American Jewry's Challenge Conversations Confronting the Twenty-first Century

by Gerstenfeld, Manfred

• ISBN13: 9780742542839
• ISBN10: 0742542831
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-01-26
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Watershed eventsincluding the second Palestinian uprising in, September, and the Iraq warhave created important new challenges for American Jewry. The introductory essay and interviews with prominent American Jews explore these. Major elements of American Jewrys changing mind-set relate to Israel. Others concern attitudes toward Evangelical Christians and Muslims as well as increased anxiety about anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. These, mainly political, challenges are superimposed on the structual problems of American Jewry.

Author Biography

Manfred Gerstenfeld is Chairman of the Board of Fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	1	(4)
Foreword:
Jonathan Sarna	5	(3)
American Jewry after Recent Mega-Events:
Manfred Gerstenfeld	8	(95)
Interviews:
Norman Podhoretz:
Countervailing Trends in American Jewry	103	(10)
Alan Dershowitz:
Unprepared Jewish Leadership and Radical Change	113	(11)
Gary Rosenblatt:
Change and Perplexity	124	(11)
David Harris:
Confronting Existential Questions	135	(11)
Malcolm Hoenlein:
A Community Seeking Unity through Consensus	146	(12)
Stuart Eizenstat:
The Activism of American Jews and Restitution	158	(13)
Abraham Foxman:
The Resuscitation of Anti-Semitism	171	(10)
Marvin Hier:
Building a Major Organization from Scratch	181	(10)
Daniel Pipes:
The End of American Jewry's Golden Era	191	(8)
Shoshana Cardin:
Community versus Individualism	199	(10)
Rela Mintz Geffen:
Sociological Changes in the Community	209	(11)
David Ellenson:
New Concepts for Teaching Reform Rabbis	220	(11)
Ismar Schorsch:
Indicators of Spiritual Renaissance	231	(10)
Norman Lamm:
Changes in Modern Orthodoxy	241	(11)
Richard Joel:
Revitalizing Hillel	252	(11)
Carole Solomon:
National and International Responsibilities	263	(10)
Mark Charendoff:
At the Core of the Funding Revolution	273
Afterword:
Alan Mittleman	281	(4)
Index	285	(16)
About the Contributors and Interviewees	301	(6)
About the Author	307