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The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed by Jack Wertheimer β€” book cover

The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed

by Jack Wertheimer
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Overview

Wertheimer's is the first study to chart the course of American synagogue history from colonial times to the present. Fourteen commissioned essays written by prominent scholars of Jewish American history offer a penetrating examination of synagogue development. Through case studies of individual congregations across the country, the authors investigate a wide range of isssues, posing such questions as: What roles have been assigned to the synagogue in various eras in American history? How have the synagogues of the three major denominations--Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform--differed? How have immigrant congregations become Americanized? And by what processes have innovations in synagogue ritual been introduced? The resulting analyses illustrate the richness and diversity of the American synagogue and provide a valuable framework for further study of the significance of the congregation in American religious life.

Synopsis

Leading historians of modern Jewry offer the first comprehensive account of American synagogue history.

Wertheimer has brought together a group of social historians who have helped demonstrate the centrality of the synagogue to the American Jewish experience, and who have given us a rich beginning for the exploration of synagogue history.

About the Author, Jack Wertheimer

JACK WERTHEIMER is the Joseph and Martha Mendelson Professor of American Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Director of the Joseph and Miriam Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism. He is author or editor of more than a dozen books.

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Editorials

From the Publisher

"Wertheimer has brought together a group of social historians who have helped demonstrate the centrality of the synagogue to the American Jewish experience, and who have given us a rich beginning for the exploration of synagogue history." --Journal of American History

Book Details

Published
February 1, 2003
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Pages
433
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780521534543

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