Rites and Passages

Jay R. Berkovitz is Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the author of The Shaping of Jewish Identity in Nineteenth-Century France.

• IntroductionPART I. LEADERSHIP, COMMUNITY, AND RITUAL IN THE ANCIEN RÉGIME1. Communal Authority and Leadership2. Secularization, Consumption, and Communal Controls3. Ritual and Religious Culture in Alsace-LorrainePART II. REVOLUTION, RÉGÉNÉRATION, AND EMANCIPATION4. The Ordeal of Citizenship, 1782-17995. Religion, State, and Community: The Impact of Napoleonic Reform6. The "Jewish Question" During the Bourbon RestorationPART III. TRANSFORMATIONS IN JEWISH SELF-UNDERSTANDING7. Scholarship and Identity: La Science de JudaÏsme8. Rabbinic Authority and Ritual Reform9. Patrie et Religion: The Social and Religious Implications of Civic EqualityConclusionAbbreviationsNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

"Rites and Passages is a rich work of scholarship that tells with great erudition the unique story of French Jewish modernization."-The Journal of Religion"Although the French National Assembly granted Jews citizenship in 1791, this magisterial book argues that the meanings of this revolutionary watershed must be understood through much longer-running discussions and complex variations among French Jews. . . . This detailed volume . . . should interest a wide range of scholars in religious and civic history."-Choice"A formidable achievement that deserves to be read by all historians of modern Jewry and of the French Revolution. Berkovitz has laid out a fertile path for future exploration, and scholars will no doubt be indebted to him for many years to come."-Jewish History"A rich work of scholarship that tells with great erudition the unique story of French Jewish modernization."-Journal of Religion"A remarkable achievement. . . . Berkovitz has produced an erudite and persuasive work and a model of interdisciplinary scholarship. A major contribution to the study of European Jewry, Rites and Passages is equally relevant to the study of French history, cultural history, and the relationship between religion and modernity."-Ronald Schechter, H-France Review