The Defining Decade

'Canadian Jewry during the 1960s underwent major transformations as the community grew in size, diversified, and asserted itself in new ways. A nuanced portrait of one ethnic community's evolving self-perception, The Defining Decade tells this compelling story with energy, clarity, and purpose.' -- Gerald Tulchinsky, Department of History, Queen's University, and author of Canada's Jews: A People's History 'This wonderfully written and well-researched book adds an important facet to our evolving understanding of the sixties, firmly and passionately planting the Jewish "third solitude" experience of the period within its Canadian and international contexts. Troper shows how the Canadian Jewish identity was jolted not only by the activism and not-so-quiet revolutions of sixties North America, but also by the dramatic politics of Israel and the Middle East, especially the 1967 Six Day War. Essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand the full sixties experience in Canada.' -- Dimitry Anastakis, Department of History, Trent University, and editor, The Sixties: Passion, Politics, and Style 'Harold Troper has written the definitive book about what he calls the Defining Decade. This insightful, well-written, lively work not only tells the story of Canadian Jewry during the 1960s, but it illuminates important changes that were occurring throughout Canadian society and among Canadian Jewry's prominent next-door neighbour, the American Jewish community.' -- Gil Troy, Professor of History, McGill University

In tracing the rapid changes of the 1960s, Harold Troper draws upon a wealth of historical documentation, including more than eighty interviews, to demonstrate that the expression of Canadian Jewishness was an increasingly public - and political - commitment.

The 1960s witnessed a radical transformation in the Canadian Jewish community. The erosion of longstanding barriers of anti-Semitism resulted in increased access for Jews to the economic, political, and social Canadian mainstream. Arguing paradoxically that even as Canada became more accepting, Canadian Jews became more focused on Jewish identity, The Defining Decade examines how the 1960s redefined what it meant to be a Canadian Jew and a Jewish Canadian.

Domestic events such as the Quiet Revolution, the eruption of Neo-Nazi activity, the election of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and the promise of multiculturalism combined with international affairs such as the Six Day War, Arab rejectionism with regards to Israel, and the explosion of Soviet Jewish activisim to radically reshape Canadian Jewish priorities. In tracing the rapid changes of this tumultuous decade, Harold Troper draws upon a wealth of historical documentation, including more than eighty interviews, to demonstrate that the expression of Canadian Jewishness was an increasingly public - and political - commitment.