious Orientation - Jewish - Locality - New York, N.Y. - Geographic Orientation - New York - Cultural Region - Mid-Atlantic - Cultural Region - Northeast U.S. - Ethnic Orientation - Jewish |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: "From Suburb to Shtetl" is an outstanding ethnography that moves beyond simple demographics. Mayer weaves an intricate tapestry of how family, school, and community leaders influence each other. Whether discussing the role of the rebbe or the matchmaker, those who know these communities will find what he says as relevant today as it was when first penned. This is hardly surprising, for the ultra-Orthodox community takes great pride in not changing, in maintaining itself as it was in Europe despite the allure of modern American society. His discussion of synagogue life is particularly informative and evocative. Those in charge of helping immigrants adopted the path of least resistance, allowing and even encouraging them to retain their identities except for those few aspects that might threaten the country's national interests. The American Orthodox community was tremendously augmented by the arrival from Europe, after World War Two, of thousands of Orthodox Jews who remained devoted to that way of life. Egon Mayer was himself part of a smaller, but significant group of Jews who came to the U.S. and settled mostly in Boro Park in the wake of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The interaction between the Hasidim and their less fervent Orthodox counterparts described and analyzed in this volume tells us a great deal about how people negotiate their beliefs, values, and norms when forced into close contact with each other in an urban setting within the larger American culture. By exploring these and many other related issues Mayer has given us the chance to assess and forecast the future of American Jewish life as a whole. |
Contributor Bio(s): Mayer, Egon: - Egon Mayer (1944-2004) was chairman of the Department of Sociology at Brooklyn College. He was one of the leading sociologists in the area of American Jewry, particularly in the area of religion and the Jews. Helmreich, William B.: -William B. Helmreich is professor of sociology at CUNY Graduate Center and City College of New York and served as director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College. He is author of eleven books, including The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of American Orthodoxy and Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors and the Successful Lives They Made in America, which won the 1993 National Jewish Book Award. |