Judaism in American Judaism, Nathan Glazer Examines

Judaism

In American Judaism, Nathan Glazer examines the unique way Jewish culture has evolved in the United States. I wanted to interview a member of the local Hillel about how she felt about her Jewish heritage, identity, and community. In particular, I was interested in interviewing someone who had been to Israel because it would provide me with insight into the ways Judaism has evolved differently in the United States vs. Israel.

My interview subject describes herself as Jewish and says that she has always been proud of being Jewish and has had no direct experiences of anti-Semitism because she was born and raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. All her close friends from high school were Jewish, and her identity was socially constructed in this way. When she came to college, she was concerned about anti-Semitism, but claims that the presence of the Hillel on campus has helped her to integrate into the campus community and retain her strong Jewish identity. When asked what exactly it meant to be Jewish, she told me that it was difficult to answer because she was born Jewish and felt that it was like being a part of any other ethnic community. This reflects Glazer's observations that American Judaism has evolved as an ethnicity. Glazer calls it a "nation-religion," and when I use this term, the interview subject agrees that it is fairly accurate (p. 4). Glazer assumes that American Jews have evolved an ethnic consciousness because many religions are connected to ethnicities in the multicultural landscape. It can be confusing for outsiders to consider Jewishness as an ethnic as well as a religious dimension, especially given the great diversity in Jewish culture in the diaspora. When asked about the diversity of Jewish culture in the diaspora, the interview subject said that shared Jewish identity transcends the differences in culture. She said that the Sephardic Jews that she knows have more in common with her than people from Eastern Europe, where her Ashkenazi family originated. This "ethnic element" is "essential to the Jews," as Glazer points out (p. 5).

When I asked about her experience in Israel, the interview subject said that it was interesting how different Jewish culture is expressed there vs. The United States. The interview subject visited Israel as part of a high school program called High School in Israel. In Israel, she claims, they do not differentiate between categories like Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox. These categories are clearly American, which is the way Glazer frames it in American Judaism. In Israel, Jewish religious services and rituals at home are more uniform in nature. People are either more devout, or they are less devout. There are other differences that are important to the appearance of Jewish ritual and custom, such as the services. The majority of Jews in Israel worship in ways that many Americans would consider to be Orthodox. For example, many of the synagogues in Israel have gender-segregated facilities. The interview subject said that all but the most ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel have an easy time differentiating between the religious side of their nature and the social side of their nature. Many Israeli Jews, like many American Jews, are not religious at all.