California Jews (Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1584650605 ISBN 13: 9781584650607

Publisher: Brandeis University Press, 2003

Synopsis

The nation’s thirty-first state emerged early as one of its most diverse as people immigrated to the west. California’s indigenous tribes were forced off their lands first by Spanish settlers, then by the arrival of gold miners from every corner of the world. Because of its Catholic missionary history, Gold Rush California did not experience a more exclusive eastern-style Protestantism. This permitted more rapid and inclusive acculturation. California Jews, unlike their eastern counterparts whose arrival often followed that of European Protestants, were often among the first settlers to establish a west coast community. Jewish immigrants to California took advantage of its physical environment, ethnic diversity, and cultural distinctiveness to fashion a form of Judaism unique in the American experience. California Jews enjoyed unprecedented access to political power a generation earlier than their New York counterparts. They thrived in the multicultural mix, redefining the classic black-white racial binary by forging relations with a variety of religious and ethnic groups in both San Francisco and Los Angeles.

About this title

About the Author

AVA F. KAHN has taught at the University of California at Davis and San Francisco State University. Her publications include Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge and Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush: A Documentary History 1849–1880. MARC DOLLINGER teaches at San Francisco State University and is the author of Quest for Inclusion: Jews and Liberalism in Modern America.

Reviews

Like other Americans, Jews headed west in the 1849 Gold Rush, and for many, according to Jewish history scholars Kahn and Dollinger, "California became the Promised Land." And for 150 years, they continue, the role of Jews in that state has differed from that of Jews on the East Coast: they integrated rapidly, gained political power earlier and "thrived in the multicultural mix." This collection of articles by a range of scholars examines various aspects of Jewish life in Los Angeles (which former Israeli kibbutzniks find particularly congenial); the architecture of early synagogues, built not only as houses of devotion but as monuments to Jewish success; and the Jewish role in the counterculture, from Berkeley's free speech movement to support for the Indian occupation of Alcatraz in 1969. Seventeen color and 122 b&w illustrations offer a fascinating visual documentation of the rich and varied life these essays explore.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Brandeis University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1584650605
• ISBN 13: 9781584650607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232
• Editor: Kahn Ava F., Dollinger Marc