Religion or Ethnicity ? Jewish Identities in Evolution

includes index and biblioraphy

Part 1 Jewishness and judaism in the premodern era ...5 1 Secularism ,Hellenism and rabbits in antiquity ...7 2 What is a judaism? Perspectives from second temple jewish studies ...24 3 Crypto jewish criticism of tradition and its echoes in jewish communities ...38 4 Spinoza and the origins of jewish secularism ...59 Part II Challenges of secular jewishness in modern times ...67 5 Yiddish schools in America and the problem of secular jewish identity ...69 6 Beyond assimilation : Introducing subjectivity to German jewish history ...90 7 Jewish self identification and west European categories of the belonging : From the enlightenment to world war II ...104 8 People of the (secular) Book : Literary anthologies and the making of Jewish identity in postwar America ...131 Part III Secular jewishness in Israel today ...147 9 Secular Jewish identity and the condition of secular judaism in israel ...149 10 Beyond the religious secular dichotomy : Masortim in israel ...171 11 What kind of Jewish state do Israelis want ? Israeli and arab attitudes toward religion and polities ...193 12 The construction of secular and religious in modern Hebrew literature ...221 Part IV Secular jewishness in the diaspora today ...239 13 Jewish identity and secularism in post soviet Russia and Ukraine ...241 14 Judaism community and jewish culture in American life continuities and transformations ...267 15 Beyond apikorsut : A judaism for secular jews ...286 Conclusion : The nature and viability of Jewish religious and secular identities ...303