Synopses & Reviews
An outstanding book, original, well written, and incisive. It will become the point of departure for all other research in the area.-William B. Helmreich, author of The World of the YeshivaDanzger's volume treats a subject that is both fascinating and complex. Especially noteworthy is his exploration of an inclusionary strain in Orthodox Jewish life that is often overlooked by sociologists and other contemporary observers.-Norman Lamm, Yeshiva UniversityThe issues raised in this book are critical for our times.-Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Founding Rabbi, Lincoln Square SynagogueIn a clear and lucid style, he examines the reasons for return, the schools established by Orthodox Judaism to deal with this return, and the values and conflicts thus engendered.-Library Journal If one were to select the most important of the books on baalei teshuvah, 'returnees to Judaism, ' the choice would clearly be Danzger's Returning to Tradition. This book goes far beyond the work of Janet Aviad and others. It offers the reader a clear, unified, and comprehensive approach to understanding the world of the baal teshuvah. It is based on many years of careful research into that community, both in Israel and in the United States. The author is intimately familiar with the ins and outs of the group he has chosen to study. He knows where they hang out, what their problems are, and the diversity of backgrounds from which they originate. . . . First rate.-William B. Helmreich, American Jewish History
Synopsis
In recent years, numbers of young American and Israeli Jews raised in nonreligious families have chosen to become practicing Orthodox Jews, eating only food that is kosher, abstaining from all work on the Sabbath, and observing laws of family purity that require periodic sexual abstinence for husband and wife and modesty in dress and behavior.
This comprehensive study of the revival of Orthodox Judaism was written by M. Herbert Danzger, a sociologist who is also a part of the world of Orthodox Judaism. Danzger interviewed more than two hundred newly Orthodox Jews, their rabbis, teachers, and recruiters, and spent hundreds of hours in yeshivot (seminaries) and at outreach programs in both countries. With these rich data, he presents colorful portraits of both men and women; Israelis and Americans; that reveal why they became Orthodox Jews, how Orthodoxy was brought to their attention, how they were socialized into their new commitment, and what sort of life they entered, with what rewards and what costs. Danzger also focuses on how Orthodox Judaism is being reshaped by its unprecedented attempt to reach out to those who want to learn about it, and he examines its outreach efforts, its organizational structures and recruitment techniques, and its struggle to articulate beliefs and justify accepted practices. His book is thus not only a description of the movement to return to Orthodoxy but also a reflection on contemporary Orthodoxy from the perspective of this movement.