Jew Vs Jew - Softcover

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.

Fundamentalist vs. secularist, denomination vs. denomination, liberal vs. conservative -- in the last forty years, American Jews have increasingly found themselves torn apart by their diversity. In this chronicle of the evolution of American Jewry, Samuel G. Freedman illuminates the forces that have undermined the traditional peaceful coexistence among the Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist branches, and secular and unaffiliated Jews. Examining recent headline-making stories as well as less publicized controversies, Freedman discusses the vitriolic battles that have arisen over intermarriage, standards of conversion, the role of women in religious ritual, the Middle East peace process, and the secular influence on religious life. As he weighs the arguments of both extremes, Freedman comes to the controversial conclusion that the Jewish-American community is headed for a Reformation, a permanent fracture of one faith into many.