Israel And Zion In American Judaism

First published in 1993, Israel and Zion in American Judaism: The Zionist Fulfillment is a collection of 24 essays exploring the concept of who or what is "Israel" following the establishment of the Jewish State in 1948 and the subsequent crisis of self-definition in American Jewry.

Discover what Jewish people in America have to say about Israel—their voices have never mattered more than they do now. As anti-Israel sentiment spreads around the world—from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to former President Jimmy Carter—it has never been more important for American Jews to share their feelings and thoughts about Israel, and foster a connection to Israel in the next generation of Jewish and Christian adults. This inspirational book features the insights of top scholars, business leaders, professionals, politicians, authors, artists, and community and religious leaders covering the entire denominational spectrum of Jewish life in America today—and offers an exciting glimpse into the history of Zionism in America with statements from Jews who saw the movement come to life. Presenting a diversity of views, it will encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to think about what Israel means to them and, in particular, help young adults jump start their own lasting, personal relationship with Israel.

Bringing Zion Home examines the role of culture in the establishment of the "special relationship" between the United States and Israel in the immediate postwar decades. Many American Jews first encountered Israel through their roles as tastemakers, consumers, and cultural impresarios—that is, by writing and reading about Israel; dancing Israeli folk dances; promoting and purchasing Israeli goods; and presenting Israeli art and music. It was precisely by means of these cultural practices, argues Emily Alice Katz, that American Jews insisted on Israel's "natural" place in American culture, a phenomenon that continues to shape America's relationship with Israel today. Katz shows that American Jews' promotion and consumption of Israel in the cultural realm was bound up with multiple agendas, including the quest for Jewish authenticity in a postimmigrant milieu and the desire of upwardly mobile Jews to polish their status in American society. And, crucially, as influential cultural and political elites positioned "culture" as both an engine of American dominance and as a purveyor of peace in the Cold War, many of Israel's American Jewish impresarios proclaimed publicly that cultural patronage of and exchange with Israel advanced America's interests in the Middle East and helped spread the "American way" in the postwar world. Bringing Zion Home is the first book to shine a light squarely upon the role and importance of Israel in the arts, popular culture, and material culture of postwar America.

First Published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Moshe Davis was a preeminent scholar of contemporary Jewish history and the rounding head of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A recognized leader in the field of bicultural American/Jewish studies, he was a mentor to educators and academics in both Israel and North America and an active colleague of American Christian scholars involved in interfaith study and dialogue. These wide-ranging essays, many of them presented at a colloquium that Professor Davis had planned but did not live to attend, honor him by exploring the theme of Zion as an integral part of American spiritual history and as a site of interfaith discourse. Not only do these essays stress the role of individuals in history, but they also incorporate views outside those of mainstream religions. American attitudes toward the land of the Bible reflect both Jewish values that arose from their abiding attachment to Zion and the uniquely American Christian vision of a utopian pre-industrial, pre-urban, pre-secularized world. Whereas American Christians expected to be lifted out of their ordinary lives when they visited the Holy Land, Jews saw in their affinity for Zion a strong link to their American environment. Jews viewed America's biblical heritage as a source of practical values such as fair play and equality, social vision and political covenant. In inviting such comparisons, these essays illuminate the relationship of Judaism to America and the richness of American religious experience overall.

First published in 1982, The Triangular Connection explores the relationship between two countries, the USA and Israel, and Jews resident in America. Spanning from British Colonial times until 1949, the year in which Israel was admitted to the United Nations, the book traces the interaction between America’s Christians and Jews with Zionism and the modern state of Israel. It also details the reasons for America’s support of Israel in the past, as well as debating its continued support in the future.