Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice

Rachel B. Gross

ISBN 10: 1479803383 / ISBN 13: 9781479803385

Published by New York University Press, 2021

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # B9781479803385

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1479803383
• ISBN 13: 9781479803385
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 572 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Finalist for the 2021 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies

Honorable Mention, 2021 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society

Reveals nostalgia as a new way of maintaining Jewish continuity

In 2007, the Museum at Eldridge Street opened at the site of a restored nineteenth-century synagogue originally built by some of the first Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City. Visitors to the museum are invited to stand along indentations on the floor where footprints of congregants past have worn down the soft pinewood. Here, many feel a palpable connection to the history surrounding them.

Beyond the Synagogue argues that nostalgic activities such as visiting the Museum at Eldridge Street or eating traditional Jewish foods should be understood as American Jewish religious practices. In making the case that these practices are not just cultural, but are actually religious, Rachel B. Gross asserts that many prominent sociologists and historians have mistakenly concluded that American Judaism is in decline, and she contends that they are looking in the wrong places for Jewish religious activity. If they looked outside of traditional institutions and practices, such as attendance at synagogue or membership in Jewish Community Centers, they would see that the embrace of nostalgia provides evidence of an alternative, under-appreciated way of being Jewish and of maintaining Jewish continuity.

Tracing American Jews’ involvement in a broad array of ostensibly nonreligious activities, including conducting Jewish genealogical research, visiting Jewish historic sites, purchasing books and toys that teach Jewish nostalgia to children, and seeking out traditional Jewish foods, Gross argues that these practices illuminate how many American Jews are finding and making meaning within American Judaism today.

About the Author

Rachel B. Gross is Associate Professor, John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies, San Francisco State University. She is the author of our Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice (Finalist, 2021 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies, awarded by the Jewish Book Council and Honorable Mention, 2021 Saul Viener Book Prize, awarded by the American Jewish Historical Society).