The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
- ISBN-10
- 0316181331
- ISBN-13
- 9780316181334
- Category
- Religion
- Pages
- 416
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1997-03-01
- Publisher
- Little, Brown
- Author
- Alan M. Dershowitz
Description
In this urgent book, Alan M. Dershowitz shows why American Jews are in danger of disappearing - and what must be done now to create a renewed sense of Jewish identity for the next century. In previous times, the threats to Jewish survival were external - the virulent consequences of anti-Semitism. Now, however, in late-twentieth-century America, the danger has shifted. Jews today are more secure, more accepted, more assimilated, and more successful than ever before. They've dived into the melting pot - and they've achieved the American Dream. And that, according to Dershowitz, is precisely the problem. More than 50 percent of Jews will marry non-Jews, and their children will most often be raised as non-Jews. Which means, in the view of Dershowitz, that American Jews will vanish as a distinct cultural group sometime in the next century - unless they act now. Speaking to concerned Jews everywhere, Dershowitz calls for a new Jewish identity that focuses on the positive - the 3,500-year-old legacy of Jewish culture, values, and traditions. Dershowitz shows how this new Jewish identity can compete in America's open environment of opportunity and choice - and offers concrete proposals on how to instill it in the younger generation.
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Other editions
-
- 2000-01-06
- 416 pages
- Ebook
- Little, Brown
-
- 2014-05-10
- 312 pages
- Paperback
- Little Brown
-
- 1998-09-08
- 395 pages
- Paperback
- Simon and Schuster
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