Beyond Jewish Identity Beyond Jewish Identity , edited by Jon A. Levisohn and Ari Y. Kelman (2019). Academic Studies Press.

Abstract

This book is subject to a CC-BY-NC license.To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ viii Jon A. Levisohn and Ari Y. Kelman or utra-Orthodox world eschews the term altogether, and it is less common in the Modern Orthodox community than it is in liberal Jewish communities. Still, there are important patterns and trends. Since the late 1960s, the phrase has grown in popularity and stature, often appearing as an almost self-reflexive rationale for many Jewish educational and communal efforts. "It's Official," trumpeted a headline reporting on a study by Steven Cohen and his colleagues of Jewish summer camps (Cohen, Miller, Sheshkin, & Torr, 2011), "Jewish Camp Strengthens Jewish Identity" (Fishkoff, 2011).The popularity of the phrase left us feeling more and more uncomfortable with the range of experiences, meanings, self-conceptions, expressions, and affinities to which it seemed to refer. The more popular it grew, it seemed, the less well-defined it appeared to become. As our sense of this development deepened, we were gratified to learn about other scholarly voices that expressed concern with or critical perspectives on the phrase, its meaning and its utility