Explorations in Sights and Sounds
Orginal Publication Date
1988
Journal Title
Explorations in Sights and Sounds
Volume
8
Issue
ess/vol8/iss1
First Page
43
Last Page
44
Abstract
A book-length study of Jewish crime in the United States ventures into uncharted territory, because rarely have Jews been associated with crime; in fact, Jewish life and criminal activity have been considered antithetical categories. This historical injunction against violence and illegal acts is the very myth with which Joselit opens her well-documented study of criminal involvement among New York Jews, beginning with its immigrant origins and concluding with the rise of the Jewish middle class in the interwar years. The dominant socio-cultural imperatives against malfeasance among the Jewish population provides the structural frame in which Joselit describes, with detailed bibliographic references, the conditions in the Lower East Side, which led to the rise of crime among the Jews.
Rights
Copyright, ©EES, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 1988