“We have answered their prayer”: American Jewish old age homes as guardians of religious tradition

The old age home was the major American Jewish communal response to aged poverty during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first homes offered a self-conscious projection of their sponsors as socially progressive and compassionate in a new landscape. For a religious community inc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion, spirituality & aging
Subtitles:Institutional Perspectives
Main Author: Friedberg, Edna (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge [2017]
In: Journal of religion, spirituality & aging
Further subjects:B cultural narratives
B aging and spirituality
B Synagogue
B ageing / Aging
B Retirement
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:The old age home was the major American Jewish communal response to aged poverty during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The first homes offered a self-conscious projection of their sponsors as socially progressive and compassionate in a new landscape. For a religious community increasingly distanced from formal hierarchies of traditional religious practice, the highly visible performance of good deeds under explicitly Jewish auspices became central to its communal identity. Acting on a combination of compassion and the perceived moral imperative of providing a Jewish environment, the founders and supporters of these homes recast Judaism and Jewish identity through an idealized image of aged piety.
ISSN:1552-8049
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion, spirituality & aging
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2016.1169567