BEYOND THE SYNAGOGUE: JEWISH NOSTALGIA AS RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

American Jews tell stories about who they are and where they come from through a range of everyday objects and supposedly secular organizations. In her book Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice, religious studies professor Rachel B. Gross examines the ways many American Jews express longing for Eastern European heritage through artisanal delis, children’s books and dolls, historic synagogues, and Jewish genealogy. She argues that these nostalgic activities should be understood as religious practices, illuminating how many American Jews are finding and making meaning within American Judaism today. This analysis points to the limits and possibilities of nostalgia, including challenges in embracing diversity among American Jews.

Rachel B. Gross is Associate Professor and John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies in the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. She is a religious studies scholar who studies twentieth- and twenty-first-century American Jews. Her book, Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice, is a 2021 National Jewish Book Award finalist in American Jewish Studies and received an Honorable Mention for the 2021 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society. She is currently writing a book about the spiritual adventures of the twentieth-century Jewish writer Mary Antin.

You may order  Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice by Rachel B. Gross from:

• NYU Press:  https://nyupress.org/9781479803385/beyond-the-synagogue/ USE the code GROSS30-FM for 30% off and free shipping directly from NYU Press
• Rakestraw Books in Danville: https://www.rakestrawbooks.com/search/author/%22Gross%2C%20Rachel%20B.%22
• Orinda Books in Orinda: https://www.orindabooks.com/search/author/%22Gross%2C%20Rachel%20B.%22
• Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore in Berkeley: https://www.mrsdalloways.com/search/author/%22Gross%2C%20Rachel%20B.%22
• Your preferred local bookstore or online retailer

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Sponsored by CCJCC.