The New Zionists: Young American Jews, Jewish National Identity, and Israel
(Hardback)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
The New Zionists: Young American Jews, Jewish National Identity, and Israel
By (Author) David L. Graizbord
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Lexington Books
26th May 2020
United States
Classifications
Professional and Scholarly
Non Fiction
Social groups: religious groups and communities
320.540956940973
Physical Properties
Hardback
314
Width 160mm, Height 230mm, Spine 29mm
635g
Description
Through a qualitative analysis and broad historical contextualization of personal interviews, this book shows how American Jewish Millennials who are not religiously orthodox approach Israel and Zionism as galvanizing solutions to the thinning of American Jewish identity, and (re)root themselves through Israelinessan unselfconscious and largely secular expression of national kinship and solidarity, as well as of personal and communal purpose, that American Judaism scarcely provides.
Reviews
The New Zionists: Young American Jews, Jewish National Identity, and Israel by David L. Graizbord is a rich, thought-provoking look at the deep Identity Zionism of the Zionists of Generation Y. Zeroing on the American Jewish bridge-builders who love the Jewish State, Professor Graizbord shows how many of them integrate their spiritual and national identities in their love of the Jewish state. The result is not only a fascinating portrait of American Jewish youthbut of many aspects of American youth more generally. -- Gil Troy, author, The Zionist Ideas and Moynihan's Moment: America's Fight against Zionism as Racism
David Graizbord's study of American Jews' postures toward Israel and Jewish peoplehood in the early 21st century challenges assumptions about their alleged disengagement or the much-discussed "greying" of the pro-Israel cohort. Based on interviews with 18-to-30-something mainly secular young adults, The New Zionists asks why the Zionist idea remains salient for those seeking "something greater than themselves": an identity that is neither privatized nor essentially faith-based. Going beyond the culture wars and the survey data, Graizbord's provocative reconsideration of the inner worlds of committed young Jews is a robust response to critics of collectivist ideologies. -- Eli Lederhendler, author of American Jewry: A New History
Author Bio
David Graizbord is associate professor of Judaic studies at the University of Arizona.
