350 year history of Jewish religion in American from colonial era to present day; how it was affected and affected the Protestant and capitalist American culture.

Colonial beginnings/two worlds/anxious subculture

A comprehensive survey of the entirety of American Jewish history. It is written for the general reader but does not lack at all in depth or breadth. It is backed by original sources primarily derived from the Reform movement, ostensibly inasmuch as that is the movement that really, according to the author, gathered momentum after reaching this side of the Atlantic. In their search for religious freedom in America, many Jews who began life as Orthodox Jews in Europe sought to free themselves from the constraints of literalist renditions of Torah, halachah and "old-fashioned" liturgies in an attempt to assimilate into the New World where, it was hoped, people could be judged not on their race or religion. Jew immigrants, like the Christians before them, wanted to be judged on who they were as individuals in accordance with "modern" humanist thought that stemmed largely from Renaissance thinkers, albeit with a Jewish slant in most instances. Sarna takes the reader through the major Jewish philosophers who were instrumental in growing the religion and leaves the reader with a sense that Jews can likely tell where their people are headed since there is too much deja vu all over again.If you have any desire to know about American Jewish social and intellectual history, this book belongs in your library. ( )