The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Judaism in America S 247

ism remains a major religion. In addition, Judaism has enriched other religions of the world, such as Christianity and Islam, and individual Jews have made major contributions to the world’s culture. Further reading: Nicholas de Lange and Miri Freud Kandel, Modern Judaism: An Oxford Guide (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005); Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (New York: Free Press, 1965); Jacob Neusner, The Way of Torah; An Introduction to Judaism, 2d ed. (Encino, Calif.: Dickenson, 1974); Herman Wouk, This Is My God (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1959). The practice of Judaism in the Western Hemisphere. This entry focuses specifically on J UDAISM in the United States. By the end of the 20th century, that Jewish community was second in importance only to the Jewish com munity in Israel. As a result of the European intellectual move ment known as the Enlightenment (18th century), Jews received full civil rights. That first happened on American soil. With American independence and the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, Jews could participate in the federal government, hold federal office, and seek legal recourse in the fed eral courts. The status of Jews in the various states was somewhat different. For example, at that time some states still required legislators to profess their belief in G OD “the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” This requirement excluded from the government not only Jews but also everyone who was not a trinitarian Christian ( see TRINITY ). The first Jewish community in what would later be the United States was established in New Amsterdam (later New York City) in Septem ber 1654. At the end of the 18th century (1800), roughly 2,000 Jews lived in the United States. Most of them had assimilated to a large extent into American society. Assimilation—for example, the use of English in WORSHIP , the adoption of a Gentile diet—was destined to be the issue on which the American Jewish community would divide. Judaism in America

the commands of God, but others see it as a code of customs that people are free to adopt or adapt according to their own consciences. In keeping with this distinction, some Orthodox Jews main tain that women cannot be rabbis, are not permit ted to read Torah in services, cannot count toward a minyan (traditionally, the number of men required for a prayer service), and cannot hold their own prayer services. Other Jews, however, believe that women hold an equal place in society and religious practices. Jews from various religious backgrounds also differ on other controversial topics, such as homo sexuality ( see HOMOSEXUALITY AND RELIGION ). Fur thermore, because Judaism is a small community that does not proselytize, particularly important are issues relating to interfaith marriage and how to regard children of such marriages. (Tradition ally, a child’s mother must be Jewish for the child to be considered Jewish.) Relationship with non-Jews also continue to demand attention ( see ANTISEMITISM ). For exam ple, the last of the survivors of the Holocaust are now very old or dying, and, in an effort to avoid new surges of antisemitism, many Jews are actively trying to document their experiences before they can no longer do so. Also, in North America, Jews are sometimes the targets of vig orous attempts to convert them to other reli gions, especially by Evangelical and fundamen talist Christians ( see E VANGELICAL C HRISTIANITY ; FUNDAMENTALISM , C HRISTIAN ). Most Jews regard those attempts as annoying and disrespectful. Particularly troubling at the beginning of the 21st century is the degree of antisemitism and violence against Jews in the Middle East, espe cially the terrorist attacks on Jews in the state of Israel. As seen in the world media, the devasta tion caused by such acts as terrorists’ suicide bombings tends to drown out the voices, on both sides, of those working for peace. SIGNIFICANCE At the end of the 20th century roughly 15 million people practiced Judaism. Although this is only a small percentage of the Earth’s population, Juda