"Aspects of Religious Behavior of American Jews"
"Aspects of the Religious
Behavior of American Jews"
by Charles S. Liebman (1974)
is one example of what
Ktav Publishing House has
been doing assembling scat-
tered articles from various
publications a n d putting
them together in book form.
The impact of this material
is much greater and access
to it much easier for the
reading and studying public.
The book under review
brings together three con-
tributions of major impor-
tance that appeared -in the
American Jewish Year Books
of 1965, 1968, and 1970, deal-
ing with "The Training of
American Rabbis", "Ortho-
doxy in American Jewish
Life", and "Reconstruction-
ism in American Jewish
Life."
This, of course, does not
give a .complete picture of
Ameican Judaism. Those
wishing to know more would
have to refer to Marshall
Sklare's "Conservative Juda-
ism, An American Religious
Movement" (S'hocken, 1972)
and Theodore I. Lenn's
"Rabbi and Synagogue in
Reform Judaism" (Ktav,
1972).
Lieliman, who is associate
professor and chairman of
the department of political
studies at Bar-Ilan Univer-
sity, gives us the results of
years of careful research,
results of questionnaires and
personal interviews.
He empathizes with the in-
dividuals and institutions
about which he writes, and
his identification is so close
that, for the most part, the
reader feels that the author
is presenting his own views
and reactions.
In an illuminating intro-
duEtion the author brings his
research up to date by point-
ing out recent developments
and changes. These essays
are, therefore, not timeless.
Nevertheless, for the m'a-
terial covered, they give the
reader an intimate and well
balanced picture of what is
going on in some of the in-
stitutions and in the religious
life of American Jewry —
something that was not en-
tirely available until the
publication of this book.
The author is particularly
good in presenting fine
shadings of ideological posi-
tions. The general impres-
sion, for instance. that Ortho-
doxy is a monolithic move-
ment, with single authorita-
tive directives coming from
one central source, is dis-
spelled by the detailing of
various - schools of, thought
within the movement, with
presentations of their lead-
ing figures and the influ-
ence they wield.
The chapter on "The
Training of American
Rabbis" is particularly in-
formative. Very few Jews in
positions of leadership in the
United States, and even very
few members of personnel
committees searching for
rabbis, know what is in-
volved in the "production"
of the rabbis who serve their
congregations.
Who are the students of
the various seminaries and
academies? What is their
family and educational back-
ground? Why do they select
the rabbinate as their call-
ing? What are their inter-
54—Fridtri, Dec. 20, 1. 974
Master George
ests as students outside of
their studies? What do they
read? What organizations do
they belong to? What are
their views on sbcial action,
politics, society in general?
How do they view American
Jewry and the many prob-
lems that face it? What are
their religious views, their
ideas about God, their per-
sonal standards of observance
of mitzvot?
In dealing with the insti-
tutions in which our rabbis
are trained, how many of
our well informed Jews know
what the requirements are
for admission to a rabbinical
seminary? Who are the
faculty members and what is
their background? What is
the nature of the curriculum
and what do the students
think of it? To what extent
do the seminaries meet the
needs of their own students?
To what extent do they meet
the needs of the communi-
ties that these rabbis will
have to serve? Wht re the
faults in this program, and
what efforts are being made
to correct them? Is the rabbi
getting an 'adequate profes-
sional training for his job?
In his conclusion Dr. Lieb-
man, for instance, asserts
that if it is the primary
function of the rabbi to re-
create a meaningful Jewish
community "he would need
training that differs radi-
cally from the one he is now
receiving. The seminaries
would first have to "expli-
cate the goals of Jewish
life" and proceed from
there to organize a curricu-
lum to meet this need. That
is not, obviously, the case
with most of the rabbinical
curricula.
In his chapter on "Ortho-
doxy in American Jewish
Life" Liebman gives the
historical background of the
American Orthodox commun-
ity. He deals first in careful
detail with the residual Or-
thodox community made up
mostly of remnants of East-
ern European immigration.
Considerable attention is
then given to non-observant -
Orthodoxy. Why do these
Jews 'affiliate with Orthodox
synagogues? That this choice
is not based on ideological
grounds is quite obvious. The
various more potent factors,
such as geography. socio-
economic positions, the Jew-
ish education of their chil-
dren and others are pre-
sented.
Most attention is given to
the committed Orthodox,
American Jews who strive
to conduct their lives within
the framework of Halakha.
An educated guess, says
Liebman, puts the figures
of Sabbath observers at
200,000, about 4 percent of
American Jewry.
How do these committed
Jews meet the challenge of
American social, economic,
and political life? Where do
they –live and how do they
meet the problems presented
to them not only by their
American environment but
also by their differing Jew-
ish environment? How suc-
cessful are they in search-
ing for a solution to their
problems within the halak-
hic framework of Orthodox
Judaism?
A basic belief of Orthodoxy
is its claim to be the only
legitimate bearer of Jewish
tradition. In light of this it
is interesting to note the
many institutions and trands
within this anything but
monolithic group.
The major yeshivot are
surrounded by a host of
sectarian groups with- their
own institutions, leaders and
their own ideas on how best
to maintain the tradition. The
various hasidic groups are
not the least important
among them.
A very significant organi-
zation among others too
numerous to list is the Na-
tional Society for Hebrew
Day Schools, which is doing
a yeoman job in that field of
Jewish education. The Na-
tional 'Council of Young Is-
rael 'and the Association of
Orthodox Jewish Scientists
also feature prominently in
this spectrum of American
Orthodoxy.
The leadership of American
Orthodoxy is, of course, rab-
binic. The lay leader is
generally a follower with
reference to his rabbi, and
lacks the prestige or the
knowledge and training to be
at the head. Orthodoxy de-
veloped the idea of "Gedo-
lirn", great authorities in
Torah, but they are very few.
The heads of academies,
roshei yeshivot, remain the
embodiment of Torah and
authority in Orthodox Jewish
life.
With all of the differences
within the movement, Ortho-
doxy today, says Liebman,
is "the only group which con-
tains within it a strength and
will to live that may . yet
nourish all the Jewish
world."
The final chapter dealing
with Reconstructionism pre-
sents the youngest, native
born religious movement on
the American Jewish scene.
This is probably the first
scientific attempt to survey
this movement completely
and to deal with all of its
various aspects. 7 -
Liebman gives a very fine,
detailed, and objective pre-
sentation of Reconstruction-
ist ideology and beliefs about
Judaism. He presents its
ideas about God, salvation,
prayer, the organic commu-
nity, Israel, etc. Careful at-
tention is given to its
approach to Jewish ritual. -
Reconstructionism differs
from the other religious
movements in two ways: 1)
It was created and it re-
volves about the life and
teachings of one man, Prof.
Mordecai M. Kaplan, and a
small group of loyal dis-
ciples. 2) It was born within
the framework of the Con-
servative' movement, f
Kaplan was for many years
a professor at the Jewish
Theological Seminary, and
Many of its graduates dur-
ing those years are his
disciples.
Liebman traces the history
of the movement ; its slow
growth and its 'struggles to
survive, the dogged deter-
mination of its leadership,
the publication of the Recon-
structional magazine (soon
to observe its 40th anniver-
sary), the establishment of
the Reconstructionist Press,
and the organization of the
Reconstructionist Found a-
tion, with the assumption of
leadership by Dr. Ira Eisen-
stein the movement cut its
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS umbilical cord and became
i.4
independent. Not only are
there rabbis who are ideo-
logically close to the move-
ment, but there are now a
number of officially Recon-
structionist synagogues. In
addition there are a num-
ber of havurot, small groups
for the purpose of study and
of 10 to 15 families, that meet
observance of Shabat and
holidays.
The major step in the his-
tory of the movement was
the founding of the Recon-
structionist Rabbinical Col-
lege in 1969. The school in-
troduced a number of inno-
vations into the training of
rabbis.
The movement is now grad-
A Review
By RABBI MAX WEINE
uating its own rabbis to
serve its own congregations.
A detailed description of its
program and curriculum is
given in the article.
It is very difficult to judge
the extent and nature of the
Reconstructionist c on s ti ru-
ency. Whom does it appeal
to? Who are its loyal follow-
ers? -
There is no doubt that the
influence of the movement
has spread far beyond its
avowed followers. Many Con-
servative and Reform rabbis
regard themselves as disci-
ples of Kaplan if not actual
Reconstructionists.
The influence among Jew-
ish educators and _ social
workers is profound. Its
appeal to the intelligentsia
of American Jewry is strong.
What, however, are the
prospects of the movement?
Is it, or will it-become, the
ideology of American Jews?
A detailed discussion is pre-
sented in an attempt to
answer this question, and,
together with statistics based
on detailed questionnaires, is
worth very careful study.
Anyone wishing Ito have a
fine presentation of the cur-
rent scene in American
Judaism will find it in "As-
pects of Religious Behavior
of American Jews" by
Charles S. Liebman.
the gilt
everyone will
a subscription to
THE JEWISH NEWS
17515 W. NINE MILE ROAD
Suite 865
Southfield, Michigan 48075
•
.1 +NOE MIK-11.
• sr %I
Mr
THE JEWISH NEWS
17515 W. 9 Mile Rd.
Suite 865
Southfield, Mich. 48075
Gentlemen:
Please send gift subscrip ion to:
Name
Address
City
State
From.
$1.0 enclosed
•
t
1
k
4‘IF°
Zip Code