Jew Vs Jew - Softcover

Jew vs. Jew is 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 neighbourly squabbles in Great Neck, New York; he reconstructs the tension-filled final days of a Labour Zionist summer camp in the Catskills; he witnesses orthodox Jews attacking American conservative Jews worshipping 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. But Jew vs. Jew is a thoughtful and beautifully written assessment of the precarious situation of Jewish identity in America today. --Michael Joseph Gross END

Melissa Fay Greene"Chicago Tribune" Fascinating, groundbreaking. Freedman, a natural storyteller...is even-handed, nonjudgmental, caring most of all about getting it right. David Brooks"The Washington Post Book World" It is hard to imagine a more exciting introduction to the state of the contemporary Jewish soul than "Jew vs. Jew." Jonathan Rosen"The New York Times" A thought provoking and timely tour of Jewish-American religious ferment. Stephen J. Whitfield"The New York Times Book Review" Freedman demonstrates novelistic gifts...he can make a zoning dispute in Beachwood, Ohio, as suspenseful as a thriller.