Table of Contents

Foreword, by Rabbi David Ellenson Preface Acknowledgments Chronology of Events Introduction 1. A Historical Overview from 1945 2. The Reengagement with Spirituality 3. The Rise and Fall of American Jewish Denominationalism 4. Facing the Collapse of the Intermarriage Stigma 5. Inclusivity as a Social Value 6. Radical Responses to the Suburban Experience 7. The Popularization of Jewish Mystical Outreach 8. Herculean Efforts at Synagogue Renewal Conclusion: The Future of Judaism in America Afterword, by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi Notes Glossary Index

Promotional Information

American Jews radically reconceive the beliefs and practices of an ancient faith.

About the Author

Dana Evan Kaplan is the rabbi of Temple B'nai Israel in Albany, Georgia, and adjunct professor of Jewish Studies at Gratz College. His books include The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, American Reform Judaism: An Introduction, Platforms and Prayer Books: Theological and Liturgical Perspectives on Reform Judaismand Contemporary Debates on Reform Judaism: Conflicting Visions. Many of his publications can be found at www.DanaKaplan.com.

Reviews

There is no better guide to the remarkable changes in American Jewish religion. -- Nathan Glazer, Harvard University A tour de force that covers every important development in each of the branches of American Judaism, and Kaplan does it with a deep sensitivity to the issues involved. -- Chaim I. Waxman, Rutgers University Contemporary American Judaism is a pioneering and exciting study. Dana Evan Kaplan should be highly commended for facing boldly and honestly the new realities of American Jewish life. -- Yaakov Ariel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Spread around the world, interacting with diverse centers of communications, politics, and culture, the Jewish community is changing quickly and often in bewildering ways. But Judaism also remains a bellwether for what may be expected in other faiths as well. Dana Evan Kaplan has his finger on these changes and writes about them fairly and eloquently. You don't have to be Jewish to savor this book and learn from it. -- Harvey Cox, author of When Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today [Kaplan] skillfully portrays the wide variety of untraditional, often idiosyncratic ways of 'doing Jewish. Forward [An] insightful description of radical changes in American Judaism. Publishers Weekly A keen observer of the faith of his people in the U.S., Kaplan does not hesitate to underline the fact that 'the American environment has impacted Judaism.' -- David Geffen Jerusalem Post Magazine Kaplan is clearly breaking new ground and writing a new narrative for twenty-first-century American Judaism. Jewish Review of Books Kaplan's gallery of American-inflected Jewish innovators is entertaining and... illuminating. Wilson Quarterly Kaplan's book is an excellent starting point for anyone seeking to understand the current state of American Judaism. Choice Kaplan's book is exhaustive in detail and broad in scope, touching on the fundamental challenges to contemporary Judaism in America from intermarriage, conversion, and the end of religious denominations to questions of ethnicity, spirituality, Israel, and the Holocaust. Zeek