This authoritative reference of nearly 900 entries covers all aspects of America's lively and influential Jewish culture - history, rituals, family life, law, politics, business, education, music and the arts, sports, entertainment, book, language, science and more. It is at once an indispensable resource, the perfect gift for every bar/bat mitzvah, graduation and wedding, and a book that every Jew and many non-Jews will want close at hand. This book brings together the events, personalities, themes and issues of contemporary Jewish life in the United States on a scope rarely attained before in a single volume. It's brimming with in-depth essays on significant topics and compelling biographies of hundreds of prominent American Jewish personalities. Their achievements and contributions to all walks of life are here. Effortless to use and a delight to both the casual browsers and serious researchers, the book features: *CONVENIENT CHRONOLOGICAL OR ALPHABETICAL ORGANIZATION " ENTRIES ON OVER 500 INFLUENTIAL JEWISH AMERICANS, OVER 100 TOPIC ESSAYS, AND WELL OVER 200 KEY HISTORICAL EVENTS. " OVER 100 BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AS WELL AS PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. " FASCINATING SIDEBARS, STATISTICS, ANECDOTES AND KERNALS OF AMERICAN JEWISH LORE THAT WILL SURPRISE AND DELIGHT EVEN THE MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE READER. AMERICAN JEWISH DESK REFERENCE is the best place to look for ready answers to all your questions about Jewish life and history in America. "IT HAS MORE INFORMATION THAN THE FARMER'S ALMANAC, AND IT'S ALL ABOUT JEWS." Ed Koch, former Mayor, New York City "A TREASURE TROVE OF INTERESTING AND USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE JEWISH EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA..AN INDISPENSABLE REFERENCE WORK." - Henry A. Kissinger "AN ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE GUIDE TO ANYONE WHO WRITES ABOUT, THINKS ABOUT, OR IS INVOLVED IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY." -Alan M. Dershowitz,, Harvard Law School and New York Times bestselling author.

This all-encompassing reference book covers virtually every subject pertaining to Jews in the United States. The sheer volume of information on the subjects and people relative to the Jewish experience in the United States is what makes this book so impressive. Arranged by subject -- from Feminism, Intermarriage and Conversion, Rituals and Celebrations, Business, Education, and Sports to Art and Entertainment -- chapters include A-Z and chronological listings of events, people, and more.Included in this book are descriptions of the many noteworthy Jewish Americans who had a profound effect on our country, including Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Harvey Milk, Calvin Klein, Peggy Guggenheim, Mark Rothko, Woody Allen and Gloria Steinem, just to name a few. This book brings together the issues and figures of contemporary Judaism in the United States in an adult manner unlike any other reference book of its kind.

This new volume in the JPS Guides series is a fiction reader?s dream: a guide to 125 remarkable works of fiction. The selection includes a wide range of classic American Jewish novels and story collections, from 1867 to the present, selected by the author in consultation with a panel of literary scholars and book industry professionals. Roth, Mailer, Kellerman, Chabon, Ozick, Heller, and dozens of other celebrated writers are here, with their most notable works. Each entry includes a book summary, with historical context and background on the author. Suggestions for further reading point to other books that match readers? interests and favorite writers. And the introduction is a fascinating exploration of the history of and important themes in American Jewish Fiction, illustrating how Jewish writing in the U.S. has been in constant dialogue with popular entertainment and intellectual life. Included in this guide are lists of book award winners; recommended anthologies; title, author, and subject indexes; and more.

A leading cultural historian explores the complex interactions of Jewish and American cultures.

"Early in the 20th century, Jewish camp leaders had little interest in creating spiritual experiences for their campers. Yet Jewish camps have gradually provided primal Jewish experiences that campers could enjoy, parents appreciate, and alumni fondly recall. This book considers how Shabbat at camp became the focus for these experiences"--

In an encyclopedic reference for anyone who wants information about all things Jewish, Eisenberg distills an immense amount of material from classic and contemporary sources into a single volume.

Jewish symbols reflect the interaction of word and image within Jewish culture. Jews have always studied, interpreted, and revered sacred texts; they have also adorned the settings and occasions of sacred acts. Calligraphy and ornamentation have transformed Hebrew letters into art; quotation, interpretation, legend, and wordplay have made ceremonial objects into narrative. This book represents just such a collaboration between art and language. Ellen Frankel and Betsy Platkin Teutsch, writer and artist, have brought their extensive knowledge and talents together to create The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, the first reference guide of its kind, designed for use by educators, artists, rabbis, folklorists, feminists, Jewish and non-Jewish scholars, and lay readers.

The first and only complete exploration of the role of American women in the creation and support of the State of Israel from pre-State years through the struggles of Israel's first decades.

An examination of how early twentieth-century American Jewish men experienced manhood and presented their masculinity to others. How did American Jewish men experience manhood, and how did they present their masculinity to others? In this distinctive book, Sarah Imhoff shows that the project of shaping American Jewish manhood was not just one of assimilation or exclusion. Jewish manhood was neither a mirror of normative American manhood nor its negative, effeminate opposite. Imhoff demonstrates how early twentieth-century Jews constructed a gentler, less aggressive manhood, drawn partly from the American pioneer spirit and immigration experience, but also from Hollywood and the YMCA, which required intense cultivation of a muscled male physique. She contends that these models helped Jews articulate the value of an acculturated American Judaism. Tapping into a rich historical literature to reveal how Jews looked at masculinity differently than Protestants or other religious groups, Imhoff illuminates the particular experience of American Jewish men. “There is so much literature—and very good scholarship—on Judaism and gender, but the majority of that literature reflects an interest in women. A hearty thank you to Sarah Imhoff for writing the other half of the story and for doing it so elegantly.” —Claire Elise Katz, author of Levinas and the Crisis of Humanism “Invariably lucid and engaging, Sarah Imhoff provides a secure foundation for how religion shaped American masculinity and how masculinity shaped American Judaism in the early twentieth century.” —Judith Gerson, author of By Thanksgiving We Were Americans: German Jewish Refugees and Holocaust Memory