Book Notes

Volume 10, No.2 Winter 1992 BOOK NOTES Reference materials in all fields are listed under "Reference." American Jewish Life 155 Changing Jewish Life: Service Delivery and Planning in the 1990s, edited by Lawrence I. Sternberg, Gary A. Tobin,and Sylvia Barack Fishman. Westport , cr: Greenwood Press, 1991. 296 pp. $47.50. ISBN 0-313-25014-6. The contemporary Jewish community in America is undergoing a profound change, one that has seen the evolution of a vast array of human service agencies and organizations. This work carefully examines the nature of these community services and the planning issues that they present to today's American Jews. The twelve essays are grouped into three sections and explore the transformations of the Jewish identity and the behavior of American Jews, issues related to providing services to specific populations and the planning strategies and professional involvement necessary to meet the changing needs of the community. Ellis Island: An Illustrated History ofthe Immigrant Experience, by Ivan Chermayeff . New York: Macmillan, 1991. 288 pp. $49.95. ISBN 0-02-584441-5. Visually presents the American immigrant experience, based on the exhibits at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Written and designed by the museum's curators. I Remember Brooklyn: Memories of Favorite Sons and Daughters, by Ralph Monti. New York: Birch Lane, 1991. 224 pp. $22.95. ISBN 1-55972-093-X Presented in scrapbook style, with more than 180 photographs, this volume is a nostalgic journal by celebrated Brooklynites past and present. Saving Remnants: Feeling Jewish in America, by Sara Bershtel and Allen Graubard. New York: Free Press, 1991. 300 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-02-9030854 . Is there a Jewish "revival" in America? Or is the American Jewish community slowly dying? Strangely, both seem to be true. To explain this seeming paradox, the authors argue that our "postmodern" culture of choice makes Jewish involvement a matter of election. 156 SHOFAR Sharkey's Kid: A Memoir, by Leroy Ostransky. New York: Morrow, 1991. 288 pp. $20.00. ISBN 0-688-10325-1. A remembrance of Manhattan's Lower East Side during Prohibition. An Unillustrious Alliance: The African American and Jewish American Communities , by William M. Phillips, Jr. Westport, Cf: Greenwood Press, 1991. 184 pp. $42.95. ISBN 0-313-27776-1. Are the relationships between minority· groups as significant as those between dominant and minority groups? In this analysis of the relationships between the African American and the Jewish American communities , Phillips argues that they are. By examining the processes of negotiating , bargaining, cooperating, and conflicting between these two communities over the last hundred years,Phillips provides a case study of relationships that has importance to an understanding of racial and ethnic group interaction in America. lliiting Our Lives: Autobiographies of American Jews, 1890-1990, edited by Steven J. Rubin. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991. 347 pp. $40.00 (c); $19.95 (p). ISBN 0-8276-0393-3 (c); 0-8276-0399-1 (p). Drawn from the writings of some of the best-known American Jewish novelists, dramatists, critics, and historians of this century, this collection of autobiographies and memoirs presents a view of the complexities of American Jewish life over the past one hundred years. Ancient World & Archaeology Habakkuk, by Robert D. Haak. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1991. 177 pp. $57.25. ISBN 90-04-09506-3. The seventh century was a time of turmoil in the Near East. The demise of the long-dominant Assyrian empire led to struggles among the remaining powers. The small nation of Judah experienced conflict and confusion as it tried to survive the rapidly changing situation. Habakkuk examines the prophecy of Habakkuk to determine the role which this prophet played in the complex struggles of the period. Habakkuk begins with form- and text-critical examinations of the prophecy attributed to Habakkuk. These studies provide a clearer understanding of the text and enable the placement of this work within its historical context. A review of the international and internal political situation indicates that the prophecy relates to a specific period within late seventh-century Judah and that its author supported particular persons and policies within this VoLume 10, No.2 Winter 1992 157 setting. This recognition allows an examination...