Jews, Judaism, and Success
Jews, Judaism, and Success

Author: Robert Eisen

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2023-06-23

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1487548249

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In Jews, Judaism, and Success, Robert Eisen attempts to solve a long-standing mystery that has fascinated many: How did Jews become such a remarkably successful minority in the modern Western world? Eisen argues that Jews achieved such success because they were unusually well-prepared for it by their religion – in particular, Rabbinic Judaism, or the Judaism of the rabbis. Rooted in the Talmud, this form of Judaism instilled in Jews key values that paved the way for success in modern Western society: autonomy, freedom of thought, worldliness, and education. The book carefully analyses the evolution of these four values over the past two thousand years in order to demonstrate that they had a longer and richer history in Jewish culture than in Western culture. The book thus disputes the common assumption that Rabbinic Judaism was always an obstacle to Jews becoming modernized. It demonstrates that while modern Jews rejected aspects of Rabbinic Judaism, they also retained some of its values, and these values in particular led to Jewish success. Written for a broad range of readers, Jews, Judaism, and Success provides unique insights on the meaning of success and how it is achieved in the modern world.

The Chosen Few
The Chosen Few

Author: Maristella Botticini

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 0691144877

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Maristella Botticini and Zvi Eckstein show that, contrary to previous explanations, this transformation was driven not by anti-Jewish persecution and legal restrictions, but rather by changes within Judaism itself after 70 CE--most importantly, the rise of a new norm that required every Jewish male to read and study the Torah and to send his sons to school. Over the next six centuries, those Jews who found the norms of Judaism too costly to obey converted to other religions, making world Jewry shrink. Later, when urbanization and commercial expansion in the newly established Muslim Caliphates increased the demand for occupations in which literacy was an advantage, the Jews found themselves literate in a world of almost universal illiteracy. From then forward, almost all Jews entered crafts and trade, and many of them began moving in search of business opportunities, creating a worldwide Diaspora in the process.

The Jewish Intellectual Tradition
The Jewish Intellectual Tradition

Author: Alan Kadish

Publisher: Academic Studies PRess

Published: 2021-01-19

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 1644695367

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The Jewish intellectual tradition has a long and complex history that has resulted in significant and influential works of scholarship. In this book, the authors suggest that there is a series of common principles that can be extracted from the Jewish intellectual tradition that have broad, even life-changing, implications for individual and societal achievement. These principles include respect for tradition while encouraging independent, often disruptive thinking; a precise system of logical reasoning in pursuit of the truth; universal education continuing through adulthood; and living a purposeful life. The main objective of this book is to understand the historical development of these principles and to demonstrate how applying them judiciously can lead to greater intellectual productivity, a more fulfilling existence, and a more advanced society.

The Jewish Phenomenon
The Jewish Phenomenon

Author: Steve Silbiger

Publisher: Taylor Trade Publications

Published: 2000-05-25

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 1563525666

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With truly startling statistics and a wealth of anecdotes, Silbiger reveals the cultural principles that form the bedrock of Jewish success in America.

The Rag Race
The Rag Race

Author: Adam D. Mendelsohn

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2015

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1479847186

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Winner, 2016 Best First Book Prize from the Immigration and Ethnic History Society Finalist, 2016 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature Winner, 2015 Book Prize from the Southern Jewish Historical Society Finalist, 2015 Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association for Jewish Studies Winner, 2014 National Jewish Book Award in American Jewish Studies from the Jewish Book Council The majority of Jewish immigrants who made their way to the United States between 1820 and 1924 arrived nearly penniless; yet today their descendants stand out as exceptionally successful. How can we explain their dramatic economic ascent? Have Jews been successful because of cultural factors distinct to them as a group, or because of the particular circumstances that they encountered in America? The Rag Race argues that the Jews who flocked to the United States during the age of mass migration were aided appreciably by their association with a particular corner of the American economy: the rag trade. From humble beginnings, Jews rode the coattails of the clothing trade from the margins of economic life to a position of unusual promise and prominence, shaping both their societal status and the clothing industry as a whole. Comparing the history of Jewish participation within the clothing trade in the United States with that of Jews in the same business in England, The Rag Race demonstrates that differences within the garment industry on either side of the Atlantic contributed to a very real divergence in social and economic outcomes for Jews in each setting.

The Image of Jews in Contemporary China
The Image of Jews in Contemporary China

Author: James Rodman Ross

Publisher: Jewish Identities in Post-Mode

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9781618114204

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Bookstores in Chinese cities are stocked with dozens of Chinese-language books on how Jews conduct business, manage the world, and raise their children. At least ten universities throughout China offer popular Jewish Studies programs, some with advanced degrees. Yet there are virtually no Jews in China. The Chinese are constructing an identity for a people that the large majority of them will never meet. This edited volume critically examines the image of Jews from the contemporary perspective of ordinary Chinese citizens. It includes chapters on Chinese Jewish Studies programs, popular Chinese books and blogs about Jews, China_s relations with Israel, and innovative examinations of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng.

The Arc of the Covenant
The Arc of the Covenant

Author: Earl Schwartz

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-07-08

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 1498596673

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The Arc of the Covenant studies the social, cultural, and political factors that contributed to exceptional Jewish educational success in St. Paul, Minnesota in the latter half of the twentieth century. The book draws on archival sources, interviews with principal figures, and wide-ranging research on Jewish education and community dynamics to elucidate the story’s intriguing improbabilities. Why such success in a midsize, midcentury, midwestern river town with a relatively small Jewish population of limited resources? How did it happen, and how have circumstances changed in recent years? The answers are to be found at the intersection of broad historical forces and local circumstances. Though focused on a particular place and time, the implications reach far beyond St. Paul, then and now, making Arc of the Covenant a timely resource for current Jewish educational planners, along with educators in other communities dedicated to the transmission of a sacred heritage.

The Israel Test
The Israel Test

Author: George Gilder

Publisher: Encounter Books

Published: 2012-07-03

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1594036136

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In this book, George Gilder claims that the reason there is such hatred and crticism of the current state of Israel is because these critics are envious of Israel’s sudden rise as a world power. This, he claims, is an inherent quality of Judaism, which, “perhaps more than any other religion, favors capitalist activity and provides a rigorous moral framework for it.” Those who currently hate Israel’s economy, such as surrounding countries in the Middle East and Western European nations that are facing socialist decline, have failed the “Israel Test” because they seek to tear down this country’s success, and America’s ability and desire to defend Israel will define our future survival as a nation: “If Israel is destroyed,” he says, “capitalist Europe will likely die as well, and America, as the epitome of productive and creative capitalism spurred by Jews, will be in jeopardy.”

Breaking the Jewish Code
Breaking the Jewish Code

Author: Perry Stone

Publisher: Charisma Media

Published: 2013-06-04

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1616384948

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Stone unlocks the amazing secrets to the success of the Jewish people. Their time-honored principles help create wealth, maintain health, raise successful children, and pass on generational blessings.