Jerusalem and Sao Paulo: The New Jewish Orthodoxy in Focus

by Marta F. Topel, James A. R. Allen

Overview

Jerusalem and Sao Paulo is a pioneering work of over four years of anthropological research on the "repentance", or return to Jewish roots phenomenon, in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The return-to-Jewish-roots phenomenon is identified by its Hebrew name of teshuvah, and the individuals involved are called "baalei teshuvah" (repentants).

Jerusalem and Sao Paulo describes the long process these young people undergo in their choice of Jewish Orthodoxy. Due to the fact that Judaism is an ortho-practical religion, which emphasizes praxis over belief and dogma, the conversion to Orthodoxy is radical, traumatic, and more encompassing than that experienced by other Brazilians who adopt religions such as Neo-Pentacolism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Afro-Brazilian creeds. The book examines the following processes and contexts and their interrelationships: Globalization of religion, the Brazilian market of religious goods, the History of the Jewish community in Sao Paulo, and the teshuvah movement in Israel and the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761841555
Publisher:	University Press of America
Publication date:	09/11/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Marta F. Topel, (Ph.D.), is a researcher and a junior lecturer in the Program for Jewish Studies of the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil). She is the author of several articles on Jewish orthodoxy and modern Judaism.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Chapter 1. Hansen's Law: What a Grandfather wants to forget, His Grandson wants to remember
Chapter 3 Chapter 2. The Brazilian Jewish Community's Pikuach Nefesh, or the First Seeds of the Teshuvah Movement in the Tropics
Chapter 4 Chapter 3. Teshuvah as a Fundamental Idea within Judaism
Chapter 5 Chapter 4. Recruiting New Members
Chapter 6 Chapter 5. The Yoke of the Mitzvot: A Long Journey
Chapter 7 Chapter 6. On the Baalot Teshuvah and the Many Challenges they face in Becoming Good Jewesses
Chapter 8 Chapter 7. Judaism, Religious Identity and Globalization. On the Consolation of the Orthodox Community in Sao Paulo

Editorial Reviews

I recommend the translation and publication of the excellent book by Dr. Topel—Jerusalem and Sao Paulo—into English. The book deals with a most fascinating and enigmatic phenomenon that has not been studied until now: the emergence of a new orthodoxy in the stronghold of secular Jewry in Latin America. This transformation is particularly noticeable in Sao Paulo, where Jews form part of the upper middle class and are well integrated in the Brazilian society.

Margalit Bejarano

Dr. Topel researched during four years the phenomenon of the adoption of orthodoxy by young secular Jewish people.. .. Her volume is undoubtedly an important contribution to the understanding of the world-wide phenomenon of the new-Jewish orthodoxy. For the English reader, who is generally very poorly informed about Jewish life in Brazil, her work will be of particular importance.

Haim Avni