Customer Reviews

The American Jews (Portrait of a Split Personality)

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Although Yaffe's work is over 40 years out-of-date, he offers a compelling vision of a culture comprised of several waves of Jewish influx into American culture and their adaptations to fit themselves into the "new world." I would like to see a new edition with updates on the two subsequent generations. His subtitle deals with the supposed split personality of the American Jews, their pull toward maintaining their jewishness and their draw toward becoming American. While uniquely Jewish, it also offers insights into every cultures' assimilation into American culture with the attendant need to maintain identity and historical and religious ties.
I read this as a companion to Chiam Potok's "Wanderings." I would be interested in suggestions for further readings to round out my education in Jewish history.