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Review of The New American Judaism by Arthur Blecher, Palgrave MacMillan, October 2007 (ISBN 1403977461, 256 pp., hardcover).

Arthur Blecher's The New American Judaism may not be the official companion book for PBS's recent series on Jews in America, but it should be. Like the PBS series, Blecher examines the rich history of American Jewish experience, but he goes beyond the present, outlining a vision of the future for American Jews that's both challenging and encouraging.

Blecher, originally ordained as a Conservative rabbi, now serves as rabbi of Beth Chai, a Humanistic Jewish congregation in Washington, DC.

Blecher outlines the three major themes that have provided the bedrock of American Jewish thinking in the 20th century: continuity, survival, and authenticity. He then proceeds to expose the myths supporting these themes. The theme of "continuity" refers to the belief that Judaism as practiced in modern America evolved directly from the original practice of Judaism some four thousand years ago. This sense of continuity, says Blecher, gives more credence to the mainline Jewish denominations (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist), who claim their practice of the religion can be traced back to biblical roots. Blecher points out that modern Judaism descended from a host of sources, some of which are relatively recent.

Concerns over Jewish survival represent the second theme of the American Jewish experience, according to Blecher. This powerful emotion, underlined by the harsh experience of modern antisemitism has become so ingrained in the American Jewish psyche, that the survival of Judaism has become a primary goal of Judaism itself. The fear that intermarriage and assimilation will hasten the demise of Judaism, says Blecher, is a common theme of American Jewish literature and often heard in High Holiday sermons. This fear of disappearing Jews has spawned the founding of Jewish schools, clubs, and camps to constantly remind American Jewish children their identities. These groups likewise encourage Jewish children to have more Jewish friends and fewer Gentile friends, thus limiting opportunities for casual social contact that can evolve into romantic attachments.

The third theme authenticity draws some of Blecher's harshest critiques. The theme of authenticity refers to the ideal of Jewish life was that practiced in the shtetl, the communities in Eastern Europe from where many Jews emigrated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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