Jews, God, and Videotape

Religion and Media in America

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Judaism, History
Cover of the book Jews, God, and Videotape by Jeffrey Shandler, NYU Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jeffrey Shandler ISBN: 9780814740873
Publisher: NYU Press Publication: April 1, 2009
Imprint: NYU Press Language: English
Author: Jeffrey Shandler
ISBN: 9780814740873
Publisher: NYU Press
Publication: April 1, 2009
Imprint: NYU Press
Language: English

Engaging media has been an ongoing issue for American Jews, as it has been for other religious communities in the United States, for several generations. Jews, God, and Videotape is a pioneering examination of the impact of new communications technologies and media practices on the religious life of American Jewry over the past century. Shandler’s examples range from early recordings of cantorial music to Hasidic outreach on the Internet. In between he explores mid-twentieth-century ecumenical radio and television broadcasting, video documentation of life cycle rituals, museum displays and tourist practices as means for engaging the Holocaust as a moral touchstone, and the role of mass-produced material culture in Jews’ responses to the American celebration of Christmas.
Shandler argues that the impact of these and other media on American Judaism is varied and extensive: they have challenged the role of clergy and transformed the nature of ritual; facilitated innovations in religious practice and scholarship, as well as efforts to maintain traditional observance and teachings; created venues for outreach, both to enhance relationships with non-Jewish neighbors and to promote greater religiosity among Jews; even redefined the notion of what might constitute a Jewish religious community or spiritual experience. As Jews, God, and Videotape demonstrates, American Jews’ experiences are emblematic of how religious communities’ engagements with new media have become central to defining religiosity in the modern age.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Engaging media has been an ongoing issue for American Jews, as it has been for other religious communities in the United States, for several generations. Jews, God, and Videotape is a pioneering examination of the impact of new communications technologies and media practices on the religious life of American Jewry over the past century. Shandler’s examples range from early recordings of cantorial music to Hasidic outreach on the Internet. In between he explores mid-twentieth-century ecumenical radio and television broadcasting, video documentation of life cycle rituals, museum displays and tourist practices as means for engaging the Holocaust as a moral touchstone, and the role of mass-produced material culture in Jews’ responses to the American celebration of Christmas.
Shandler argues that the impact of these and other media on American Judaism is varied and extensive: they have challenged the role of clergy and transformed the nature of ritual; facilitated innovations in religious practice and scholarship, as well as efforts to maintain traditional observance and teachings; created venues for outreach, both to enhance relationships with non-Jewish neighbors and to promote greater religiosity among Jews; even redefined the notion of what might constitute a Jewish religious community or spiritual experience. As Jews, God, and Videotape demonstrates, American Jews’ experiences are emblematic of how religious communities’ engagements with new media have become central to defining religiosity in the modern age.

More books from NYU Press

Cover of the book Black Sun by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book To Live Freely in This World by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book The Thirteenth Amendment and American Freedom by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Prophets and Protons by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book The Freudian Mystique by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book What Works for Women at Work by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Wal-Mart Wars by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Strange Neighbors by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Negro Comrades of the Crown by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Employment of English by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Forging Napoleon's Grande Armée by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book The New American Servitude by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Zero Tolerance by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book Speaking about Godard by Jeffrey Shandler
Cover of the book The Psychology of Tort Law by Jeffrey Shandler
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy