Stepping into zion : Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the remaking of Jewish identity / Janice W. Fernheimer.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"By studying the multiracial Jewish organization Hatzaad Harishon, Janice W. Fernheimer's Stepping into Zion considers the question "Who is a Jew?"--A critical rhetorical issue with far-reaching consequences for Jews and non-Jews alike"-- Provided by publisher.

"By studying the multiracial Jewish organization Hatzaad Harishon, Janice W. Fernheimer's Stepping into Zion considers the question "Who is a Jew?"--A critical rhetorical issue with far-reaching consequences for Jews and non-Jews alike. Hatzaad Harishon ("The First Step") was a New York-based, multiracial Jewish organization that worked to increase recognition and legitimacy of black Jews in the sixties and seventies. In Stepping into Zion, Janice W. Fernheimer examines the history and archives of Hatzaad Harishon to illuminate the definition and borders of Jewish identity, which have critical relevance to Jews of all traditions as well as to non-Jews. Fernheimer focuses on a period when white Jewish identity was in flux and deeply influenced by the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. In 1964, white and black Jews formed Hatzaad Harishon to foster interaction and unity between black and white Jewish communities. They raised the question of who or what constitutes Jewishness or Jewish identity, and in searching for an answer succeeded-both historically and rhetorically-in gaining increased recognition for black Jews. Fernheimer traces how members of Hatzaad Harishon, who did not share the same set of definitions, were able to create common ground in a process she terms "interruptive invention." Through insightful interpretation of Hatzaad Harishon's archival materials, Fernheimer chronicles the group's successes and failures within the larger rhetorical history of conflicts that emerge when cultural identities shift or expand. Stepping into Zion offers "interruptive invention" as a framework for understanding and changing certain dominant discourses about racial and religious identity, allowing those who may lack institutional power or authority to begin to claim it"-- Provided by publisher.

Print version record.

Acknowledgments; Part I: Creating Inventional Opportunities for Audiences with Different Degrees of Authenticity, Authority, and Power; Introduction: Redefining Rhetorical Success; Chapter 1. You're Jewish?: Hebrew Israelites, Black Jews, and Disrupted Identity Discourses; Chapter 2. Solving Common Ground's Rhetorical Paradox: Interruptive Invention and the Potential for Incremental Success; Part II: Toward a Continuum of Rhetorical Recognition and Partial Success; Chapter 3. Making Space for Black Jews: Dissociative Disruption and the Rhetoric of Partial Recognition.

Chapter 4. Interrupting Whiteness: Hatzaad Harishon Youth Dance on the Edge of Jewish Identification, 1964-1969Chapter 5. Uncomfortable Communion: Black Power, Jewish Anxiety, and the Difficulty of Cross-Audience Communication, 1970 and 1971; Epilogue: From Interruption to Acceptance-The Rise of Jewish Multiculturalism and Jewish Identity 2.0; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

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