New American Judaism: The Way Forward on Challenging Issues from Intermarriage to Jewish Identity »

Arthur Blecher has served as Rabbi of Beth Chai for over twenty years, and is a nationally recognized authority on interfaith couples. He has taught at various universities and is a member of the Washington Board of Rabbis and the American Mental Health Counselors Association. A practicing psychotherapist, he has been featured on such media as CBS and PBS. He lives in Washington, DC.

A controversial look at the origins and beliefs of Judaism today

Publishers Weekly

Blecher, rabbi, psychotherapist and self-described maverick, believes that American Jews have been given misinformation and misinterpretations by their Jewish teachers. He aims to correct such myths in this strident, iconoclastic book. Among his targets is the notion that Judaism is a 4,000-year-old religion. He claims that American Judaism, which he labels "denominational Judaism," is a 20th-century invention that has little connection to ancient patriarchs, priests or animal sacrifices. Furthermore, he insists that it is false to envision the Jews in America as a dying breed based on assimilation and intermarriage. Indeed, he argues, "in-marriage reduces the Jewish population" by leading to "the proliferation of genetic disorders," including any that affect fertility. Blecher takes particular delight in shattering the myth that the shtetl of Eastern Europe provided an "emotionally fulfilling life." Among the sources he criticizes for painting a false, romantic picture of life in the shtetl are Fiddler on the Roof, Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Earth is the Lord's, and Life Is With Peopleby Mark Zborowski and Elizabeth Herzog. Some readers may find this provocative and contentious book irritating; others will be stirred by its controversial assertions. (Nov.)

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Acknowledgments     ix
Introduction     1
Inventing Judaism in America     7
History, Continuity and Perspective     19
Fate, Survival and Confidence     49
Authenticity, Sentiment and Sophistication     73
Identity, Reason and Self-Acceptance     99
Denominations, Authority and Independence     119
Rabbis, Knowledge and Self-Reliance     139
Community, Intermarriage and Optimism     163
Judaism in America Today     193
Epilogue     209
Judaism's Sacred Texts     211
Notes     213
Bibliography     223
Index     239