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"The Chosen Wars tells the dramatic story of how Judaism redefined itself in America in the 18th and 19th centuries--the personalities that fought each other and shaped its evolution and, importantly, the force of the American dynamic that prevailed over an ancient religion. The struggles that led to a radical redefinition of Judaism illuminate the larger American experience. The transformation of the religion and culture of Judaism is a striking example. The story begins with the arrival of the first Jews in New Amsterdam and stretches the length of the nineteenth century as massive immigration take place and into the twentieth. First there was the practical matter of earning a living. Many immigrants traveled as peddlers from community to community where there were no kosher butchers.



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