Community and Polity: The Organizational Dynamics of American Jewry

Daniel J. Elazar

1976

The Jewish community as a whole is a unique blend of kinship and consent. […] The fact that Jews are born Jewish places them in a special position to begin with, one that more often than not has forced them together for self-protection. Yet conversion, assimilation, or simple apathy toward Jewish life have almost always been available as options…

Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

Creator Bio

Daniel J. Elazar

1934–1999

Born in Minneapolis, Daniel J. Elazar was a political scientist specializing in federalism, Jewish communal affairs, and the Jewish political legacy. He was a professor at Temple University, where he founded the Center for the Study of Federalism. He also taught at Bar-Ilan University and in 1976 founded the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

You may also like

Photograph of exterior of building with rounded window frames and decorative columns, and man in hat walking toward it.
Tooltip info icon

Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue

The Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue is built in the Romanesque revival style, with elements of Moorish revival. It is known as the Brodsky Choral Synagogue because it was built on the estate of the…
View Source

Seeking the Jewish Tradition

Is the Jewish tradition inherently liberal or inherently conservative? The answer to this much-debated question is quite simple: yes. Which is to say that if by “the Jewish tradition” we mean what is…
View Source

Friends Talking about Jimmy

Jimmy’s body was taken to Har Tuv, where the doctor confirmed his death, and from Har Tuv it was taken to the morgue in the hospital in the convent of Abu Gosh. He lay there, covered with a gray…
View Source