The New Jewish Family: Reproductive Choices and Opportunities in Contemporary U.S. Society

Publication Date: May 2005

Publisher: Hadassah-Brandeis Institute

Author(s): Deborah Skolnick Einhorn; Sylvia Barack Fishman; Loraine Obler; Shulamit Reinharz

Research Area: Population and demographics; Social conditions

Keywords: Family; Feminism; Values

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

This set of three papers and a bibliography is designed to help individuals who wish to do research on the “New Jewish Family,” focusing on its representation in the United States. Einhorn’s paper, “Feminism, Families, and Fertility: An Exploration of Feminist Responses to the Jewish ‘Population Panic,’” summarizes a range of Jewish feminist perspectives on Jewish fertility. Fishman’s paper, “Public Jews and Private Acts: Family and Personal Choices in the Public Square and Private Realm,” links the personal choices that Jewish women make to the political climate in which they live, and examines the role that individuals and organizations play in creating that climate. Obler’s paper, “Me and My Special Jewish Family” is written from the perspective of a mother rather than a scholar, and places childbearing and childrearing within the context of Dr. Obler’s personal journey as a Jew and as a woman.

Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Working Paper Series No. 12, May 2005