Tradition Transformed

Throughout American history, even in colonial and revolutionary times, Jews have found America generally hospitable. Yet even in this relatively receptive country, which essentially replaced Israel as the "promise land", there were vexing quesions for Jews - questions about the costs of freedom and mobility, especially with regard to the erosion of Jewish tradition and distinctiveness. In "Tradition Transformed", a one-volume history of the Jewish experience in America, Gerald Sorin argues that "acculturation" and not "assimilation" best describes the experience of Jewish Americans from their arrival in the American colonies to their lives in the United States today. American Jews, Sorin explains, have maintained their unique ethnic characteristics yet have become part of mainstream, middle-class American life. Sorin also shows how the large migration of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe in the late 19th century made a lasting impact upon how other Americans imagine, understand and relate to Jewish Americans and their cultural contributions today.
Drawing together all aspects of American Jewish history, this concise volume deals with the transformation of a people, their religion, their move into trade and commerce, their political commitments domestically and internationally (especially after the Holocaust), and their contributions to education and culture.