Jewish Polity and American Civil Society Communal Agencies and Religious Movements in the American Public Square

by Mittleman, Alan; Sarna, Jonathan D.; Licht, Robert; Arkush, Allan; Carp, Joel M.; Elazar, Daniel J.; Freeman, Gordon M.; Grossman, Lawrence; Heilman, Samuel C.; Kotzin, Michael C.; Raffel, Martin J.; Sussman, Lance J.; Teutsch, David A.; Windmueller, Stev

• ISBN13: 9780742521223
• ISBN10: 0742521222
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-23
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Jewish Polity and American Civil Society is a study of the civic and political engagements of American Jews as mediated by their communal and denominational institutions. The book explores how the various branches of the organized Jewish community seek to influence public affairs. Over the course of the last century, Jewish agencies and religious movements have tried to shape public debate and public policy on such issues as civil rights, church-state relations, and American foreign policy. The book sets the history of Jewish engagement in these areas into historical context; analyzes the motives, strategies, and tactics of various Jewish groups, and evaluates their successes and failures. The book also explores the underlying idea--the public philosophy--that informs American Jews' understanding of civic and political engagement.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Alan Mittleman
Acknowledgments	xvii
Introduction - The Jewish Political Tradition and the English-Speaking World	1	(12)
Daniel J. Elazar
I. Communal Agencies
``Defenders'': National Jewish Community Relations Agencies	13	(54)
Steven Windmueller
Local Community Relations Councils and Their National Body	67	(36)
Michael C. Kotzin
History of Israel Advocacy	103	(78)
Martin J. Raffel
The Jewish Social Welfare Lobby in the United States	181	(54)
Joel M. Carp
II. Religious Movements
The Conservative Movement and the Public Square	235	(26)
Gordon M. Freeman
Reform Judaism, Minority Rights, and the Separation of Church and State	261	(22)
Lance J. Sussman
Mainstream Orthodoxy and the American Public Square	283	(28)
Lawrence Grossman
Haredim and the Public Square: The Nature of the Social Contract	311	(26)
Samuel C. Heilman
Reconstructionism and the Public Square: A Multicultural Approach to Judaism in America	337	(26)
David A. Teutsch
Jewish Renewal	363	(26)
Allan Arkush
Afterword	389	(2)
Alan Mittleman
Index	391	(28)
About the Contributors	419