A New World Babylonia

This chapter discusses the distinctive rise of American Jews as a new center of Jewish culture. It focuses on the conditions in the United States, especially separation of church and state, which encouraged religious creativity, and the genocide of the Holocaust that spurred the transfer of aspects of European religious and intellectual Jewish life. It argues that feminism encouraged women to contribute in vital ways to the creation of Jewish culture that had a profound impact throughout the Jewish world. America has exemplified a new Babylonia, one that would produce influential forms of Judaism shaped by women as well as men.

Are Practitioners Equipped to Work With and Advocate for Members of the American Jewish Community? An Analysis of Discourse-Shaping Periodicals

American Jews represent a culturally distinct community that is increasingly victimized by hate crimes and other antisemitic acts. To determine the degree to which social work practitioners are equipped to work with, and advocate for, members of the American Jewish community, this study analyzed 10 years of content appearing in nine discourse-shaping periodicals. Manual and electronic searches were conducted, with two coders independently reviewing and analyzing the obtained literature in each search arm. The analysis yielded six articles that focused on Jews (four in an Israeli context). No articles featured the voice of American Jews, focused on culturally competent practice with American Jews, or addressed contemporary antisemitism. The results suggest that American Jews are largely invisible in social work discourse, which raises questions about the profession’s ability to comply with its ethical standards.