Contemporary Debates in American Reform Judaism: Conflicting Visions

by Kaplan,Dana Evan

• ISBN13: 9780415926287
• ISBN10: 0415926289
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-05
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This is a ground breaking collection of essays that takes a hard look at the Reform Movement today. Opening essays look at the problem of building a religous community, the competition in the "spiritual marketplace," and why people join or do not join a Reform synagogue. Other contributors look at a host of controversial issues including Patrilineal Descent, Outreach, Intermarriage, gender issues, gay and lesbian participation, and others.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
Martin E. Marty
Introduction: Conflicting Visions of the Reform Movement in the United States Today	1	(18)
Dana Evan Kaplan
Section 1 Where We Are Today
A Religious and Social Profile of Reform Judaism in the United States	19	(20)
Bernard M. Lazerwitz
Ephraim Tabory
Reform Judaism and Modern American Community	39	(10)
Lewis A. Friendland
Reform Judaism in the Spiritual Marketplace	49	(7)
Richard Cimino
Why People in the Sunbelt Join a Synagogue: Jewish Religious Preference in Palm Beach County	56	(13)
Joel L. Levine
Section 2 Legitimacy and Authenticity: The ``Sins'' of Yesterday and the Controversies of Today
When Reform Judaism Was Judaism	69	(21)
Jacob Neusner
Reform's Original Sin	90	(6)
Arnold Jacob Wolf
From the Christmas Tree to the Yarmulke: What Separates Classical Reform from Mainstream Reform?	96	(7)
Harold S. Silver
Full Churches, Empty Synagogues: A Defense of Classical Reform	103	(8)
Jay R. Brickman
Orthodoxy Confronts Reform: The Two Hundred Years' War	111	(20)
Aryeh Spero
Section 3 Personal Status
Not by Birth Alone: The Case for a Missionary Judaism	131	(6)
Alexander M. Schindler
Patrilineal Descent Revisited	137	(9)
Steven Bayme
The Importance of Outreach in Maintaining Reform's Autonomy, Diversity, and Pluralism	146	(14)
Eric H. Yoffie
Why I Officiate at Mixed-Marriage Wedding Ceremonies	160	(11)
Hillel Cohn
Section 4 Gender
A Worthier Place: Women, Reform Judaism, and the Presidents of Hebrew Union College	171	(9)
Karla Goldman
Embracing Lesbians and Gay Men: A Reform Jewish Innovation	180	(13)
Denise L. Eger
``Where Kosher Means Organic and Union Label'': Bisexual Women Reembrace Their Jewish Heritage	193	(16)
Hinda Seif
Section 5 Visions for the Future
Leadership for Profound Change: A Means for Transforming the American Reform Synagogue	209	(12)
Samuel K. Joseph
The Legitimacy of Reform Judaism: The Impact of Israel on the United States	221	(14)
Ephraim Tabory
Reform Judaism of the New Millennium: A Challenge	235	(9)
Alfred Gottschalk
Transforming the Reform Jew	244	(11)
Sheldon Zimmerman
Afterword	255	(4)
W. Gunther Plaut
About the Contributors	259	(6)
Index	265