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Examines the Saturday Morning Informal Service of a Reform Jewish congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Description of Squirrel Hill, the core of Pittsburgh's Jewish community; Details on Shabbat or Sabbat services in Temple Israel; What attracts people to the informal service and what keeps them coming; Conclusion.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has maintained a Jewish community within the heart of the city for many generations. This residential stability has promoted the community's viability and supports the view that the loss of urban Jewish concentrations elsewhere may be conducive to structural assimilation. These conclusions derive from an investigation of the guest lists of twenty Reform and Conservative families that celebrated Bar and Bat Mitzvahs in 1981. The proportions of gentile guests were analyzed in relation to their ties to the members of each family and with regard to the nature of the relationship. No significant differences of social class or interethnic social relation patterns were found between Conservative and Reform families. Both groups maintain strong ties with km and show a clear preference for intimate relations with Jews. Significantly greater association with gentiles occurs with occupational associates. Businessmen and salesmen, particularly, show the highest rates of gentile ties, but these appear to reflect instrumental motives.

J. Aschenbrenner and L. R. Collins, eds. The Processes of Urbanism: A Multidisciplinary Approach. The Hague: Mouton Publishers, 1978. x + 424 pp. $40.00. E. Eames and J. G. Goode. Anthropology of the City: An Introduction to Urban Anthropology. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice‐Hall Inc., 1977. viii + 344 pp. R. G. Fox. Urban Anthropology: Cities in Their Cultural Settings. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice‐Hall Inc., 1977. xiii + 176 pp. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]