Charleston County Public Library

For such a time as this, the impact of Christian missionaries on the birth of Reform Judaism in Charleston, South Carolina, 1824-1846, by Ashley Lauren Goldberg

eng

"The first generation of Americans born after the Revolution found themselves in uncharted territory, defining what it meant to be an American in a country that did not yet know itself. The impact was far reaching, as old institutions struggled to adapt to changing mores. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the city of Charleston, South Carolina was home to the largest Jewish population in America; it too found itself in the midst of the struggle between the old ways and the new. How should Judaism adopt or adapt to the customs of a new country, one dominated by a Protestant majority? Should it at all? This thesis will examine the impact of democracy and Christian influence on Charleston's Jewish community. Most scholarship has focused on the events of the birth of Reform Judaism, noting the importance of new freedoms to Jewish acculturation. But no scholarship has sufficiently examined the motivation behind Reform Judaism. [This thesis] analyzes the impact that Christian doctrine played on the specific alteration to Jewish doctrine and how proposed reforms were received not only by the Jewish community in Charleston, but also in America."--Page ii

Includes bibliographical references

Thesis (M.A.)--Clemson University, 2013.

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

For such a time as this

bibliographytheses

by Ashley Lauren Goldberg

the impact of Christian missionaries on the birth of Reform Judaism in Charleston, South Carolina, 1824-1846

Introduction: the experiment at work -- In the beginning: Jewish colonial life and the impact of the American Revolution -- The Reformed Society of Israelites -- Isaac Leeser and The Occident: the Orthodox Jewish response to the Reformed Society of Israelites -- Reforming women: the impact of the Reformed Society of Israelites on women -- Conclusion: transforming Judaism

Impact of Christian missionaries on the birth of Reform Judaism in Charleston, South Carolina, 1824-1846