Synopses & Reviews
Fundamentalist vs. secularist, denomination vs. denomination, liberal vs. conservative -- in the last forty years, American Jews have increasingly found themselves torn apart by their diversity. In this chronicle of the evolution of American Jewry, Samuel G. Freedman illuminates the forces that have undermined the traditional peaceful coexistence among the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist branches, and secular and unaffiliated Jews. Examining recent headline-making stories as well as less publicized controversies, Freedman discusses the vitriolic battles that have arisen over intermarriage, standards of conversion, the role of women in religious ritual, the Middle East peace process, and the secular influence on religious life. As he weighs the arguments of both extremes, Freedman comes to the controversial conclusion that the Jewish-American community is headed for a Reformation, a permanent fracture of one faith into many.
Review
Jonathan Rosen
The New York Times
A thought provoking and timely tour of Jewish-American religious ferment.
Review
Stephen J. Whitfield
The New York Times Book Review
Freedman demonstrates novelistic gifts...he can make a zoning dispute in Beachwood, Ohio, as suspenseful as a thriller.
Review
Melissa Fay Greene
Chicago Tribune
Fascinating, groundbreaking. Freedman, a natural storyteller...is even-handed, nonjudgmental, caring most of all about getting it right.
Table of Contents
CONTENTSA Note on Hebrew and Yiddish Terms
PROLOGUE: The Second Temple
CHAPTER ONE Camp Kinderwelt, New York, 1963
Who Is a Few?
CHAPTER TWO Denver, Colorado, 1977-1983
Judaism and Gender: Revolution toward Tradition
CHAPTER THREE Los Angeles, California, 1987-1989
Israel and America: The Price of Peace
CHAPTER FOUR Jacksonville, Florida, 1993-1997
Who Owns Orthodoxy?
CHAPTER FIVE New Haven, Connecticut, 1995-1999
Unity versus Pluralism: Visions of Fewish Community
CHAPTER SIX Beachwood, Ohio, 1997-1999
EPILOGUE: The Jewish Reformation
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index