Now in paperback! Taking Hold of Torah Jewish Commitment and Community in America Arnold M. Eisen A personal meditation on the meaning of Judaism today and a vision for revitalizing Jewish community and tradition in America. "Arnold M. Eisen offers a personal plea for—and a vision of—the revitalizing of American Judaism through a renewed relationship to Jewish tradition and the strengthening of Jewish communities." —Jewish Book News "...required reading for Jewish communal professionals, [Taking Hold of Torah] spells out the discontents and dreams of the baby boomers and their children who are reinventing Jewish communal life for the modern world." —Jewish Exponent "Melding autobiography with biblical exegesis, philosophical speculation and a program for Jewish educational reform, the book is an unbuttoned riff on what's ailing modern Jews." —Forward "...a personal story of a modern Jew trying to make sense of Judaism in a time when Jews can choose whether and how to be Jewish...." —The Jewish Advocate Jews, like other Americans, have both benefitted and suffered from the fraying of traditional loyalties that has come to characterize modern American culture. In each of the five chapters, Arnold M. Eisen examines a major issue or theme related to his vision for the renewal of Jewish communities—in terms of one of the five books of the Torah. What is the meaning and purpose of Jewish tradition? What is the significance of faith and covenant? What are the contemporary uses of ritual? What should a new agenda for politics in American Jewish life include? What legacy is to be left to future generations? This encouraging work is essential reading for anyone concerned with questions of Jewish faith and the future of Judaism in America. Arnold M. Eisen is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at Stanford University, a frequent speaker on issues related to contemporary Jewish life before lay and scholarly audiences throughout North America, and an active participant in communal discussions concerning the future of American Judaism. His publications include The Chosen People in America (Indiana University Press) and Rethinking Modern Judaism: Ritual, Commandment, Community, winner of a Koret Jewish Book Award. The Helen and Martin Schwartz Lectures in Jewish Studies Contents: Introduction 1. Genesis: Taking on Tradition 2. Exodus: History, Faith, and Covenant 3. Leviticus: Ritual and Community 4. Numbers: Politics in the Wilderness 5. Deuteronomy: Legacies

"Blowing the Whistle on Genocide tells the story of a young Treasury Department lawyer who helped alert the world about the Holocaust and force U.S. government action to rescue Jews from the Nazis." "Risking his career and ignoring threats that were made against him, Josiah E. DuBois, Jr., relentlessly investigated and then exposed the State Department's suppression of news about the Holocaust and obstruction of rescue attempts." "His report, "The Acquiescence of This Government in the Murder of the Jews," helped force President Roosevelt to belatedly establish the War Refugee Board. With DuBois as one of its leaders, the board played a key role in the rescue of more than 200,000 refugees during the final months of the war." "At every turn, DuBois was confronted by officials who tried to stop him - from the powerful Assistant Secretary of State who sabotaged rescue attempts, to the War Department official who blocked DuBois's proposal to bomb Auschwitz and worked to pardon Nazi war criminals after the war." "But DuBois persevered. He overcame the obstacles and saved lives. He was America's Schindler."--BOOK JACKET.

Presents the story of civilians who have died as a result of America's recent wars, introducing some of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rescue workers who tried to save them, and the American soldiers coming to terms with their deaths.

The only account in print of the origins of May Day, with highlights of its first century from around the world. 21 illustrations. Notes. Index.

In the Fall of 1992, Millennium Approaches, the first part of Tony Kushner's Angels in America, won England's prestigious Evening Standard award as the season's Best Play. By the Spring of 1993, Millennium had come to Broadway and won its highest honor, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the distinguished Pulitzer Prize for drama as well. Through its epic theatrical panorama of the intimate and political dynamics that arise when individuals, histories, and cultures intersect, Millennium captured the imagination and the conscience of all who saw it. Its ability to deeply move the audience in personal, communal, and political ways was admirably (and astoundingly) matched by the subsequent production of the play's second part, Perestroika, which brought Kushner yet another Evening Standard award and Tony Award for Best Play (1994). Tony Kushner has, almost overnight, become the premier American male playwright to "represent" the 1990s, as David Mamet and August Wilson dominated critical attention in the 1980s. The phenomenally positive response to Angels in America was matched by the equally enthusiastic reception of its young, politically engaged playwright, who impressed journalists and scholars with his eloquent intellect, wit, and moral convictions. Kushner spoke for a younger generation of American artists and activists whose art is intimately connected to social vision and "revolutionary" possibilities in the public and private sectors. His role as a generational (read "national," "liberal," "socialist," "Jewish," "queer") spokesman has provided him with a public platform from which to address concerns that lie at the center of national debate. In a short time Kushner has capturedand retained a nation's fascination, and his opinions are widely sought out on a wide range of topics. And, most often, the platform from which Kushner expresses his ideas is the personal interview, in which he boldly confronts Americans to rethink, even to reinvent, themselves as the Millennium approaches. Tony Kushner in Conversation is the first book to compile Kushner's most significant interviews of the past decade, tracing his career from its early years to his maturing artistic and political visions. The collection includes pieces that first appeared in an amazingly broad range of periodicals as well as interviews not previously published, such as his appearance on PBS on The Charlie Rose Show. In addition to Angels in America, Tony Kushner is author of Slavs! and is currently finishing work on Henry Box Brown, scheduled to have its world premiere at the Royal National Theatre in the summer of 1997. Robert Vorlicky is Associate Professor of Drama at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

. . . Mr. Itzkoff places most of the blame for America's alleged intellectual decline on what he sees as an economically and intellectually elite cast of misguided liberals. They have isolated themselves from American society, he says, by their paternalistic treatment of the underclass, by discounting the importance of traditional family values and by failing to raise enough bright children to sustain national competence. The New York Times Book Review Few doubt that the United States has slipped from its longstanding eminence as the world's wealthiest and most productive nation. The problem for the past 30 years has been the diagnosis of both the decline and then the cure. Literally trillions of dollars have been expended in futile programs to stanch the hemorrhaging of our economic wealth, jobs, educational achievement, and cultural elan. Itzkoff argues that we will never stop the fall until we understand our real national dilemma. This is the decline in our national intelligence profile: fewer citizens of high intelligence, educational potential, and economic productivity. These ideas are taboo. Itzkoff, however, insists that these are the facts, and they must be examined. In this book, he lays out the available evidence for our social disintegration and suggests a rational program of policy initiatives that would begin to restore us to what we were as recently as 1955--the great hope of the world.

This is the first study of the Zionist movement in Germany, England and the United States that recognizes "Western Zionism" as a distinctive force. It focuses on images of Zionist leaders and Palestine, on tours of Palestine, youth and women's organizations, the First World War, and the rise of the Keren Hayesod (Palestine Foundation Fund).

World Without War is a book written by J. D. Bernal, which explores the idea of creating a world without war. The book is a philosophical and political treatise that examines the root causes of war and proposes solutions to prevent it. Bernal argues that war is not a natural or inevitable part of human existence, but rather a product of specific historical and social conditions. He believes that these conditions can be changed, and that it is possible to create a world without war. The book is divided into three parts. The first part explores the causes of war, including economic factors, nationalism, and the arms race. The second part proposes solutions to prevent war, including disarmament, international cooperation, and the creation of a world government. The third part examines the implications of a world without war, including the possibility of a more peaceful and prosperous world, and the challenges of building a new global order. Throughout the book, Bernal draws on a wide range of sources, including history, philosophy, and science. He argues that war is not only destructive but also irrational, and that it is in the interest of all people to work towards a world without war. World Without War is a thought-provoking and inspiring book that challenges readers to think critically about the root causes of war and to imagine a better future for humanity.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Recounts the transformation of two daily newspapers in the face of economic downturns and sweeping technological change. In 1978, Harry Rosenfeld left the Washington Post , where he oversaw the paper’s standard-setting coverage of Watergate, to take charge of two daily papers under co-ownership in Albany, New York: the morning Times Union and the evening Knickerbocker News . It was a particularly challenging moment in newspaper history. While new technologies were reducing labor costs on the production side and providing ever more sophisticated tools for journalists to practice their craft, those very same technologies would soon turn a comparatively short-lived boom into a grave threat, as ever more digitally distracted readers turned to sources other than print and other legacy media for their news. Between these boundaries, Rosenfeld set about to do his work. Picking up where his previous memoir, From Kristallnacht to Watergate , left off, Battling Editor tells the story of how Rosenfeld and his colleagues transformed two daily publications into alert and aggressive newspapers even in times of economic downturn. Bringing the investigative habits he had honed in his years at the New York Herald Tribune and the Washington Post , Rosenfeld’s objective was to tell the fully rounded stories of the region’s cities, suburbs, and rural towns, with awareness of both their achievements and their shortcomings. Furthermore, the misuse of power, whenever it happened, whether in city hall or the state capitol, in courtrooms or prisons, or in hospitals, corporations, community organizations, was to be exposed, and those accountable were to be held responsible. More importantly, however, Rosenfeld’s account is enlisted in the growing call to arms for all who cover the news and all who consume it. Written at a time when the credibility of news organizations is under attack by those at the highest levels of government, Battling Editor is a full-throated defense of fact-based journalism and hard-hitting reporting at the local as well as national level. “Harry’s book is often about tough decisions, and it stands out as a handbook on how to live an ethical life in the news business right now. Is it possible to tell the truth all the time? Sometimes. But this is an instructive narrative—especially today when the truth is such a rare commodity in the White House and Congress, and the financially beleaguered press is itself under threat as an enemy of the people. Harry and his family lived in Nazi Germany, and escaped it in 1939. A large part of his subsequent life has been an ongoing war against fascism, racism, and political criminals. This book explains how he waged that war on a daily basis in the newsrooms he managed so well, and for so long.” — from the Foreword by William Kennedy “Harry Rosenfeld made a choice. He left an exciting job at the Washington Post for the chance to do what so many editors dream of—become the guy in charge of two vibrant regional newspapers. What fun he had as a boss—being responsible for stories about local heroes, crooked politicians, and the day-to-day doings of a capital city. There also is a tinge of nostalgia in Harry’s memoir, for the kind of local reporting Harry lived for has all but disappeared in today’s newspaper world. Local coverage has been stripped away in newspaper after newspaper as all are facing dwindling readership and disappearing income.” — Seymour M. Hersh

Between late 1942 and early 1944, the Marines took part in a series of major campaigns in and around the Solomons--including New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester--all part of the effort to reach the Japanese at Rabaul. Eric Hammel has scoured the National Archives to unearth every extant combat photo of these campaigns that paved the way to victory in the Pacific. Although the 1st Marine Division had broken the back of the Japanese on Guadalcanal in furious combat in October and November of 1942, there was still much hard fighting up the "slot" in the Solomons first in New Georgia, then Bouganville, and finally Cape Goucester on the west end of New Britain, where the 1st Marine Divsion returned to battle at the end of 1943 after being restored following its grueling fight for Guadalcanal. The Marines campaigns in the Solomons and onto New Britain resulted in the mighty Japanese fortress at Rabaul on the northeast coast of New Britain being isolated and the flank of the continuing army campaign for New Guinea under MacArthur being secured from attacks from Fortress Rabaul. The high watermark of the Japanese in the South and Southwest Pacific had now passed, and the Marines would continue their island hopping in the Central Pacific all the way to Japan.

No detailed description available for "The Democratic-Republicans of Massachusetts".

Donald Klopfer and Bennett Cerf had been partners in Random House for seventeen years, but Donald decided that he had to become a part of an even greater endeavor—the defeat of Nazi Germany. Not long after Pearl Harbor, Donald, who was then forty years old, took a leave from Random House and joined the United States Army Air Forces. He served for two and a half years, finally becoming an intelligence major in a B-24 group in England. Donald and Bennett wrote to each other regularly all during that period. Bennett sent Donald long newsy letters about the book business—authors, sales, publishing gossip—as well as about what was happening in New York. Donald reacted in his wise, serene way to Bennett’s letters, and conveyed news of what was going on in the war, though sometimes censorship took its toll. This is nostalgia with substance, and because these letters were never intended to be read by anyone else, they reveal, in a convincing and wonderful way, just how special these two men were and how that specialness was reflected in the company they founded.

The evolution of the national security state in the United States can be traced from the political, military, and economic dimensions of American power in the postwar world. In Raskin's view, the United States emerged from the Second World War with tremendously increased prestige and material power, and American leadership created a national security apparatus as a planning instrument to ensure national stability, to mute class conflicts, and to secure the domestic economy. This state then became the basis around the world for covert and overt imperialism.The consensus that developed served to maintain stability at home and to guide the modern empire abroad. This development required a state that was orderly and that was predicated on modern bureaucracy, which operated within the values and assumptions of the ruling elites.The national security state system was successful primarily in the economic sphere, with bipartisan foreign-policy decision making aimed at ensuring a stable business climate at home and abroad. Military involvement in Indochina evidenced the decline of American hegemony; the genocidal nature of the arms race and the questions raised by protestors of the sixties signaled the break up of the national security consensus.Raskin concludes the book with an examination of alternative directions, especially regarding the need and the possibilities for renewed public debate of national policy and purpose.

Sociology, writes Irving Louis Horowitz, has changed from a central discipline of the social sciences to an ideological outpost of political extremism. As a result, the field is in crisis. Some departments have been shut down, others cut back, research programs have dried up, and the growth of professional organizations and student enrollments have been either curbed or atrophied. In The Decomposition of Sociology, Professor Horowitz, for four decades a leading social scientist, offers a frank and full account of the maelstrom engulfing this field. Horowitz pulls no punches in this provocative volume. He charges that much contemporary sociological theory has degenerated into pure critique, strongly influenced by Marxist dogmatism. Such thinking has a strong element of anti-American and anti-Western bias, in which all questions have one answer--the evil of capitalism--and all problems one solution--the good of socialism. In criminology, for instance, he shows that high crime rates are seen as an expression of capitalist disintegration, and criminal behavior a covert expression of radical action. Indeed, in one area after another, Horowitz shows how this same formulaic thinking dominates the field, resulting in a crude reductionist view of contemporary social life. At a time when the world is moving closer to the free market and democratic norms, he concludes, such reductionist tendencies and ideological posturings are outmoded. Horowitz offers an alternative. He urges a larger vision of the social sciences, one in which universities, granting agencies and research institutes provide an environment in which research may be untainted by partisan agencies--where policy choices will not be hindered by the prevailing cultural climate. He counsels sociologists to move away from blind advocacy, to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century by incorporating the knowledge of other times and places, and to take into account the shrinking globe--in short, to develop and maintain a new set of universal standards in this era of a world culture. Here then is an eloquent plea for a revolution in sociology, written by one of the field's foremost figures. It offers as well a cautionary tale about the potentially devastating effect of ideology on scholarly pursuits.

"Peace Corps volunteers seem to exemplify the desire to make the world a better place. Yet despite being one of history's clearest cases of organized idealism, the Peace Corps has, in practice, ended up cultivating very different outcomes among its volunteers. By the time they return from the Peace Corps, volunteers exhibit surprising shifts in their political and professional consciousness. Rather than developing a systemic perspective on development and poverty, they tend instead to focus on individual behavior; they see professions as the only legitimate source of political and social power. They have lost their idealism, and their convictions and beliefs have been reshaped along the way. The Death of Idealism uses the case of the Peace Corps to explain why and how participation in a bureaucratic organization changes people's ideals and politics. Meghan Elizabeth Kallman offers an innovative institutional analysis of the role of idealism in development organizations. She details the combination of social forces and organizational pressures that depoliticizes Peace Corps volunteers, channels their idealism toward professionalization, and leads to cynicism or disengagement. Kallman sheds light on the structural reasons for the persistent failure of development organizations and the consequences for the people involved. Based on interviews with over 140 current and returned Peace Corps volunteers, field observations, and a large-scale survey, this deeply researched, theoretically rigorous book offers a novel perspective on how people lose their idealism, and why that matters"--

In the heady days of the Cold War, when the Bomb loomed large in the ruminations of Washington's wise men, policy intellectuals flocked to the home of Albert and Roberta Wohlstetter to discuss deterrence and doomsday. The Cold World They Made takes a fresh look at the original power couple of strategic studies. Seeking to unravel the complex tapestry of the Wohlstetters' world and worldview, Ron Robin reveals fascinating insights into an unlikely husband-and-wife pair who, at the height of the most dangerous military standoff in history, gained access to the deepest corridors of American power. The author of such classic Cold War treatises as "The Delicate Balance of Terror," Albert Wohlstetter is remembered for advocating an aggressive brinksmanship that stood in stark contrast with what he saw as weak and indecisive policies of Soviet containment. Yet Albert's ideas built crucially on insights gleaned from his wife. Robin makes a strong case for the Wohlstetters as a team of intellectual equals, showing how Roberta's scholarship was foundational to what became known as the Wohlstetter Doctrine. Together at RAND Corporation, Albert and Roberta crafted a mesmerizing vision of the Soviet threat, theorizing ways for the United States to emerge victorious in a thermonuclear exchange. Far from dwindling into irrelevance after the Cold War, the torch of the Wohlstetters' intellectual legacy was kept alive by well-placed disciples in George W. Bush's administration. Through their ideological heirs, the Wohlstetters' signature combination of brilliance and hubris continues to shape American policies.--

MANY PASTS: Readings in American Social History, 1600-1876, Volume I, edited by Herbert G. Gutman and Gregory S. Kealey, consists of four broad sections: The Colonial World, 1600-1763; Independence and the New Nation, 1763-1815; The Beginnings of a New Society, 1815-1843; The New Society and the Changing Old Society, 1843-1876. Among the contributors to Volume I: Edmund S. Morgan, Nancy Oestreich Lurie, Richard B. Morris, Pauline Maier, Sidney W. Mintz, Allan Kulikoff, San Bass Warner, Alfred Young, Gerald Mullin, Norman Ware, Edward Pessen, Caroline Ware, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, John F. C. Harrison, Alice H. Bauer, Charles Hirschfeld, Avery Craven, Gunter Barth, David Montgomery, W. E. B. Dubois, Joel Williamson. This collection of readings focuses on these objectives: to acquaint the reader with historians whose writings in American social history directly or indirectly explore critical intersections of culture and society; to supplement in basic ways the traditional political emphasis in American history courses; to illustrate how different methods of historical inquiry have been used by historians to spotlight important but often neglected aspects of the American past. It also focuses on ALL the ethnic and racial groups in America as well as on the varied social classes. The editors emphasize the structure of American Society, how it has changed, and how those changes were experienced and interpreted by Americans of varied social classes.