Morton Weinfeld

Liberal democratic societies with diverse populations generally offer minorities two usually contradictory objectives: the first is equal integration and participation; the second is an opportunity, within limits, to retain their culture. Yet Canadian Jews are successfully integrated into all domains of Canadian life, while at the same time they also seem able to retain their distinct identities by blending traditional religious values and rituals with contemporary cultural options. Like Everyone Else but Different illustrates how Canadian Jews have created a space within Canada’s multicultural environment that paradoxically overcomes the potential dangers of assimilation and diversity. At the same time, this comprehensive and data-driven study documents and interprets new trends and challenges including rising rates of intermarriage, newer progressive religious options, finding equal space for women and LGBTQ Jews, tensions between non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews, and new forms of real and perceived anti-Semitism often related to Israel or Zionism, on campus and elsewhere. The striking feature of the Canadian Jewish community is its diversity. While this diversity can lead to cases of internal conflict, it also offers opportunities for adaptation and survival. Seventeen years after its first publication, this new edition of Like Everyone Else but Different provides definitive updates that blend research studies, survey and census data, newspaper accounts and articles, and the author’s personal observations and experiences to provide an informative, provocative, and fascinating account of Jewish life and multiculturalism in contemporary Canada.

Liberal democratic societies with diverse populations generally offer minorities two usually contradictory objectives: the first is equal integration and participation; the second is an opportunity, within limits, to retain their culture. Yet Canadian Jews are successfully integrated into all domains of Canadian life, while at the same time they also seem able to retain their distinct identities by blending traditional religious values and rituals with contemporary cultural options. Like Everyone Else but Different illustrates how Canadian Jews have created a space within Canada’s multicultural environment that paradoxically overcomes the potential dangers of assimilation and diversity. At the same time, this comprehensive and data-driven study documents and interprets new trends and challenges including rising rates of intermarriage, newer progressive religious options, finding equal space for women and LGBTQ Jews, tensions between non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jews, and new forms of real and perceived anti-Semitism often related to Israel or Zionism, on campus and elsewhere. The striking feature of the Canadian Jewish community is its diversity. While this diversity can lead to cases of internal conflict, it also offers opportunities for adaptation and survival. Seventeen years after its first publication, this new edition of Like Everyone Else but Different provides definitive updates that blend research studies, survey and census data, newspaper accounts and articles, and the author’s personal observations and experiences to provide an informative, provocative, and fascinating account of Jewish life and multiculturalism in contemporary Canada.

The aftermath of World War II was a period of massive Jewish migration. More than a million Jews came to settle in the new state of Israel; hundreds of thousands moved to North America, Australia, and France, while tens of thousands resettled themselves elsewhere in Europe and the world. Emigration was, in turn, paralled by large-scale movement among second-generation Jews from the great urban centers to the suburbs. Until recently it has seemed as though the Jewish people had, in the words of the Bible, reached a situation of rest and landed inheritance. However, there is considerable evidence that Jews are still moving: from the former Soviet Union, to and from Israel, and within nations where they have been long resident. Still Moving examines the causes and character of contemporary migration in Israel and throughout the Diaspora. The contributors to this volume adopt a cross-cultural comparative approach. Part 1 establishes the context of the new migration globally with specific concentration on its effects on the institutions of Israeli democracy. Part 2 surveys immigration to Israel in the 1990s with particular emphasis on the wave of Russian emigres since the fall of the Soviet Union. Internal migration from rural to urban centers is also explored. Migration to the Diaspora is covered in part 3. The Jewish identity of Soviet Jews is compared to their American and Canadian counterparts. Economic performance and problems of multigenerational families among emigres are also treated, as are the controversies surrounding politically motivated emigration from Israel. Part 4 focuses on the changing nature of the Diaspora and its relations with Israel. Beyond its grounding in Jewish culture and history, Still Moving frames questions that are central to understanding contemporary migration in general: Does immigration accelerate or retard the abilities of host countries to restructure economically? How does greater ethnic diversity affect the social and cultural life of cities? What factors help immigrants integrate into the wider community? Does immigration contribute to the creation of a marginalized underclass? Still Moving will be essential reading for historians, sociologists, Jewish studies specialists, and policy analysts.

The aftermath of World War II was a period of massive Jewish migration. More than a million Jews came to settle in the new state of Israel; hundreds of thousands moved to North America, Australia, and France, while tens of thousands resettled themselves elsewhere in Europe and the world. Emigration was, in turn, paralled by large-scale movement among second-generation Jews from the great urban centers to the suburbs. Until recently it has seemed as though the Jewish people had, in the words of the Bible, reached a situation of rest and landed inheritance. However, there is considerable evidence that Jews are still moving: from the former Soviet Union, to and from Israel, and within nations where they have been long resident. Still Moving examines the causes and character of contemporary migration in Israel and throughout the Diaspora. The contributors to this volume adopt a cross-cultural comparative approach. Part 1 establishes the context of the new migration globally with specific concentration on its effects on the institutions of Israeli democracy. Part 2 surveys immigration to Israel in the 1990s with particular emphasis on the wave of Russian emigres since the fall of the Soviet Union. Internal migration from rural to urban centers is also explored. Migration to the Diaspora is covered in part 3. The Jewish identity of Soviet Jews is compared to their American and Canadian counterparts. Economic performance and problems of multigenerational families among emigres are also treated, as are the controversies surrounding politically motivated emigration from Israel. Part 4 focuses on the changing nature of the Diaspora and its relations with Israel. Beyond its grounding in Jewish culture and history, Still Moving frames questions that are central to understanding contemporary migration in general: Does immigration accelerate or retard the abilities of host countries to restructure economically? How does greater ethnic diversity affect the social and cultural life of cities? What factors help immigrants integrate into the wider community? Does immigration contribute to the creation of a marginalized underclass? Still Moving will be essential reading for historians, sociologists, Jewish studies specialists, and policy analysts.

Rosenberg drew his information from the Canadian census of 1931 and previous census records, statistical material from other studies collected by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, and international data sources. His comparative approach, with Canadian Jews compared wherever possible to other ethnic or religious groups in Canada and to diaspora Jewish communities elsewhere, is a major strength of the work. This new edition is a facsimile which faithfully reproduces Rosenberg's meticulous compilation of statistics. It includes a new introductory essay by Morton Weinfeld, who focuses on Rosenberg's life, the era, and the relevance of the book for today's readers. Weinfeld has also prepared a detailed bibliography of Rosenberg's social scientific works on Canadian Jewish life. CONTENTS: Comparative Jewish Statistics * Estimates and Censuses * Growth of Canada's Jewish Population * Geographical Distribution of Jews in Canadian Provinces * Comparative Density of Jewish Population of Canada * Age and Sex Distribution * Conjugal Condition * Place of Birth * Vital Statistics * Intermarriage * Conversion and Apostasy * Immigration * Jewish Immigration * Analysis of Increase in Jewish Population of Canada * The Economic Structure of Canadian Jewry * Social-Economic Stratification of Jews in Canada * Occupational Trends * Jews in Industry * Jews in Trade * Jews in the Professions * Jews in Service Occupations * Jews in Finance * Jews in Agriculture * Jewish Farm Statistics * Citizenship * Jews in Canadian Defence Forces * Languages and Literacy * Education * Morbidity * Criminal Statistics * Anti-Semitism

Rosenberg drew his information from the Canadian census of 1931 and previous census records, statistical material from other studies collected by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, and international data sources. His comparative approach, with Canadian Jews compared wherever possible to other ethnic or religious groups in Canada and to diaspora Jewish communities elsewhere, is a major strength of the work. This new edition is a facsimile which faithfully reproduces Rosenberg's meticulous compilation of statistics. It includes a new introductory essay by Morton Weinfeld, who focuses on Rosenberg's life, the era, and the relevance of the book for today's readers. Weinfeld has also prepared a detailed bibliography of Rosenberg's social scientific works on Canadian Jewish life. CONTENTS: Comparative Jewish Statistics * Estimates and Censuses * Growth of Canada's Jewish Population * Geographical Distribution of Jews in Canadian Provinces * Comparative Density of Jewish Population of Canada * Age and Sex Distribution * Conjugal Condition * Place of Birth * Vital Statistics * Intermarriage * Conversion and Apostasy * Immigration * Jewish Immigration * Analysis of Increase in Jewish Population of Canada * The Economic Structure of Canadian Jewry * Social-Economic Stratification of Jews in Canada * Occupational Trends * Jews in Industry * Jews in Trade * Jews in the Professions * Jews in Service Occupations * Jews in Finance * Jews in Agriculture * Jewish Farm Statistics * Citizenship * Jews in Canadian Defence Forces * Languages and Literacy * Education * Morbidity * Criminal Statistics * Anti-Semitism

This volume examines the long-term consequences of the Holocaust on survivors and their children some four decades after the war. This book represents the culmination of nine years of collaborative effort, consisting primarily of findings drawn from two sample surveys of Jewish residents in Montreal. This volume covers new research topics that have been neglected in the survivor literature, including personality, familial interactions, vocational achievements, sociopolitical attitudes. an excellent source of material from a sociopolitical and psychological perspective. The assessment of the impact of a political movement on the attitudes and psychological status of a minority population is informative. The study of a large group of Holocaust survivors adds significantly to the scientific literature in this area. Contemporary PsychologyThe first empirical study of the psychological consequences of the Holocaust across three generations, this book assesses the long-term and intergenerational effects of severe victimization and of other forms of exposure to excessive, prolonged stress. Although there can be no doubt that there are negative psychological and physical consequences for the survivors of the Holocaust, the authors present evidence here that contradicts the dominant thrust of previous studies, which emphasized dysfunction in the family life of survivors and psychological impairment in their children. In addition to an intensive study of Holocaust survivors and their families, this book provides a yardstick against which the long-term and cross-generational impact of other potentially traumatic situations--war, earthquakes, flood, fire, assault, and so on--may be measured. The authors' research for this volume spans the disciplines of psychology, psychiatry, sociology, history, and ethnic studies. The book, however, is written in an accessible style easily understood by the nonprofessional reader. The culmination of a nine year collaborative effort, Trauma and Rebirth consists, primarily, of findings drawn from two sample surveys of Jewish residents in Montreal. One survey focuses on Holocaust survivors, the second on children of survivors. Both include control groups, and draw from unbiased, nonclinical, and non-self-selected populations. Students and scholars of modern Jewish life and the Holocaust, or anyone interested in the study of trauma and victimization, will find Trauma and Rebirth an invaluable resource.