In this title, a leading expert provides an engaging firsthand portrait of American Judaism today, which has been buffeted by massive social upheavals in recent decades. Like other religions in the U.S., it has witnessed a decline in participants over the past forty years, and many who remain active struggle to reconcile their hallowed traditions with new perspectives-from feminism and the LGBTQ movement to do-it-yourself religion
and personally defined spirituality. Taking a fresh look at American Judaism, the author, a leading authority, sets out to discover how Jews of various orientations practice their religion in this radically altered landscape. He captures the remarkable, if at times jarring, tableaux on display when American Jews practice their religion, while also revealing possibilities for significant renewal in American Judaism. What emerges is a quintessentially American story of disruption and creative reinvention, religious illiteracy and dynamic experimentation.