Awards
- Commended for National Jewish Book Award (Jewish Thought) 2015
- Commended for National Jewish Book Award in Modern Jewish Thought & Experience 2015
Overview
Between the French Revolution and World War II, hundreds of thousands of Jews left the Jewish fold--by becoming Christians or, in liberal states, by intermarrying. Telling the stories of both famous and obscure individuals, Leaving the Jewish Fold explores the nature of this drift and defection from Judaism in Europe and America from the eighteenth century to today. Arguing that religious conviction was rarely a motive for Jews who became Christians, Todd Endelman shows that those who severed their Jewish ties were driven above all by pragmatic concerns--especially the desire to escape the stigma of Jewishness and its social, occupational, and emotional burdens. Through a detailed and colorful narrative, Endelman considers the social settings, national contexts, and historical circumstances that encouraged Jews to abandon Judaism, and factors that worked to the opposite effect. Demonstrating that anti-Jewish prejudice weighed more heavily on the Jews of Germany and Austria than those living in France and other liberal states as early as the first half of the nineteenth century, he reexamines how Germany's political and social development deviated from other European states.Endelman also reveals that liberal societies such as Great Britain and the United States, which tolerated Jewish integration, promoted radical assimilation and the dissolution of Jewish ties as often as hostile, illiberal societies such as Germany and Poland. Bringing together extensive research across several languages, Leaving the Jewish Fold will be the essential work on conversion and assimilation in modern Jewish history for years to come.
Full Product Details
Author: Todd Endelman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.80cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.709kg
ISBN: 9780691004792
ISBN 10: 069100479
Pages: 440
Publication Date: 22 February 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
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Language: English
Reviews
This is a thoughtful, convincing study of a subject--conversion and radical assimilation in modern times--that receives too little attention from Jewish historians... An important and impressive study. --Choice
Author Information
Todd M. Endelman is professor emeritus of history and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan. His books include The Jews of Britain and Broadening Jewish History.
