Synopses & Reviews
Even in our world of redefined life partnerships and living arrangements, most marriages begin through sacred ritual connected to a religious tradition. But if marriage rituals affirm deeply held religious and secular values in the presence of clergy, family, and community, where does divorce, which severs so many of these sacred bonds, fit in? Sociologist Kathleen Jenkins takes up this question in a work that offers both a broad, analytical perspective and a uniquely intimate view of the role of religion in ending marriages.
For more than five years, Jenkins observed religious support groups and workshops for the divorced and interviewed religious practitioners in the midst of divorces, along with clergy members who advised them. Her findings appear here in the form of eloquent and revealing stories about individuals managing emotions in ways that make divorce a meaningful, even sacred process. Clergy from mainline Protestant denominations to Baptist churches, Jewish congregations, Unitarian fellowships, and Catholic parishes talk about the concealed nature of divorce in their congregations. Sacred Divorce describes their cautious attempts to overcome such barriers, and to assemble meaningful symbols and practices for members by becoming compassionate listeners, delivering careful sermons, refitting existing practices like Catholic annulments and Jewish divorce documents (gets), and constructing new rituals.
With attention to religious, ethnic, and class variations, covering age groups from early thirties to mid-sixties and separations of only a few months to up to twenty years, Sacred Divorce offers remarkable insight into individual and cultural responses to divorce and the social emotions and spiritual strategies that the clergy and the faithful employ to find meaning in the breach. At once a sociological document, an ethnographic analysis, and testament of personal experience, Sacred Divorce provides guidance, strategies and answers to readers looking for answers and those looking to heal.
Review
andquot;Benor's engaging and innovative study of language and identity surprises, delights, and educates. Becoming Frum is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand Jewish language and culture today.andquot;
Review
andldquo;
Becoming Frum offers a nuanced visual and sound portrait of Orthodox Jewish life, enabling us to hear the way individualsandrsquo; identities evolve.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;This volume by Benor is a sociolinguistic study of non-Orthodox Jews becoming frum (religious) by returning to the beliefs and practices of Orthodox Jewish life. Nine well-researched chapters underscore the state of hesitation, decision, and action of returnees.
Becoming Frum encodes dress change, eating habits, social outlook, and an impressive array of 'dos and don'ts' that will identify the newly observant. Very informative is Benor's investigative scrutiny of
frumster speech (religious Yinglish). This is a strong ethnographic study of issues and lessons related to becoming religiously Orthodox observant. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;
Space and Place in Jewish Studies is a valuable introduction to the roles that locations, real and imagined, have played in Jewish historical experiences, literary and artistic works, and scholarship.andquot;
Review
"In reading
Sacred Divorce, one is so moved by an astounding number of beautifully written sentences and gripping quotes that one feels one has gone through divorce, therapy, recovery and healing."
Review
"A thoughtful and smart examination of how religious communities shape
Review
andquot;Thompsonandrsquo;s bookand#160;is an original and powerfully suggestive intervention in the scholarship on intermarriage. Her argument is fresh and sound. She is particularly persuasive presenting her compelling ethnographic material.andquot;and#160;
Review
andquot;Jewish on Their Own Termsand#160;challenges the prevailing intermarriage paradigm by examining the lived experience of intermarried couples and analyzing the meaning and impact of intermarriage discourse in the Jewish community.andquot;and#160;
Review
andquot;Thompson explores the ways in which individuals and couples directly involved in and affected by intermarriage define themselves, their perspectives on their own Jewishness, and their attempts at juggling the larger questions of individualism and communal responsibilities. Recommended.andquot;
Review
"Sacred Divorce offers a remarkable work of cultural sociology that reveals how religious efforts to sacralize divorce reflect broader cultural tensions about individualism within religion and marriage."
Review
"Jenkins artfully constructs a powerful analysis of how contemporary divorce experiences are transformed from potentially shaming events into opportunities for spiritual growth that are imbued with sacred meanings."
Synopsis
When non-Orthodox Jews become frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar. Becoming Frumand#160;explainsand#160;how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers.
Synopsis
When non-Orthodox Jews become
frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar.
Becoming Frum explains how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers. Some take on as much as they can as quickly as they can, going beyond the norms of those raised in the community. Others maintain aspects of their pre-Orthodox selves, yielding unique combinations, like Matisyahu's reggae music or Hebrew words and sing-song intonation used with American slang, as in "
mamish (really) keepin' it real."
Sarah Bunin Benor brings insight into the phenomenon of adopting a new identity based on ethnographic and sociolinguistic research among men and women in an American Orthodox community. Her analysis is applicable to other situations of adult language socialization, such as students learning medical jargon or Canadians moving to Australia. Becoming Frum offers a scholarly and accessible look at the linguistic and cultural process of "becoming."
Synopsis
Winner, 2013 Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature
When non-Orthodox Jews become frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar. Becoming Frum explains how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers. Some take on as much as they can as quickly as they can, going beyond the norms of those raised in the community. Others maintain aspects of their pre-Orthodox selves, yielding unique combinations, like Matisyahu's reggae music or Hebrew words and sing-song intonation used with American slang, as in "mamish (really) keepin' it real."
Sarah Bunin Benor brings insight into the phenomenon of adopting a new identity based on ethnographic and sociolinguistic research among men and women in an American Orthodox community. Her analysis is applicable to other situations of adult language socialization, such as students learning medical jargon or Canadians moving to Australia. Becoming Frum offers a scholarly and accessible look at the linguistic and cultural process of "becoming."
Synopsis
When non-Orthodox Jews become frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar. Becoming Frumand#160;explainsand#160;how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers. Some take on as much as they can as quickly as they can, going beyond the norms of those raised in the community. Others maintain aspects of theirand#160;pre-Orthodox selves, yielding unique combinations, like Matisyahuandrsquo;s reggae music or Hebrew wordsand#160;and sing-song intonation used with American slang, as in andldquo;mamish (really) keepinandrsquo; it real.andrdquo;
Sarah Bunin Benor brings insight into the phenomenon of adopting a new identity based on ethnographic andand#160;sociolinguistic research among men and women in an American Orthodox community. Her analysis is applicable to other situations of adult language socialization, such as students learning medical jargon or Canadians moving to Australia. Becoming Frum offers a scholarly and accessibleand#160;look at the linguistic and cultural process of andldquo;becoming.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Scholars in the humanities have become increasingly interested in questions of how space is produced and perceivedandmdash;and they have found that this consideration of human geography greatly enriches our understanding of cultural history. This andldquo;spatial turnandrdquo; equally has the potential to revolutionize Jewish Studies, complicating familiar notions of Jews as andldquo;people of the Book,andrdquo; displaced persons with only a common religious tradition and history to unite them.
Space and Place in Jewish Studies embraces these exciting critical developments by investigating what andldquo;spaceandrdquo; has meant within Jewish culture and traditionandmdash;and how notions of andldquo;Jewish space,andrdquo; diaspora, and home continue to resonate within contemporary discourse, bringing space to the foreground as a practical and analytical category. Barbara Mann takes us on a journey from medieval Levantine trade routes to the Eastern European shtetl to the streets of contemporary New York, introducing readers to the variety of ways in which Jews have historically formed communities and created a sense of place for themselves. Combining cutting-edge theory with rabbinics, anthropology, and literary analysis, Mann offers a fresh take on the Jewish experience.
Synopsis
In a world where marriage remains a largely sacred undertaking, what role does religion play when such bonds are broken? Kathleen Jenkins takes up this question in a work that combines broad sociological analysis with the intimate stories of the clergy and the faithful across the religious spectrum as they talk about experiencing a break in core family and religious bonds. Discussed within are the associated social emotions, the spiritual tools available to them, and the larger cultural strategies and approaches in institutions that assist in restructuring family and religious identity.
About the Author
SARAH BUNIN BENOR is an associate professor of contemporary Jewish studies at Hebrew Union Collegeandndash;Jewish Institute of Religion. She has published and lectured widely on sociolinguistics, Jewish languages, and Orthodox Jews.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Preface
Acknowledgments
Transcription Conventions
1. Introduction: Orthodox Jews and Language Socialization
2. andquot;Now You Look Like a Ladyandquot;: Adventures in Enthnographic and Sociolinguistic Fieldwork
3. andquot;He Has Tzitzis Hanging Out of His Ponytailandquot;: Orthodox Cultural Practices and How BTs Adapt Them
4. andquot;This Is Not What to Recordandquot;: Yiddish, Hebrew, and the English of Orthodox Jews
5. andquot;Torah or Toyrahandquot;: Language and the Modern Orthodox Black Hat Continuum
6. andquot;Just Keepin' It Real, Mamishandquot;: Why Ba'alei Teshuva Adopt (or Avoid) Orthodox Language
7. andquot;I Finally Got the Lingoandquot;: Progression in Newcomers' Acquisition of Orthodox Language
8. andquot;A Ba'al Teshuva Freakandquot;: Distinguishing Practies of Newly Orthodox Jews
9. Matisyahu and My Fair Lady: Reflections on Adult Language Socialization
Notes
Bibliography
Index