Time for Gathering

Sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society in its centennial year, this book is part of a five-volume set which chronicles Jewish life in the United States from colonial times to the present. The respective authors explore the roots of Jewish immigration, the experience of settling in America, economic and social adjustment, religious developments and educational aspirations, political involvements, and the experience from generation to generation of what it means to be at once both Jewish and American. Between 1820 and 1880, European Jews arrived in the United States in ever greater numbers. In this second volume, the author describes the "second wave" of Jewish migration and challenges many long-held assumptions - particularly the belief that the immigrants' Judaism eroded in the middle class comfort of Victorian America. Through their benevolent associations, lodges, congregations and recreational activities, Diner shows that 19th-century Jewish immigrants established a culture that blended Jewish traditions with American ideals.