From Fashion to Politics: Hadassah and Jewish American Women in the Post World War II Era

Paul Harvey Wanted to highlight a review of this new work that will interest some of you here: Shirli Brautbar, From Fashion to Politics: Hadassah and jewish American Women in the Post World War II Era. Check out the blog/website for the new book here. Below the review is a bit more about the book from the website.  Brautbar, Shirli.  From fashion to politics: Hadassah and Jewish American women in the post World War II era.  Academic Studies Press, 2012.  152p index; ISBN9781618111593 pbk, $49.00. Reviewed in 2012dec CHOICE.

In her history of Hadassah in the postwar period, Brautbar (Nevada State College) shows how a very narrow definition of the political has constrained the scholarship on the US Jewish women's Zionist organization. She demonstrates how Hadassah actively influenced US sentiment and policy on the new state of Israel, communism, civil rights, and Soviet Jewry. Her study also illuminates larger questions, such as how Zionism moved from a peripheral ideological position among US Jews to a mainstay in much of US Jewish life. The study complements the existing historical scholarship, which concentrates on the early years of Hadassah prior to the existence of the state of Israel. Brautbar demonstrates why Hadassah, as the largest US Zionist organization, deserves continued attention: its foreign and domestic projects, while not overtly aligned with political parties, influenced both perception and policy in Israel and the US.Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. -- S. E. Imhoff, Indiana University / Bloomington A New Book Shirli Brautbar, From Fashion to Politics: Hadassah and Jewish American Women in the Post World War II Era Hadassah: the Women’s Zionist organization of America, has wielded power in the halls of American political institutions and in the minds of many Jews in the United States. This book enriches our understanding of both modern Jewish history and American women’s history.  Hadassah is important not only for what it tells us about women but also for what it reveals about Jewish history and politics, about Zionism, and about America. In the post-World War II era, Hadassah played a significant role in shaping Jewish women’s political action and identity. Widely known for its work in Israel, Hadassah played a central role in shaping the way generations of American Jewish women thought about themselves and about their involvement on the American political scene.