DNF

I did not read this book and I know longer have any interest in reading it. This was during the beginning of my NetGalley “everything looks great so I am going to request it without looking into the book. I have definitely become more selective in choosing what books I want to request and read.

I enjoyed this collection of thoughts on Jewish ideas and how Judaism is impacted in America. This book made me think. I found it interesting.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

The number of Jews who neither worship at a synagogue nor belong to one has been growing steadily. Jewish scholars are hard pressed to know why and even more hard pressed to figure out how to return the missing Jews to the synagogue. Many scholars believe that if the trend continues, Judaism may die in American, accomplishing what millennia of anti-Semitism could not. Assimilation, some believe, may be the root of this decline because Jews like so many others have allowed their religion to fade away.

Mnookin, a Harvard School of Law professor, takes a hard look at the reasons why Jews are no longer associated with synagogues, no longer worship as Jews, and, indeed, no longer see themselves as Jewish. His writing is not preachy and is easy to read. He’s done his research and this book shows the depth of his research.

This book will be of interest to those Jews who no longer identify themselves as Jews as well as those who are concerned about the decline of Judaism in America.

While I didn’t agree on all facets of this book, as a Jewish American I found the topics very interesting. I like to see how other Jewish people and parents are finding their ways to hang onto traditions in such a society that seems more and more focused on the individual than the community as a whole. This book was insightful.