Are American Jews losing their Jewish identity?
Since George Washington promised Jewish Americans the full privileges and protections of U.S. citizenship, Jews have flourished in America as nowhere else in the world. But has that come at the expense of their distinctiveness, their unique perspective?
Richard Rubin argues that while most American Jews have been “Americanized,” they continue to be shaped by Jewish history, culture, and religion in ways that affect everything from their social attitudes to their child-rearing methods to their voting patterns. This “fusion” of American values with Jewish ones has created a “hybrid” Jewish identity that American Jews must cultivate and pass on to future generations.