'This volume narrates the history of the New York Jews, with an eye to their distinctive story as well as consciousness of how Jews embedded their particularity within the city's contentious past'. Jewish New York is nowadays a reality of the diasporic Jewish history and present, and this book, based on serious historical and sociological data, might create at least one more topic for a further academic investigation. For instance, the issue of American Zionism, and therefore the ways in which American Jews are positioning themselves in relation with the state of Israel and the everyday political struggles from the country.
The evolution of the Jewish community is analized back in the 17th century, which makes this volume a valuable source of information for recreating a process of creating mentalities and social patterns. It also offers a multi-layered approach, which goes back and forth from the economic, cultural, social and citizens rights perspectives, creating a pretty accurate landscape where people are relocating continously, adapting their habits from the Old Country while maintaining a certain degree of individuality. With more than a million Jews living in New York, the city is considered a symbol of Jewish life in the diaspora but at the same time, at least in the last 2 decades, there are Jewish communities in many other locations in the USA, which increases the diversity of Jewish life. Although the book has the focus on NYC, a short comparison would have even better outline the specificities of the city. Another omission of the book in my opinion is that it ignores the strong Israeli community in the city, which although remains a distinctive group among the various Jewish communities, it has its own dynamic and specific influence on the cultural patterns and habits of the bigger group as such.
The book is a recommended read to anyone looking to become familiar, in an academic way, with the Jewish history of New York, either for academic or pure knowledge purposes.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
