The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America (review)

During the 1950s the concept of religion underwent a significant change in America. It became personalized, scripture more open to individual interpretation. Which religion you were no longer mattered, only the simple fact of having a religion. In the spirit of pluralism religions became interchangeable; one was as good as another. ¹ In the 1960s sociologists noted the increasing personalization and individualization of religion. In the 1980s, the term "Sheilaism" came to symbolize an extremely personal and voluntary conceptualization of religious belief and practice.

Most of the American Jewish population, the majority of whom are descended from East European immigrants of the Great Migration of 1880-1924, absorbed these changes in the ongoing process of assimilation and Americanization. Over the last half-century a number of terms including symbolic ethnicity, accommodation, transformation, reconstruction, and renewal were used to express this process. Two particularly perceptive studies identified critical trends in Jewish identity. Peter Medding and his co-authors noted that Jewish identity had become unambiguous and segmented. ² Charles Liebman insightfully analyzed the changing context of ritual practice among the majority of American Jews. ³ When the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey identified an intermarriage rate of 52 percent for first marriages since 1985 the 'continuity' of American Jewry became a major concern of Jewish organizations and researchers. In response, emphasis was given to the development of Jewish identity.

These changes led to the greater use of in-depth interviews rather than, or in conjunction with, large-scale surveys by social scientists in order to probe underlying subjective meaning frameworks. The Cohen and Eisen study is an excellent example of this methodological shift. Using a questionnaire along with in-depth interviews Cohen and Eisen develop a portrait of the integration of American ideas with the beliefs and behavior of the American Jewish population. They focus on the baby boomer population who comprise nearly one-half of the adult population of American Jewry and about whom other comparable studies have been conducted. Their subjects represent the bulk of American Jewry in that they are "moderately affiliated."

One interesting finding is that Jews continue to be concerned with and express two clearly defined objective and subjective boundaries, identified also by Medding's study: Not believing in Jesus and not having a Christmas tree. Also noted by Medding and confirmed by Cohen and Eisen, Jewish identity remains both segmented and unambiguous. Another interesting finding is the continuing relationship between the importance an individual attaches to his or her Jewishness and traditional indicators of Jewish commitment—such as friendship patterns, inmarriage, synagogue affiliation and attendance, Jewish education and upbringing. These findings are important because, like the findings of Bernard Lazerwitz, ⁴ they contest the perception that individualized and personalized notions of Judaism have transcended traditional indicators and denominationally based behavior patterns. However, this study makes clear that what has radically changed is the context in which Jewish practices and beliefs, as well as the above indicators occur. Cohen and Eisen's thoughtful and insightful book documents the extent to which the large majority of American Jews have assimilated and integrated a pluralistic and individualistic concept of religion into their everyday lives and practices. Judaism is regarded as an intrinsic and unchangeable part of one's personal identity, a birthright. But the how and where Judaism is expressed are fairly well segmented into the personal and familial realms. The perceived benefit to oneself, family and community does not necessarily lead to a rejection of intermarriage or even a clear preference for in- marriage.

In sum Cohen and Eisen find "...that which is personally meaningful has gained at the expense of that which is peoplehood-oriented. American Jews today are relatively more individualist and less collectivist. Taken as a group, their patterns of belief and practice are more idiosyncratic and diverse, less uniform and consensual. No...