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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Largely anecdotal, highly selective, lacking in rigor, April 17, 2001
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!
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39 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Timely observations in time for CampDavid and Lieberman, August 9, 2000
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.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
American Narcissism at its most Obvious, April 10, 2001
By A Customer
I live in Jerusalem and from Israel a book like S. Freedman's reads like tales from another planet. We know that we are people of "the Book", but do so many books have to be churned out about Jew vs Jew or Jew With Jew or concerning every millisecond of distant Jewish history, while ignoring the most pivotal time in Jewish life, which happens to be onging in the war we are up against here. I'm not saying that Americans don't have the right and the need to write about their own country. That is a right, fair enough. But some books, and "Jew Vs. Jew" is the prototype, smack of wasted academic leisure, ill-spent. We Jewish Israelis are in a war; we do not have the leisure to do sociological tomes about make-believe matters. And all of us Jews need to dig deep in order to read and write books that pertain to the soul of our religion, which entails our current, ambiguous place in history. That's my strongly felt opionion, what came to the fore reading this book, one that seems created for one man's entertainment and/or aggrandizement. Too much herein rings false. Certainly nothing Freedman creates is beautiful nor does it touch on the heart of the matters issues we all must ponder. From Jerusalem, you cannot imagine how self-serving this book reads, at least for me. Sorry. This is one woman's opinion.
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