Jewish Assimilation, Acculturation, and Accommodation

Book excerpt: The major concerns in Jewish history throughout the ages have been assimilation, acculturation, and accommodation. The difficulties which Jews have faced in the past, the problems which they confront in the present, and the issues which will have a major implication for their future are the heart of this collection. Particular attention is paid to the subject of interfaith marriage, which stirs more intense debate than any other issue. The collection contains 16 articles reviewing different aspects of assimilation, acculturation and accommodation from the Masmonean period in the second century B.C.E. and the relationship between Judaism and Hellenism, continuing with some historical examples of Jewish asssimilation in different time periods, and finally exploring some problems of current American Jewry. The collection ends with a panel discussion about the future of world Jewry approaching the 21st century. Contributors include Uriel Rappaport, Shaye J.D. Cohen, Louis Feldman, Steven Bowman, Kenneth Stow, Gordon Bronitzky, Deborah Hertz, Suzannah Herschel, Gerda Schmidt, Sylvia Abrams, Gershon Greenberg, Michael Lawler, Paul A. Spickard, Gerald L. Showstack, Gary P. Williams, Mervin Verbit, Samuel A. Klausner, and David Gerdis. Co-published with the Center for the Study of Religion and Society.