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THE QUESTION
Jewish Identity
PBS is airing a series on "The Jewish Americans." We know what "Jewish identity" has meant in the past. What will it mean in the future? How does a minority religion retain its roots and embrace change?
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on January 7, 2008 5:23 AM
FROM THE PANEL
The Gandhis and Their Moral Blind Spot
Mr. Gandhi’s refusal to even reference the formal state of war that most Arab nations still maintain against Israel . . . reflects the moral blindness of his grandfather regarding Jews and deprives his moral analysis of the power it might otherwise posses
Posted by David Saperstein, on January 14, 2008 5:35 PM
The Future of Jewish Americans
The more American Jews become identified with the prevailing culture, the sooner they can expect the same future as so many other immigrant communities who assimilated into mainstream America and lost their unique identity.
Posted by Adin Steinsaltz, on January 14, 2008 2:18 PM
Jewish Identity and Popular Religiosity
The Jewish faith is not burdened with the Christian notion that “Outside the Church there is no salvation;” or that only baptized Christians go to heaven.
Posted by Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo, on January 14, 2008 1:15 PM
Freedom's Genius
Judaism in the United States has been inventive and adaptive.
Posted by Gustav Niebuhr, on January 14, 2008 12:34 PM
Life as a Minority Isn't What it Used to Be
We have Iftars at the White House, a congressman who is Muslim, and a presidential candidate who is not only black but also attended madrassa as a child.
Posted by Pamela K. Taylor, on January 14, 2008 11:50 AM
Four Thousand Years and Counting
There is no other way forward than for all Americans, Jewish and non-Jewish, to insist on a real and far-reaching Middle East peace process.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on January 11, 2008 7:41 AM
Jewish Identity Is What Each Jew Makes Of It
The neocons like Kristol and Wolfowitz have simply proved that a Jew can be just as stupid as anyone else--say, Bush. Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. Only in America.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on January 11, 2008 6:43 AM
Signals of a Shift
This agenda may very well signal an important shift in a sense of Jewish identity, at least for a portion of the younger Jewish generation in America.
Posted by Richard Mouw, on January 11, 2008 5:41 AM
My Apology for My Poorly Worded Post
I do not believe and should not have implied that the policies of the Israeli government are reflective of the views of all Jewish people. Indeed, many are as concerned as I am by the use of violence for state purposes, by Israel and many other governments. | Readers Respond to Gandhi.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on January 10, 2008 8:40 AM
An Ever Living People
Jewish identity will be plural and will mean what those people who consciously call themselves Jews decide it will mean.
Posted by Irwin Kula, on January 10, 2008 7:12 AM
Jewish Identity, Past and Future
The role of a free society is to allow maximum scope for the believers to define what the core belief might be.
Posted by Mark S. Sisk, on January 10, 2008 6:13 AM
Choosing to be Among the Chosen
Jewish communities are stronger than ever, but will need to cry antisemitism less often, and to trade on its strengths, not on a sense of victimhood.
Posted by Julia Neuberger, on January 9, 2008 9:18 AM
The Jewish Mind and the American Mind
Of all the Jews I have known, Abe Heschel best represents the Jewish mind in its affirmation of roots, exploration of range, and adjustment to change.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on January 9, 2008 7:49 AM
Is It Good for the Jews?
"The Jewish Americans" ably reminds us and our children of where we came from, but it fails to address the more challenging question of where we go from here.
Posted by Lisa Miller, on January 8, 2008 3:20 PM
Losing Distinctiveness: Sure Way to Oblivion
Latter-day Saints have no intention of sacrificing that distinctiveness on the altar of social acceptance.
Posted by Michael Otterson, on January 8, 2008 11:11 AM
Assimilation, Israel Central Issues
The problems for retaining identity includes when the environment turns at least neutral and at best friendly.
Posted by Martin Marty, on January 8, 2008 9:23 AM
Jewish Identity Can't Depend on Violence
We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on January 7, 2008 2:50 PM
Jewish Identity Requires Freedom
Never have I experienced or heard about the Jewish community using the Holocaust to impose a giant guilt-trip on anybody.
Posted by Welton Gaddy, on January 7, 2008 1:52 PM
The Jewish Advantage
The Jewish people have a great, though challenging, advantage over many western Christians, in that they know in their bones that they are called to be different.
Posted by Nicholas T. Wright, on January 7, 2008 8:45 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
Nissan Katz: It is "important not to forget the past". Indeed. Your esteemed grandfather, I believe, suggested that Jews attempt his philosophy of non-vi...
Ari Stotleman: Creating a snake pit? You call that logic? Why don't you first explain why your grandfather's country has nuclear weapons? And then tell ...
Raj Shekar Patel: Your grandfather told the Jews that "satyagragha" is the way to fight Hitler. He threatened to fast till death when Nehru refused to hand o...
