1. CENTRES OF JEWRY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE: A COMPARATIVE APPROACH.
- Author
-
Davis, Moshe
- Subjects
JEWS ,COMPARATIVE studies ,RELIGIOUS communities ,CULTURE ,RELIGION & sociology - Abstract
The article presents information about the comparative approach applied to the study of contemporary Jewry, which adds an important dimension to the research and interpretation of individual Jewish communities. Most present research analyses the local community in the context of its native environment and its adjustment to that environment. With the comparative method, one can explore the common relationship of Jewish communities throughout the world while taking into full account the problems of locus and specific historical configuration. Thus a particular Jewish community can be studied not only in its relation to the environing culture, but also in the total context of the Jewish people. The object of this paper is to delineate, by way of comparison, some of the disparate and common elements in the three major Jewish centers of the western hemisphere, Canada, the United States, and Argentina. The selected disparate element relates to the varying forms of representative organization of the Jewish communities as their respective majority, or host cultures influence them. The common element refers to the nature of individual identification with Jews and Judaism, a problem that is similar in the three communities.
- Published
- 1963