New Jewish Identities : Contemporary Europe and Beyond

Abstract

This volume analyzes and compares how Jews conceive of their Jewishness. Identity as a Jew is in most places a matter of choice, making for a wide variety of self-understandings and definitions. Even where tradition is attractive to many Jews, they increasingly sense that it is they who choose the tradition or whatever aspects of the tradition they choose to celebrate; the tradition is not imperative and cannot impose attitudes and forms of behavior. Contents:  1 Social Identity in British and South African Jewry Jacqueline Goldberg 2 Religious Identity in the Social and Political Arena: An Examination of the Attitudes of Orthodox and Progressive Jews in the UK Barry Kosmin 3 Changing Patterns of Jewish Identity among British Jews Stephen Miller 4 A Typological Approach to French Jewry Regine Azria 5 Jewishness in Postmodernity: The Case of Sweden Lars Dencik 6 Becoming Jewish in Russia and Ukraine Zvi Gitelman 7 The Jewish Press and Jewish Identity: Leningrad/St. Petersburg, 1989-1992 John D. Klier 8 Patterns of Jewish Identity in the Jewish Community of Moldova: The Behavioral Dimension Malka Korazim and Esther Katz 9 Jewish Identity and the Orthodox Church in Late Soviet Russia Judith Deutsch Kornblatt 10 Looking Out for One's Own Identity: Central Asian Jews in the Wake of Communism Alanna E. Cooper 11 Jewish Groups and Identity Strategies in Post-Communist Hungary Andrs Kovc s 12 Particularizing the Universal: New Polish Jewish Identities and a New Framework of Analysis Marius Gudonis 13 Polish Jewish Institutions in Transition: Personalities Over Process Claire A. Rosenson 14 Jewish Identity in the United States and Israel Charles S. Liebman 15 Notes Towards the Definition of Jewish Culture in the New Europe Jonathan Webber 16 Conclusion: Jewish Identity in Transition: Transformation or Attenuation?