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The American Jewish Community

        

Commentary by Dr. Gerhard Falk

        

The American Jewish Community in the 20th and 21st Centuries

(Gerhard Falk:  Edwin Mellen Press, 2021)

This book reviews the major institutions which constitute the Jewish community in America. That includes Religion, The Family, The Role of Jewish Women, Education, Social Stratification, Jews in the Military, Jews in American politics, American Jews in the Movies, Jewish American Songwriters, The Influence of English and American Literature on Jewish Americans, American Jewish Scientists, American Jews in Sports,  and The Future of the American Jewish Community.

This book is written from the sociological point of view. It is a contribution to the Scientific Study of Religion and therefore avoids theology altogether.

The book is also a study in social change, as may be seen by the description of Jewish life in the “Ghetto” of the Jewish immigrants of the early  twentieth century, as well as the major changes in American Jewish life in the 21st century.

Therefore this is also a study of American ethnicity, since much of what has happened to Jewish Americans has also happened to all Americans. The lesson drawn from this book is that Winston Churchill was quite right when he wrote; “Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others.” This applies particularly to the Jewish community, the descendants of those persecuted in Europe for 1,600 years and finally liberated by the American spirit. In the words of George Washington: “This government gives to bigotry no sanction and to persecution no assistance.”

Shalom u'vracha.

 Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including Gender, Sex, & Status (2019).

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