Authors: Alan M. Dershowitz
ISBN-13: 9780316181334, ISBN-10: 0316181331
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Date Published: March 1997
Edition: (Non-applicable)
The threats to Jews in America used to be external -- the consequences of anti-Semitism. Now the danger has shifted. American Jews are more secure, accepted, assimilated, and successful than ever. They've achieved the American Dream. That's the problem, Dershowitz warns. American Jews, as a distinct cultural group, appear to be vanishing.
In a provocative call to action, Dershowitz argues that American Jewry is in danger of extinction by the middle of the next century, because of skyrocketing rates of intermarriage and assimilation, combined with low birth rates. In order to survive, "Judaism must become less tribal, less ethnocentric, less exclusive, less closed-off, less defensive, less xenophobic and less clannish," asserts this Harvard Law School professor, lawyer and prolific author (Chutzpah). His most original proposal calls for an overhaul of Jewish education to make classes and study groups more accessible, widespread and relevant to secular Jews who are largely ignorant of Jewish history and culture. He advocates further that Jews become more welcoming of the non-Jewish spouse in intermarriage. Religious Jews, he adds, must accept the validity of secular Jews who reject ritual but embrace Judaism as an evolving civilization. Although Dershowitz believes that institutionalized anti-Semitism has all but disappeared, he offers suggestions as to how Jews can monitor and oppose bigotry among the militia movement, Holocaust deniers, African American extremists and the religious right. His thoughtful, unsentimental analysis of the future prospects of American Jewry deserves close attention.
Acknowledgments | ||
Introduction: The "Jewish Question" for the Twenty-first Century: Can We Survive Our Success? | 1 | |
Pt. I | The Problem Defined | |
Ch. 1 | An America Without Jews | 23 |
Pt. II | Why So Many Jews are Drifting Away | |
Ch. 2 | Will the End of Institutional Anti-Semitism Mean the End of the Jews? | 69 |
Ch. 3 | Anti-Semitism in the Twenty-first Century: Changing to Adapt to the New Realities | 96 |
Ch. 4 | The Dangers of the Christian Right - and Their Jewish Allies | 143 |
Pt. III | Proposed Solutions - and Why They Will Not Be Enough to Preserve Jewish Life | |
Ch. 5 | Go to Shul!: The Religious Solution to the Jewish Question of the Twenty-first Century | 169 |
Ch. 6 | Make Aliyah!: The Israeli Solution to the Jewish Question of the Twenty-first Century | 219 |
Ch. 7 | Be a Mensch!: The Ethical Solution to the Jewish Question of the Twenty-first Century | 256 |
Pt. IV | A Workable Answer to the Jewish Question | |
Ch. 8 | Filling the Yiddisher Cup: The Competitive Solution to the Jewish Future | 291 |
Epilogue: A Call to Action | 339 | |
Notes | 343 | |
Appendix | The $500 Beginning Jewish Home Library | 375 |
Index | 381 |