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Description

Jews and the American Public Square is a study of how Jews have grappled with the presence of religion, both their own and others, in American public life. It surveys historical Jewish approaches to church-state relations and analyzes Jewish responses to the religion clauses of the First Amendment. The book also explores how the contemporary sociological and political characteristics of American Jews bear on their understanding of the public dimensions of American religion. In addition to a descriptive and analytic approach. the volume is also critical and polemical. Its contributors attack and defend prevailing views, raise critical questions about the political and intellectual positions favored by American Jews, and propose new syntheses. This book captures the current mood of the Jewish community: both committed to the separation of church and state and perplexed about its scope and application. It provides the necessary background for a principled reconsideration of the problem of religion in the public square.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 Historical Dimensions
Chapter 3 An Overview of American Jewish Defense
Chapter 4 Church-State Dilemmas of American Jews
Part 5 Constitutional Dimensions
Chapter 6 Believers and the Founders' Constitution
Chapter 7 The Rule of Law and the Establishment Clause
Chapter 8 Religion and Liberal Democracy
Part 9 Political Dimensions
Chapter 10 Jewish Activism in the Washington "Square": An Analysis and Prognosis
Chapter 11 Uncertain Steps: American Jews in the New Public Square
Chapter 12 The Jewish Debate over State Aid to Religious Schools
Part 13 Sociological Dimensions
Chapter 14 Jewish Involvement in the American Public Square: The Organizational Disconnect
Chapter 15 Public Jews and Private Acts: Family and Personal Choices in the Public Square and in the Private Realm
Part 16 Philosophical Dimensions
Chapter 17 Jewish Critics of Strict Separationism
Chapter 18 Under His Own Vine and Fig Tree: The Contemporary Jewish Approach to Religion in American Public Life and Its Problems
Chapter 19 Toward a Jewish Public Philosophy in America

Product details

Published 27 Aug 2002
Format Ebook (Epub & Mobi)
Edition 1st
Extent 392
ISBN 9781461714385
Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Alan Mittleman

Anthology Editor

Robert Licht

Anthology Editor

Jonathan D. Sarna

Contributor

Naomi W. Cohen

Contributor

David G. Dalin

Contributor

Hillel Fradkin

Contributor

Sherry Israel

Contributor

Ralph Lerner

Contributor

David Novak

David Novak is the author of nineteen books, the l…

Contributor

Martin J. Plax

Contributor

Marc D. Stern

Contributor

Jack Wertheimer

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