For anyone interested in the American Jewish experience and the challenges we face, this book is a must read. It covers the passage of responsibility for the preservation of distinctively Jewish life from the 'gemeinschaft' of 19th century Germany to the synagogues in America today. Gone are Jewish neighborhoods, businesses and other common Jewish endeavors, leaving the synagogue as the focal point for most Jews. The denominations—Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist—are closely examined, but non-denominational synagogues and other groupings such as the Havurot and such Orthodox outreach programs as Chabad and Aish Ha Torah also get a nod. Throughout its long history Judaism has absorbed ideas from other cultures and re-interpreted them in the Jewish idiom. Nowhere is this more evident than in the form and content of synagogue life in America today. Rabbi Heller and the other distinguished essayists tell the story as no one else has.

Alfred H. Moses

Do denominations matter? In this timely and provocative volume—part description, part prescription, part analysis, part case-study—some of American Jewry’s most effervescent minds wrestle with this vital question. Their contributions, no two alike, paint a vivid portrait of synagogue life today: fractious, fast-changing, and fecund. Judaism in the years ahead may be 'nondenominational,' 'transdenominational,' 'postdenominational,' or just plain 'denominational,' this book suggests, but in the final analysis the future depends upon vibrant and successful synagogues. Memorable chapters introduce us to some of those synagogues, and to their strategies for revitalizing American Jewish life.

Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University

This volume which considers the question do denominations matter could not have come at a more opportune moment. All who care about forging a path toward a robust, financially secure, and meaningful future for American Jewish life will be drawn to the thought-provoking essays in this volume. Many of the brightest and most effective Jewish leaders on the contemporary scene offer historical reflections, personal observations, and incisive insights into the venues, demographics and sensibilities that hold the key to the renaissance of synagogue life that is so essential to the vitality of American Jewry.

Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Associate Professor of American Jewish History and Dean of the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, Jewish Theological Seminary of America