Book Notes

128 BOOK NOTES SHOFAR Annotations of books in German and french were wriuen by Waller Hirsch and jean-Pierre Ilerubel, respeClively, of Purdue Universiry. Reference materials in all nelds are listed under "Reference." American Jewish Life The Americanization of the Synagogue, 1820-1870, by Leon A. Jick. Hanover, NH: Universiry Press of New England, 1992. 247 pp. $18.00 (P). ISBN 0-87451-573-4. This book, nrst published in 1976, looks w the synagogue as the institution which best reIlects changing currems of American Jewish hiswry. The author argues that the middle of the nineteemh cemury was a formative period for American judaism. He makes a case for Reformjudaism as a pragmatic response w the American environment rather than an import from Germany, and points out how Americanization grew out of Jewish immigram struggles W achieve economic securiry while at the same time creating a new social identiry. A Communit)' in Conflict: Arnerican jewry During the Great European Immigration, by Charles Wyszkowski. Lanham, MD: Universiry Press of America, 1991. 384 pp. $44.50. ISBN 0-8191-8263-X. This book explores reactions W issues viewed as of major importance by the editors of "[be Arnerican Hebrew of New York in the years 1879-1884, 1894-1898, and1903-1908. Since its inception in 1879 and umil World War I, the Hebrew was a leading Anglo-jewish weekly, which helped to mold the structure and attitudes of the community'S English-speaking secwrs. Responsible for it was the nine-member li.)unding board, which remained anonymous umil 1929. Desire for wtal imegration into American sociery as well as fear of assimilation and pride in jewish particularism produced a communiry in conflict. Deep in the Heart; 'lbe Lives and Legends of Texas jews, by Ruthe Winegarten and Cathy Schechter. Austin, "IX: Eakin Press, 1990. 253 pp. $29.95. ISBN 0-89015-759-6. Vol. 10, No.1 Summer 1992 129 From the Spanish conquistadores to contemporary community builders,jews have helped shape the cultural landscape ofTexas. This is the story of hundreds of individuals and families, and also ofJewish institutions in dozens of Texas communities. Social issues like antisemitism and women's suffrage are examined, along with disagreements in the jewish community over Zionism and ritual practices. Frontier Faiths: Church, Temple, and Synagogue in Los Angeles, 1846-1888, by Michael E.. Engh. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1992. 352 pp. $32.50. ISBN 0-8263-1343-4. A Congregational missionary to Los Angeles complained in 1866 about newcomers who "left their religion at the [Mississippi] river and their principles somewhere on the plains." Between 1848 and 1888, Los Angeles mushroomed from a small Hispanic pueblo offifteen hundred to an Anglo-American city of fifty thousand. Roman Catholics were a majority in Los Angeles until nearly 1880, but thriving jewish and Chinese communities and the steady rise of Protestants created a religious and cultural diversity that made Los Angeles nearly unique as a western city. In spite of religious prejudice and racial violence, Protestants, Catholics, and jews developed an unparalleled religious cooperation based on civic boosterism and the desire to attract newcomers to the city and its churches. Gradually, though, the hard-won tolerance disappeared as folk Catholicism gave way to more formal worship and competition for parishioners became more important than cooperating to provide schools, fight disease, and maintain public order. The Luckiest Olphans: A History of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York, by Hyman Bogen. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1992. 283 pp. $34.95. ISBN 0-252-01887-7. Founded in 1860, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of New York was the oldest, largest, and best-known Jewish orphanage in the United States until its closing in 1941. This hook tells the story of the HOA's development from a nineteenth-century institution into a model twentieth-century child-care facility. 130 Ancient World & Archaeology SHOFAR Ancient Hebrew Inscriptions: Corpus and Concordance, by G. l. Davies, assisted by M. N. A. Bockmuehl, D. R. de Lacey, and A. J. Poulter. Cambridge: Cambridge Universiry Press, 1991. 535 pp. $110.00. ISBN 0521 -40248-4. The inscriptions dealt with in this book come from the Old Testament period (c. 1000 B...