Changing Jewish Life: Service Delivery and Planning in the 1990s

(Hardback)

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The Jewish community in America is currently undergoing profound changes, and American Jews are experiencing personal and communal realities that differ markedly from those of their parents and grandparents. To meet the needs of this population, a complex human service delivery system has evolved, with a vast array of agencies and organizations providing health care, housing, nuturition programs, counseling, child care, Jewish education and many other services. In this work, the editors have brought together a collection of essays that explore the nature of these services, the profound implication they are having for the Jewish community and the planning issues that confront today's American Jews. The editors have divided the essays into three subject groups, all of which explore the numerous issues crucial to understanding the nature of planning in contemporary Jewish communities. The first section examines transformations in the behaviour of American Jews and Jewish identity, covering such topics as education and careers, ethnic clustering, and Jewish fundraising. Section two explores issues involved in providing services to specific populations, including social, educational and recreational services for singles, families and children. The final section addresses the planning strategies necessary to meet the changing needs of the community. The four essays here focus on understanding the planning paradigms and realities in the Jewish community, and the roles professionals play in implementing change. This work should be an important resource for students of sociology and Jewish studies, and a valuable addition to most library collections.

Author Bio

LAWRENCE I. STERNBERG is Associate Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Assistant Professor at Brandeis University. Specializing in Jewish advocacy and public policy, he is the author of Bridging the Gap Between a New Generation of American Jews which appeared in the Journal of Jewish Communal Service. GARY A. TOBIN is Director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. A specialist in Jewish demography, antisemitism, and fundraising/planning in Jewish organizations, he is the author of Jewish Perceptions of Antisemitism, Divided Neighborhoods: Racial Segregation in the 1980s and Social Planning and Human Service Delivery in the Voluntary Sector (Greenwood Press, 1985). SYLVIA BARACK FISHMAN is Senior Research Associate at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Her academic specialization in the changing roles of women and the American Jewish family. Dr. Fishman has published research reports for the Cohen Center on Jewish education and the family, as well as articles that have appeared in the American Jewish Year Book and Contemporary American Jewry.