Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul Of American Jewry [Hardcover]

Samuel G. Freedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2000

At a time when American Jews should feel more secure and cohesive than ever, civil war is tearing apart their community. Congregations, neighborhoods, even families are taking sides in battles about Jewish identity and Jewish authenticity. The conflict pits fundamentalist against secularist, denomination against denomination, even liberal against conservative within each branch of Jewry.

"Jew vs. Jew" tells the story of how American Jewry has increasingly -- and perhaps terminally -- broken apart in the last forty years.

"Jew vs. Jew" stretches in time from 1960 to 2000. It travels the country from Florida to New England, from Los Angeles to the Catskills in New York, from Cleveland to Denver, and it also crosses the ocean to Israel to show how tensions within the Jewish state inflame those among American Jews. The flash-points range from conversion standards to the role of women, from the peace process in Israel to the sexual climate on an Ivy League campus. But behind them all, as Samuel Freedman writes, lie common causes. First, far from unifying American Jews, Israel now divides them on both political and religious grounds. Second, neither America nor the larger world presents Jews with a single enemy against whom to coalesce. Third, and most important, nothing in the Jewish history of persecution, oppression, and exile prepared the Chosen People for the challenge posed by America, the challenge of being absorbed into a tolerant and diverse nation, being accepted so thoroughly that the intermarriage rate tops 50 percent.

"Jew vs. Jew" introduces readers to memorable places and characters. Freedman describes one of the final summers at a Labor Zionist camp in theCatskills whose brand of secular Jewishness is becoming obsolete because Zionism succeeded in creating Israel. He tells the story of Orthodox and Reform Jews in a Cleveland suburb who are fighting about the construction of several synagogues -- and, on a deeper level, about whether unity or pluralism ought to be the goal of Jewish life. He portrays a Florida Jew so violently opposed to the Oslo peace accords that he planted a bomb in a synagogue where Shimon Peres was speaking. He tells about a Los Angeles congregation that spent three years debating whether or not to honor the Biblical matriarchs in its liturgy.We come to know the Long Island neighbors who cannot tolerate sharing even a property line because their versions of Jewish identity are so irreconcilably different.

"Jew vs. Jew" is a work of vigorous reporting, lucid writing, and intellectual curiosity. And even as it chronicles an embittered and polarized community, it refuses to take sides or pass judgment. Instead, with compassion and acuity, "Jew vs. Jew" bears witness.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jew vs. Jew is Samuel G. Freedman's passionate story of the "struggle for the soul of American Jewry." Freedman believes that three fundamental questions are rending the American Jewish community today: "What is the definition of Jewish identity? Who decides what is authentic and legitimate Judaism? And what is the Jewish compact with America?" Exploring these questions leads Freedman down a number of wild paths. He listens patiently to the fierce neighborly squabbles in Great Neck, New York; he reconstructs the tension-filled final days of a labor Zionist summer camp in the Catskills; he witnesses orthodox Jews attacking American conservative Jews worshiping at the foot of the Western Wall. Freedman expertly sketches the major conflicts in American Judaism--"secularist against believer, denomination against denomination, gender against gender, liberal against conservative, traditionalist against modernist even within each branch." The book's conclusions (such as "America without Jews is unimaginable, and the brave assimilationists made that possible, even if the price was much of their own distinctiveness as Jews") are not particularly groundbreaking. But Jew vs. Jew is a thoughtful and beautifully written assessment of the precarious situation of Jewish identity in America today. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

Though it almost always presents a united front to the world, the American Jewish community, according to acclaimed journalist Freedman (The Inheritance; Upon This Rock; etc.), is a house divided against itself. With the small contingent of the Orthodox on one side, and predominant Reform and Conservative Jews on the other, the fault lines are threatening to break into yawning fissures. Even the Orthodox are divided between the centrist Modern Orthodox of Yeshiva University and the ultra-Orthodox of Agudath Israel and the Hasidim falling further to the right. In sharply pointed tableaux, Freedman shows that American Jews cannot agree among themselves on who is a Jew, how far women's equality should go or even whether to build a new synagogue complex in a Cleveland suburb. The depth and excellence of Freedman's reporting shines in his nuanced portraits of individuals on both sides of each debate he outlines: David Gottesman, a Modern Orthodox Jew who wants to build an Orthodox synagogue in the largely Reform suburb of Beachwood, Ohio; Rachel Adler, the feminist theologian who divided a progressive congregation when she tried to introduce gender balance into the central part of the prayer service; Harry Shapiro, a good-hearted loner but ultra-Orthodox hawk regarding the PLO man who placed a bomb (supposedly rigged not to go off) in a Conservative synagogue where Israeli leader and peace negotiator Shimon Peres was scheduled to speak. All the portraits are objective, even sympathetic, and yet Freedman doesn't mask how ugly the battles can become: in Ohio, one Orthodox Jew calls his opponents Nazis. This outstanding report is sure to fuel the flames on all sides of the debate. Agent, Barney Karpfinger. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (August 10, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684859440
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859446
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,777,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Largely anecdotal, highly selective, lacking in rigor, April 17, 2001

By 

L. Feld "lowkell" (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul Of American Jewry (Hardcover)

In "Jew vs, Jew," Samuel Freedman has something to say, and overall says it well, but still I recommend that you take this book with a large grain (maybe even a pillar!) of salt. For instance, Freedman argues that the "Orthodox model" has "triumphed," but at the same time there is evidence (which he doesn't cite) that enrollment of non-orthodox Jewish children at Jewish Day Schools is booming. Also, as Freedman himself acknowledges (in the last line of the book -- "the only ones fighting are the only ones left who care"), the vast majority of Jewish-Americans (especially the "just Jews" group, as Freedman calls them) are NOT involved in this "struggle for the soul of American Jewry." What about all those people? And what are the implications of the fact that most of these people are proceeding with their lives regardless of what the Orthodox "establishment" thinks about them? Is Freedman writing off half (or more) of the American Jewish population, or is he just not interested? Examples like this make me feel that although "Jew vs. Jew" is well-written (in a journalistic style), it somehow is missing the forest for the trees, and also that it lacks rigor - i.e., hard evidence and an analytical framework to put all the anecdotes (interesting though they may be) in some sort of intellectual context.

Three other criticisms of "Jew vs. Jew." First, Freedman claims (ambitiously) to be painting a picture of "the soul of American Jewry" today. But does Freedman really believe that there IS one "soul" and one "American Jewry" - or should be -- in such a large, diverse population? Second, Freedman argues that, in America, Jews are being "loved to death," and that this is a bad thing. But wait a second...isn't it GOOD that anti-Semitism has declined to the lunatic fringe? And, is it really soooo bad that, given the freedom to do so, different Jews will chart their own course towards God and religious expression? What's wrong with having a whole range of Jews - from politically and socially liberal, secular humanists to politically and socially conservative, ultra-Orthodox - out there, anyway? Christianity has that, and it seems to be doing just fine! And Freedman never explains why, just because Jews are a minority in America, they are doomed to fail. What about the explosive growth of other religious minorities in America (Mormons, Muslims, etc.)? Finally, Freedman seems to ignore the fact that much of the conflict he cites regarding Jews in America is really about power and money. How about some honest discussion about fears and prejudices among non-Orthodox, suburban Jews, who fear that an influx of Orthodox Jews will overwhelm their town, hurt their schools, and perhaps drive down their property values?

It's not that I think Freedman is totally off base in what he has to say - indeed, the liberal, secular, Zionist Camp Kinderwelt IS dead, and the ultra-Orthodox Kiryas Joel IS thriving. Also, there's no doubt that intermarriage rates are very high, probably over 50%, and that many (most?) of the offspring from these marriages are not being raised Jewish in any meaningful sense. It's also definitely true that there ARE passionate disagreements between Jews - just as with all other groups of people (Christians, for instance). But Freedman never really explains how arguments within the Jewish community are NECESSARILY a bad thing. Would Freedman really prefer a monolithic community or one in which arguments are suppressed?

Anyway, in my opinion Freedman's book really should be subtitled: "These are the kind of problems you WANT to have!" For one of the first times in history, Jews have nearly complete freedom, and lack of anti-Semitic persecution, in a majority non-Jewish country, and to all that I say: mazel tov! The question now is whether Judaism - in all its manifestations - can adapt and compete in the free marketplace of ideas that is America. True, Camp Kinderwelt itself may be dead, and its liberal, Zionist, secular orientation on the wane at the moment, but something tells me that it's not the end of the story quite yet. The Jews - however they are defined -- have been written off many times, but somehow are still around. Camp Kinderwelt is dead...long live Camp Kinderwelt!

40 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Timely observations in time for CampDavid and Lieberman, August 9, 2000

By 

Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jew Vs Jew: The Struggle For The Soul Of American Jewry (Hardcover)

I started to read this book the day after an Orthodox neighbor of mine said to me that the vandalization of the Liberal (HUC) yeshiva in Jerusalem was probably the work of Reform Jews seeking sympathy. I completed this book the day the major media organizations focused on Gore's pick for a VP candidate, Joseph Lieberman, as an Orthodox Jew. How ironic that a country can rally behind him as a candidate, but in a synagogue, his policies might cause strife. Freedman, a former reporter at the NYT and a journalism Professor at Columbia, was attending his local synagogue and saw a conflict among its members. He observed very PUBLIC disagreements among various Jewish denominations, among types of Diaspora Zionists, among adherents to the various levels of observance and Jewish parentage. These OBSERVATIONS led to this book on how the Jewish community in America has become fragmented since 1960. At a time when America's 6 million Jews should feel more secure and cohesive than ever, a CIVIL (civil as in calm most of the time) WAR is tearing the community participants apart (well at least Jewish leaders, the rank and file is probably not as concerned with the issues). Congregations, neighborhoods, even families are taking sides in battles about Jewish identity and Jewish authenticity. The conflict pits fundamentalist against secularist, denomination against denomination, even egalitarian, and liberal against conservative within each branch of Jewry. Even the Orthodox are fragmented by levels of authenticity and belief. Has American Jewry terminally become unstitched in the last forty years? Was it actually ever cohesive? The flash-points in the skirmishes range from standards for conversions (an intermarriage rate of 52%) to the role of women in rituals, from the peace process in Israel to the sexual climate at Yale University's dormitories. Israel once was a unifier of Jews, now it divides them. Anti-Semitism is no longer a threat that unifies that shtetl minded community. Why did non-Orthodox Jews trying to stop an Orthodox congregation from building a synagogue in suburban Beachwood, Ohio? (or in the Hamptons?) Why did a Jewish man (Harry Shapiro) try to blow up a liberal Florida synagogue where Shimon Peres was speaking? What happened when a group of Jewish students at Yale refused to move into a mixed sex dormitory as required by the university? What happened when a Los Angeles synagogue leader tried to use more gender neutral language at her synagogue by adding the names of the matriarchs to the Amidah (Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca and Leah)? Freedman reports on these skirmishes as a journalist, not as a pundit.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jew vs. Jew - An important, if limited, study, April 15, 2004

By 

"shimong" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry (Paperback)

Freedman presents a very interesting, worthwhile study of modern American Jewish development. His style is clear and the book is beautifully structured. Attempts are made to analyse the prevailing and underlying issues surrounding topical issues in the Jewish USA, many of which have interesting parallels in the UK community. I found this book easy to read, and very enjoyable for its humour, clarity and unbiased scholarship.

Some reviews have called this book a "definitive study", which cannot be the case, since huge areas of Jewish life are left alone by this one volume; however, there is surely room for expansion, and a sequel of sorts would certainly be received graciously by me! There are areas where greater depth may have been appropriate, but for the most part, a sensible level of thought has been articulated.

Perhaps most importantly, this book will serve as an insight to both Jews and non-Jews into the challenges and conflicts which have faced and doubtless will face the Jewish community, both in the USA and in the rest of the world, in the last few years and in the next few. Particularly interesting are Freedman's "predictions", specifically his prediction of the demise of "modern orthodoxy" into Conservatism.

In short, read the book, and see if you agree.