Torn at the Roots: The Crisis of Jewish Liberalism in Postwar America
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This book explodes the myth of a monolithic, liberal Judaism and tells the story of the many fierce battles that raged in postwar America over what an authentically Jewish position ought to be on issues ranging from desegregation to Zionism, and from Vietnam to gender relations, sexuality, and family life. Library Journal Staub (English and American studies, Bowling Green State Univ.) explores divisions within Jewish liberalism during the Sixties and into the Seventies, showing that Jews have long differed in their stances on political issues. Chapters examine such key topics as Jewish attitudes toward the sexual revolution, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Cold War. Staub shows that the initial Jewish response was often very different from what one might expect. Instead of being uniformly liberal, many Jews felt uncomfortable with the seemingly radical role embraced by Vietnam War peace demonstrators. The Jewish community in this country could be very complacent about Jewish identity, and it wasn't until the Six Day War in 1967 that many Jews began having a greater feeling of Jewish identity and pride. Staub also discusses the role of Jews in civil rights, which was often very ambivalent; many northern Jews professing liberal ideals felt weary about pushing Jews in the conservative South to greater action. Staub's book will be best appreciated by an academic audience and is recommended for libraries with strong holdings in Jewish studies or in the social sciences. Paul Kaplan, Lake Villa Dist. Lib., IL Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
"Making My Jewishness Too Visible": An Introduction11"The Racists of America Fly Blindly at Both of Us": Atrocity Analogies and Anticommunism192"Liberal Judaism Is a Contradiction in Terms": Antiracist Zionists, Prophetic Jews, and Their Critics453"Artificial Altruism Sows Only Seeds of Error and Chaos": Desegregation and Jewish Survival764"Protect and Keep": Vietnam, Israel, and the Politics of Theology1125"If There Was Dirty Linen, It Had to Be Washed": Jews for Urban Justice and Radical Judaism1536"We Are Coming Home": New Left Jews and Radical Zionism1947"Are You Against the Jewish Family?": Debating the Sexual Revolution2418"If We Really Care About Israel": Breira and the Limits of Dissent280Notes309Acknowledgments365Index367
