The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today

by Jack Wertheimer

A leading expert provides an engaging firsthand portrait of American Judaism today

American Judaism has been buffeted by massive social upheavals in recent decades. Like other religions in the United States, it has witnessed a decline in the number of participants over the past forty years, and many who remain active struggle to reconcile their hallowed traditions with new perspectives―from feminism and the LGBTQ movement to “do-it-yourself religion” and personally defined spirituality. Taking a fresh look at American Judaism today, Jack Wertheimer, a leading authority on the subject, sets out to discover how Jews of various orientations practice their religion in this radically altered landscape. Which observances still resonate, and which ones have been given new meaning? What options are available for seekers or those dissatisfied with conventional forms of Judaism? And how are synagogues responding?

Wertheimer provides new and often-surprising answers to these questions by drawing on a wide range of sources, including survey data, visits to countless synagogues, and revealing interviews with more than two hundred rabbis and other informed observers. He finds that the majority of American Jews still identify with their faith but often practice it on their own terms. Meanwhile, gender barriers are loosening within religiously traditional communities, while some of the most progressive sectors are reappropriating long-discarded practices. Other recent developments include “start-ups” led by charismatic young rabbis, the explosive growth of Orthodox “outreach,” and unconventional worship experiences often geared toward millennials.

Wertheimer captures the remarkable, if at times jarring, tableaux on display when American Jews practice their religion, while also revealing possibilities for significant renewal in American Judaism. What emerges is a quintessentially American story of rash disruption and creative reinvention, religious illiteracy and dynamic experimentation.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish, Nonfiction, Religion, Cultural, Judaica

400 pages, Hardcover

Published August 28, 2018

Reviews

[Mindy]

This book felt a little like a window into my own Jewish experience. In particular the struggles of both the Reform and Conservative movements, which I have been personally a part of and bounced around in, were very present for me. My biggest take-away though was that there seems to be a tendency towards extremes in trying to engage people in a way that loses what makes Judaism, Judaism. I’m left feeling a bit saddened that instead of seeking depth in connection, movement-based Judaism seems to be skimming the surface in order to just get people connected rather than help them form deep connections to both past and present.

[Shane]

Informative overall, if a bit dry. Does segue into the whole ‘people on their phones are low key destroying culture by being too self absorbed’ schtick which I could really live without. Also a pretty glaring omission in the section about how various synagogues are trying to make certain groups feel more comfortable and just avoids talking about race except for a glancing mention.

[Gedalia Penner Robinson]

There are not enough stars in heaven for this book

[Adam Glantz]

Wertheimer's account of contemporary American Judaism is a case of damning with faint praise. He's comprehensive and sober, and makes copious use of empirical sources, so this isn't yet another emotional screed on the death of Judaism. Everyone seems to get their proverbial day in court and he occasionally gives credit when he feels it's warranted, such as the huge energy and scope behind Orthodox kiruv. But his final conclusion is stark. Much formal Jewish activity is too episodic, too individualistic, too morally relativistic, too ephemeral, and too much a slave of contemporary culture to be valuable, evidenced by the fact that few of the new measures instituted by liberal synagogues bring in more worshipers, particularly among the younger cohort who will be the parishioners of the future. And when Jewish institutions are bad, they're really bad, viz. the denominational organizations that are slashing vital outreach programs and channeling resources in the wrong directions. Meanwhile, we seem to be caught in a dysfunctional loop, whereby each non-Orthodox generation (and, alas, even some modern Orthodox communities, too) has progressively less Jewish literacy and less connection to specifically Jewish forms, ideas, and concerns...with the result that people tend to visit synagogues less and clamor for ever shorter services.

This book is almost purely analytical, which is perhaps what it aspires to be. The author makes the case for Judaism as a countercultural force, which doesn't get good returns when it apes prevailing norms, dissolves itself in a trendy universalism, or otherwise dumbs down its specific genius. All well and good, but does this mean that most effort should be devoted to people who are already fully engaged? And if not, we're back to the conundrum that perplexes so many people concerned about Judaism: How do we engage the unaffiliated and underserved? Wertheimer's answer seems to lie in his admiration for the more creative organizational approaches he's run across in his survey of Jewish institutions, but these are never promoted without lots of qualifications. It seems Judaism in the main just doesn't work without being true to itself in the face of a world with very different values.

[Elena]

I was having a lovely old time reading this for a few chapters, until I realized that the author (out of JTS--it's my own fault for not putting this together before) is backing Conservative Judaism hardcore, and it really impacts a) his sources, and b) how he handles the different movements. (As it turns out, the 'health' and function of different denominations is a big theme of the book.) So he describes the Reform Movement as having strayed too far into the 'anything goes' realm, and Orthodox Judaism as something like 'nice work if you can get it.' Conservative Judaism he puts in the Goldilocks realm of 'just right' and announces it has an illustrious history ahead of it. One major shortcoming of the book is that he has proliferate sources everywhere except the Haredi/Hasidic worlds, where he seems to have only gotten a few people to talk with him, and he will routinely remark that 'there is no way of knowing' what people within the movement think about particular issues. It's not that there is no way of knowing...but perhaps maybe just you don't know, as there are many other sources by which one might learn about these movements. A decent book, I suppose, and it was an easy enough read. But I walked away feeling like I'd seen things from a perspective I might not have wanted to inhabit.

[C Lynn]

See my review at http://readingreligion.org/books/new-....

[Charles Cohen]

None of this was especially new to me, but it's helpful to have it all in one place. Focusing on Judaism exclusively as a religion, though, automatically excludes large portions of our community who see it as a culture, or as a people, rather than simply a faith system. It presents an incomplete picture of 21st century Jewry.

[Kata Rolf]

This book gives a good overview of the current landscape of American Judaism. However, I was often struck by how much Wertheimer seemed to elevate Conservative Judaism and its practices. The bias shows in how he discusses data and the narratives he chooses to promote in the book. Overall it was a great read, but not as objective as I hoped it might be.

[Emily]

This was so not the book we were looking for. In addition to being repetitive, the author's personal bias was clearly felt on the page, and he came off very grumpy about the state of Judaism in general.

[Avi]

Fabulous book. One of the best and most insightful portraits of modern American Judaism and it’s future I’ve ever read. Anyone who wants to understand the full dynamic spectrum of modern American Judaism has to read Wertheimers book.

[Ashley]

My only complaint is that the author only spoke to large congregations in big cities and didn't address small congregations. Not a full picture of Jews in America. The challenges in small congregations are many.

[Theodore Fischer]

Lost interest after chapter 2.

[Marklutherlawoffice]

Interesting read about the current synagogue trends, pitfalls, growth, and decline for American Jews-whether Reform, Conservative Orthodox, Modern Orthodox, Reconstruction, Haredim, and Chabad.

[Michael Lewyn]

If you don't know very much about American Judaism this would be a really good guide. However, I felt like I knew most of what was in the book, so for me it wasn't so useful.

[Arnie]

Great overview of how Judaism and synagogue life are evolving in American today. Well researched and thoughtful

[Julia Stebbing]

3.5. This was a very educational and informative read about modern Judaism, which I picked up to learn more about. But it was also pretty dry, long, and hard to follow at times.

[Caleb Robinson]

Required reading for every aspiring or actual Jewish clergy in America.

[Michelle]

Great read

[Lsilberman]

There are many research findings in this book that are worth mentioning, but two stand out in my mind. One is, if I remember correctly, the possibility that the Conservative Movement, in trying to maintain a "big tent," has issued halachic rulings (ruling on matters of Jewish religious law) that accept so many opposing viewpoints that individual rabbis are left to "pick their p'sak" (choose a ruling), as it were. The other is that the Reform Movement may not have given sufficient consideration to the implications of accepting non-Jews as full members of synagogues. How, exactly, is one supposed to deal with a Jewish house of worship of which probably a quarter, if not more, of the members aren't Jewish? Wertheimer tells the true tale of a person showing up for a Hebrew School committee meeting on the day of the Roman Catholic observance known as Ash Wednesday with an ash cross on their forehead. No one had the nerve to say anything. Really, once you've accepted non-Jews as full members, what is there to say?

I was also quite taken by Dr. Wertheimer's finding that many contemporary Jews, like many contemporary Christians, simply don't find Gd in "sacred spaces" and/or sacred texts anymore--to put it in my own terms, it's all about "spirituality," rather than synagogues and/or siddurim (prayer books). Also, two-earner families are trying to shoehorn Judaism into their busy schedules, rather than arranging their schedules to accommodate Jewish practices. Heaven help you if your synagogue service is "too long," or if a holiday falls on a workday--many non-Orthodox folks will attend synagogue only when it's convenient, and will nonchalantly observe a holiday on the nearest weekend. Then there was the rabbi who asked how a generation raised to delete and unfriend can be persuaded to "discover a spiritual practice that actually requires practice."

My parents gifted me and my siblings with enough of a Jewish education to be able to read Hebrew (with vowels) and to know about almost all of the Jewish holidays, not just the High Holidays, and they taught us that synagogue membership and attendance were very important. Everything else, I learned as an adult, through my own efforts and with the help of many teachers. My neighborhood is full of Jews who know nothing about either traditional prayer or the weekly Torah readings, and have little interest in learning. How can any of them be persuaded to set foot in a synagogue without being "bribed" by, for example, food, or even drink? (There's a synagogue in Manhattan that offers a cocktail hour before services.) If people won't come to synagogue either for prayer or for community, and a small synagogue such as ours doesn't have either the facilities or the funds to offer a nursery school, what other "bribe" can we offer?