Jews and the American Public Square Debating Religion and Republic

by Mittleman, Alan; Licht, Robert; Sarna, Jonathan D.; Breger, Marshall J.; Cohen, Naomi W.; Dalin, David G.; Fishman, Sylvia Barack; Fradkin, Hillel; Israel, Sherry; Lerner, Ralph; Novak, David; Plax, Martin J.; Sicherman, Harvey; Stern, Marc D.; Wertheimer

• ISBN13: 9780742521230
• ISBN10: 0742521230
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-04
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Jews and the American Public Square is a study of how Jews have grappled with the presence of religion, both their own and others, in American public life. It surveys historical Jewish approaches to church-state relations and analyzes Jewish responses to the religion clauses of the First Amendment. his book captures the current mood of the Jewish community: both committed to the separation of church and state and perplexed about its scope and application. It provides the necessary background for a principled reconsideration of the problem of religion in the public square.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(12)
Alan Mittleman
I. Historical Dimensions
An Overview of American Jewish Defense	13	(34)
Naomi W. Cohen
Church-State Dilemmas of American Jews	47	(24)
Jonathan D. Sarna
II. Constitutional Dimensions
Believers and the Founders' Constitution	71	(16)
Ralph Lerner
The Rule of Law and the Establishment Clause	87	(46)
Martin J. Plax
Religion and Liberal Democracy	133	(20)
Marc D. Stern
III. Political Dimensions
Jewish Activism in the Washington ``Square'': An Analysis and Prognosis	153	(34)
Marshall J. Breger
Uncertain Steps: American Jews in the New Public Square	187	(30)
Harvey Sicherman
The Jewish Debate over State Aid to Religious Schools	217	(24)
Jack Wertheimer
IV. Sociological Dimensions
Jewish Involvement in the American Public Square: The Organizational Disconnect	241	(24)
Sherry Israel
Public Jews and Private Acts: Family and Personal Choices in the Public Square and in the Private Realm	265	(26)
Sylvia Barack Fishman
V. Philosophical Dimensions
Jewish Critics of Strict Separationism	291	(20)
David G. Dalin
Under His Own Vine and Fig Tree: The Contemporary Jewish Approach to Religion in American Public Life and Its Problems	311	(20)
Hillel Fradkin
Toward a Jewish Public Philosophy in America	331	(26)
David Novak
Index	357	(16)
About the Contributors	373