Popular Washington, D.C. rabbi and psychotherapist Arthur Blecher believes that the American Jewish community is actually flourishing amidst fears of dying out. He shows us that intermarriage strengthens Judaism--a concept that many Jews continue to debate. In straightforward and engaging chapters, he provides a progressive and positive outline of how this religion has changed over the years, and why American Jewish culture must be embraced and discussed in depth in Jewish families. This is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which social and psychological forces created a new and quite different form of Judaism in America more than one hundred years ago.

Praise

"A brilliantly provocative book that should be required reading for everyone interested in the nature and development of modern religious movements. Combining rabbinical learning with a keen sense of history, a psychotherapist's insight, and a healthy dose of chutzpah, Arthur Blecher debunks the myths that entrench the American Jewish establishment.Rabbi Blecher is passionately devoted to Judaism's world-reforming mission."--Richard E. Rubenstein, author of When Jesus Became God and Thus Saith the Lord

 

"The New American Judaism uncovers and confronts some of the distortions in self-perception that guide the Jewish world today. Blecher's book is provocative and may wake some of the American Jewish leadership from their dogmatic slumbers."--Rabbi Michael Lerner, Tikkun

"The book is brilliant! Rabbi Blecher has stood the Jewish establishment on its head. You’ve given rabbis permission to stop trying to fit square pegs into round holes and to go ahead and develop the Judaism so many of us have wanted to proudly proclaim."--Rabbi Louis Zivic, D.D.

About the Author(s)

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Blecher

Arthur Blecher has served as Rabbi of Beth Chai for over twenty years, and is a nationally recognized authority on interfaith couples. He has taught at various universities and is a member of the Washington Board of Rabbis and the American Mental Health Counselors Association. A practicing psychotherapist, he has been featured on such media as CBS and PBS. He lives in Washington, DC.

Table of Contents

Inventing Judaism in America * History * Fate * Sentiment * Reason * Denominations * Rabbis * Intermarriage * Judaism in America Today