The Ghetto

Wirth opens with the medieval origins of the ghetto and the Jewish immigrant enclaves that once stood in Western cities and have since largely vanished, their role taken over by other ghettos. Part historical account and part sociological analysis, the book looks past the bleak streets to the community life inside them, including its daily routines, institutions and inner world.

The author examines how ghetto life shaped Jews in physical, social and psychological terms. He follows how the economic habits of modern Jews still bear the marks of this long social isolation, which began as a choice made by the community, was later written into formal rules, and was finally enforced by outsiders through informal means.

Written by a sociologist associated with the Chicago School, the book draws on the study of Jewish life in Chicago and places it within a longer history of urban minority communities. It will appeal to readers interested in urban sociology, immigration and the history of ethnic neighborhoods.