Judges and Jews: congregational conflict and the Protestant secular in 19th-century America
This article shows how 19th-century Jews embraced the American legal system. In spite of the rhetoric of religious freedom' the fact that religious congregations were legal corporations meant that they were never fully free' from government oversight. In the absence of clear religious au...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
[2018]
|
| In: |
Religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 48, Issue: 4, Pages: 659-677 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
USA
/ Religious freedom
/ Religious organization
/ Corporations
/ Legal system
/ Protestantism
/ Jewish community
|
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism KBQ North America |
| Further subjects: | B
Protestant secular
B 19th-century America B American Judaism B Religious Freedom B Legal History B Congregationalism B Secularism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This article shows how 19th-century Jews embraced the American legal system. In spite of the rhetoric of religious freedom' the fact that religious congregations were legal corporations meant that they were never fully free' from government oversight. In the absence of clear religious authorities, American Jews regularly invited state oversight into their religious affairs, and, seeking legal victory, they worked alongside judges to fit the dictates of Jewish law to the Protestant assumptions of American secularism. Three instances of Jewish congregational strife, dealing with practice, employment, and membership, are closely analyzed to demonstrate how outsider religious communities strategically navigated a legal system that was allegedly neutral but presumptively Protestant. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1096-1151 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2018.1520751 |