Hasidic Williamsburg: A Contemporary American Hasidic Community
In this thorough and well-documented study, Kranzler builds on his 1961 book, Williamsburg: A Jewish Community in Transition. In his earlier report, he concluded, somewhat pessimistically, that this old Brooklyn Jewish neighborhood might not survive. Now, Kranzler reports that in the three decades since his first study the Hasidic community has stabilized. The author attributes this reversal of fortune to the central role of both observant religious values and the Hasidic ideology. He covers such topics as Jewish residential patterns, efforts at economic revitalization, the role of education, the family structure, and women in the Hasidic community. Kranzler also describes the principal institutions of Satmar Hasidic life. In this way, he both updates and complements Solomon Poll's The Hasidic Community of Williamsburg (1962). Recommended for Judaic studies collections and larger popular collections.Mark Weber, Kent State Univ. Lib., OhioCopyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.