Jews and the American Public Square: Debating Religion and RepublicAlan Mittleman, Robert Licht, Jonathan D. Sarna 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. |
Contents
An Overview of American Jewish Defense | 13 |
ChurchState Dilemmas of American Jews | 47 |
Constitutional Dimensions | 69 |
Believers and the Founders Constitution | 71 |
The Rule of Law and the Establishment Clause | 87 |
Religion and Liberal Democracy | 133 |
Political Dimensions | 151 |
Jewish Activism in the Washington Square An Analysis and Prognosis | 153 |
Sociological Dimensions | 239 |
Jewish Involvement in the American Public Square The Organizational Disconnect | 241 |
Public Jews and Private Acts Family and Personal Choices in the Public Square and in the Private Realm | 265 |
Philosophical Dimensions | 289 |
Jewish Critics of Strict Separationism | 291 |
Under His Own Vine and Fig Tree The Contemporary Jewish Approach to Religion in American Public Life and Its Problems | 311 |
Toward a Jewish Public Philosophy in America | 331 |
| 357 | |
Uncertain Steps American Jews in the New Public Square | 187 |
The Jewish Debate over State Aid to Religious Schools | 217 |
About the Contributors | 373 |
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abortion activity AIPAC Amendment Ameri American Jewish Committee American Jewish community American Jewish Congress American Jews American Public Square anti-Semitism argued believe century Christian America Christian Right church-state citizens civil claim coalition Cohen concern Conservative Constitution culture debate democratic equal Establishment Clause ethnic Everson faith federal freedom funding gious individual institutions issues JCPA Jefferson Jewish day schools Jewish groups Jewish interests Jewish leaders Jewish organizations Jewish political Jewish public Jewish self-interest Jewish women Jewry Judaism Justice Leo Pfeffer liberal democracy liberty majority matters menorahs ment moral NJCRAC non-Jewish Orthodox parochial schools percent Pfeffer prayer principle programs protect public policy public schools public square question Rabbi Reform Reform Judaism reli religion religious groups religious schools role rule of law Sarna and Dalin secular separation of church social strict separationism Supreme Court synagogues tion Torah United University Press vouchers wall of separation Washington York