History Lessons

The Creation of American Jewish Heritage
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-691-15614-9
Verlag: Princeton University Press

Buch, Englisch, 296 Seiten, Format (B × H): 145 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 408 g

Most American Jews today will probably tell you that Judaism is inherently democratic and that Jewish and American cultures share the same core beliefs and values. But in fact, Jewish tradition and American culture did not converge seamlessly. Rather, it was American Jews themselves who consciously created this idea of an American Jewish heritage and cemented it in the popular imagination during the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. History Lessons is the first book to examine how Jews in the United States collectively wove themselves into the narratives of the nation, and came to view the American Jewish experience as a unique chapter in Jewish history.Beth Wenger shows how American Jews celebrated civic holidays like Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July in synagogues and Jewish community organizations, and how they sought to commemorate Jewish cultural contributions and patriotism, often tracing their roots to the nation's founding. She looks at Jewish children's literature used to teach lessons about American Jewish heritage and values, which portrayed--and sometimes embellished--the accomplishments of heroic figures in American Jewish history. Wenger also traces how Jews often disagreed about how properly to represent these figures, focusing on the struggle over the legacy of the Jewish Revolutionary hero Haym Salomon.History Lessons demonstrates how American Jews fashioned a collective heritage that fused their Jewish past with their American present and future.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wenger, Beth S

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politik & Religion, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte des Judentums (Diaspora)
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums außerhalb Israels/Palästinas
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums: Moderne & Gegenwart

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Chapter One: In Search of American Jewish Heritage 15

Chapter Two: Civic Performances: Jews and American National Holidays 58

Chapter Three: War Stories: Jewish Patriotism on Parade 96

Chapter Four: Historical Tales: Educating American Jewish Children 135

Chapter Five: Sculpting an American Jewish Hero: The Myths and Monuments of Haym Salomon 179

Epilogue: American Jewish Heritage after World War II 210

Notes 231

Index 265

Über Autor(innen)

Wenger, Beth S
Beth S. Wenger is professor of history and director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of "The Jewish Americans: Three Centuries of Jewish Voices in America" and "New York Jews and the Great Depression: Uncertain Promise".