ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between American Sephardim and the very different European world from which they derive. It focuses on how they represent their Balkan homes in the case of the immigrants or how their children portray old-country origins. The chapter considers the relationship between memory and history. It explores the fundamental problem of American Sephardic cultural continuity in light of the extraordinary acculturative pressures exerted on the immigrant and second generation. The chapter draws on the Sephardic community of Indianapolis, which is in many respects an exemplar of the problems of continuity in the open society. The basic dilemma of the Sephardim is a familiar one to other ethnic groups—how to maintain a distinctive cultural and religious identity when the larger society creates social conditions that diminish exclusiveness. The linguistic trends index cultural changes within Sephardic communities.
