Reviews

Since 1975 a series of articles and books have appeared on the return of nonreligious American and Israeli youth to Orthodox Judaism. In this study, sociologist Danzger interviews more than 200 newly Orthodox Jews and their rabbis, teachers, and recruiters. In a clear and lucid style, he examines the reasons for return, the schools established by Orthodox Judaism to deal with this return, and the values and conflicts thus engendered. He also shows how returnees are influenced by the recruiting program and what place they have in Judaism. This work is distinguished from others in its examination of the differences between Christian rebirth and Judaic return and of the counterculture in the United States and Israel, and also in its careful delineation of traditional and modernistic Orthodox Jewry. Recommended.-- Maurice Tuchman, Hebrew Coll. Lib., Brookline, Mass.