Defenders of the Faith

Judith Bleich, Ph.D., has been Professor of Judaic Studies at the Touro Graduate School of Jewish Studies since its inception and has taught at the Lander College for Women for over four decades. In 2004, she received the Founding Faculty Award of the Lander College for Women. She specializes in the nineteenth-century development of Reform and Orthodoxy in the wake of the Enlightenment and has written and lectured extensively on modern Jewish history. She serves on the editorial committee of Tradition, is a contributing editor of Jewish Action and a member of the Orthodox Forum Steering Committee.

“In this book, Judith Bleich, a professor of Jewish historyat Touro University, delineates the history of the relationship between theOrthodox and Reform communities in Germany, France, the US, and elsewhere inthe 19th and 20th (and 21st) centuries. … The foundations of therelationship set during this period of contention between the two groupscontinue to influence and shape the current situation between them. Bleichexpertly demonstrates this by using many references and footnotes to connectcurrent developments to the historical record she analyzes. … This book isrecommended for academic libraries that want to deepen their collection ofmaterials dealing with the development of Reform and Orthodox Judaism,spirituality and religious history, religious studies, Zionism, and othertopics of interest covered in the volume.”—Eli Lieberman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute ofReligion, AJL Reviews

• PrefaceIntroduction. Nineteenth to Twenty-First Centuries: From Pessimism to Optimism1. Rabbinic Responses to Nonobservance in the Modern Era2. The Emergence of an Orthodox Press in Nineteenth-Century Germany3. The Circumcision Controversy in Classical Reform in Historical Context4. Clerical Robes: Distinction or Dishonor?5. Intermarriage in the Early Modern Period6. Military Service: Ambivalence and Contradiction7. The Testament of a Halakhist8. Between East and West: Modernity and Traditionalism in the Writings of Rabbi Yehi'el Ya'akov Weinberg9. Liturgical Innovation and Spirituality: Trends and TrendinessIndex