Share <Embed>

Buy New

$4.95

List Price: $15.00
Save: $10.05 (67%)

$4.95

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Ships from and sold by Book Paddy.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item does not ship to France. Please check other sellers who may ship internationally.

Select delivery location

Buy Used

$4.50

+ $0.00 shipping

Select delivery location

Used: Very Good | Details

Sold by Clearance Booksale

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$5.15

Sold by: ReachTheGoal

Add to Cart

$6.30

Sold by: Arthurbooks

Add to Cart

$5.20

Sold by: RiversBook

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See this image

The Vanishing American Jew : In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century Paperback – Bargain Price, September 8, 1998

by Alan M. Dershowitz (Author)

14 customer reviews

See all 6 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$10.39

—

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$20.53

$3.97

$0.25

Paperback

"Please retry"

$18.98

$12.50

$1.25

Paperback, Bargain Price, September 8, 1998

$4.95

$1.99

Audio, Cassette, Abridged, Audiobook

"Please retry"

$3.31

$3.00

$4.79

Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include companion materials, may have some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include CDs or access codes. 100% money back guarantee.

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Michael Eisenberg

8

Paperback
$14.99
Alan Dershowitz

273

Paperback
$6.38
Alan Dershowitz

74

Paperback
$14.40
Alan M. Dershowitz

17

Hardcover
$22.22

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Alan M. Dershowitz

17

Hardcover
$22.22
Alan Dershowitz

74

Paperback
$14.40

Editorial Reviews

Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include companion materials, may have some shelf wear, may contain highlighting/notes, may not include CDs or access codes. 100% money back guarantee.

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Touchstone (September 8, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0684848988
ASIN: B000C4T0SC
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.3 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 14 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,266,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #44625 in Books > Deals in Books
- #55709 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Specific Demographics

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features:

See Kindle Edition

Customer reviews

2 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 14 customer reviews

Read reviews that mention

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Boraxo

Well written, enjoyable and on the mark

November 8, 2004

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A well-written easy-to-read book that right on the mark as it tackles one of the most difficult problems in contemporary judaism. As with all of Dershowitz' books, this one is filled with humor, meticulously researched and contains compelling arguments in support of his view that organized judaism is failing to provide the proper educational foundation to ensure the continuation of reform and conservative judaism in the USA.

Even if you, like me, do not share Mr. Dershowitz' orthodox background or left-wing politics, don't let that deter you from reading this excellent book.

6 people found this helpful

Comment

April 19, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Makes you think about the future of the American Jewish community. The author has some good ideas for perpetuating the survival of the American Jew.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

yossi shirazi

Message needs to be heard

February 3, 2012

Format: Paperback

Nearly 15 years after the publish date, this work is as relevant today as ever. How are Jews to retain their Jewish identity if they no longer face the powerful enemies of the past to keep them together? Recent statistics show this has been a losing proposition. With assimilation being so easy, requiring merely inaction, what are they to hold on to? And most importantly, why? Does the Jewish way of life (very broadly defined) provide something positive that is not found in secular modernity? Dershowitz focuses on these questions and their possible answers as the central theme to this work. He doesn't have all the answers, but he does have many of the right questions.

Overall, I found this book incredibly fascinating and well written. It is clear, logical and packed with important information that needs to be heard. I feel right at home with his unapologetic (but not total) skepticism toward the Jewish God and unwavering interest in the Jewish people. I am equally drawn to his willingness to entertain theories from every corner of history and his elegant use of thought experiments to test their validity. Dershowitz does a great job of acknowledging his own beliefs while also giving voice to the diversity of other views. The book is not all serious and calculating, however, as it is peppered with humor and personal anecdotes throughout. Other reviewers have found these detracting and unoriginal, but for me (a young professional without an extensive knowledge of modern Judaica) they were illustrative, witty, and I often found myself jotting them down on notecards. This will be treasured most by giving to a friend.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment

It recognizes the problem

June 21, 2005

Format: Paperback

This book is to be commended for recognizing a real problem. The American - Jewish community is declining in numbers. It is an aging community, one with high- rates of intermarriage, and low rates of fertility. It is a community which is an increasingly small percentage of American society as a whole.

Why is this important?

I think that there are two answers, one for Jews and another for American non- Jews.

Jewish communities have thrived in various places in the world, and then disappeared. The American Jewry community is an especially important one for the Jewish people historically especially in its relation to Israel and the Jewish people as a whole.

As for the second reason, I would maintain that for general American society the survival and thriving of an American- Jewish community is important because this community has made great contributions to American life in many different areas, and as on the whole been a great creative factor in the shaping of American civilization.

In considering the situation of American Jews it is necessary to understand that the challenges and character of American life are different from those that the Jews have known elsewhere. Only in America have Jews been given a kind of access and acceptance which in our own time means that there is virtually no discrimination against them. It is because America accepts the Jews, and adopts so much of what is Jewish as part of itself that assimilation happens so readily in the United States.

Clearly to preserve its own tradition and way the Jews of America have to ( This is Dershowitz's major recommendation) greatly increase the quality and quantity of Jewish education. Sadly most American Jews are very ignorant about their own traditions. And one encouraging element in American - Jewish life is the intense return to Jewish learning by a certain minority of the population.

Clearly learning to understand what the Jewish community and its history is , is central to preserving Jewish identity.

Another point. Since the publication of Dershowitz's book there has been a dramatic increase in world-wide anti-Semitism. This often takes the form of Anti- Zionism and is directed primarily against Israel.

American Jews have in the past played an important role in helping support the survival of Israel. Though support for Israel among the broad American public is relatively stable over the past forty years, and though there is massive Christian Evangelical support for Israel there is also now in the US a strong anti- Semitic, anti- Israel movement which combines Islamic fundamentalists, Palestinian Arab nationalists, those of the extreme right, and perhaps even more alarmingly , extreme left, politically.

A strong American Jewish community is an important element in ensuring an Israel which can survive in the future.

In this regard one additional element in strengthening Jewish young people's identity as Jews is through their traveling to and knowing Israel. The special 'Birthright' programs have attempted to do some of this.

Dershowitz surveys the problem, and shows his heart is in the right place.

His book is in this sense highly recommended. It should be supplemented however by the works of Jack Wertheimer, Sylvia Barack- Fishman, and others who consider this problem.

7 people found this helpful

Comment

October 19, 2015

Format: Paperback

This book by a noted defense attorney presents a clear picture of the decreasing self-identity crisis among American Jews and indirectly points to the loss that will entail for American society in general. Though directed to a Jewish audience, it also imparts lessons of conscious for us all. Some parts tend to become a little tedious in reading but overall it is not at all difficult to follow. The author's utilization of Talmudic quotations and lessons along with some really funny Jewish humor really enlivens the book. This non-Jew is glad that he read it - it includes lessons of value for us all.

Helpful

Not Helpful

Comment