Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry
Jew vs. Jewis Samuel G. Freedman's passionate story  of the "struggle for the soul of American Jewry."  Freedman believes that three fundamental questions are rending the American  Jewish community today:  "What is the definition of Jewish identity? Who decides  what is authentic and  legitimate Judaism? And what is the Jewish compact with  America?" Exploring  these questions leads Freedman down a number of wild paths.  He listens  patiently to the fierce neighborly squabbles in Great Neck, New  York; he  reconstructs the tension-filled final days of a labor Zionist summer  camp in  the Catskills; he witnesses orthodox Jews attacking American  conservative  Jews worshiping at the foot of the Western Wall. Freedman expertly  sketches  the major conflicts in American Judaism--"secularist against believer,   denomination against denomination, gender against gender, liberal against   conservative, traditionalist against modernist even within each branch." The   book's conclusions (such as "America without Jews is unimaginable, and the   brave assimilationists made that possible, even if the price was much of  their  own distinctiveness as Jews") are not particularly groundbreaking. ButJew  vs. Jewis a thoughtful and beautifully written assessment of the   precarious situation of Jewish identity in America today.--Michael Joseph   Gross--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.