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Joshua Leifer’s ‘Tablets Shattered’

JL;DR SUMMARY Joshua Leifer's "Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life" critiques the American Jewish experience, focusing on how Zionism's centrality has overshadowed other Jewish cultures in the U.S. Leifer interlaces personal narrative with sharp historical analysis, painting a picture of American Jewry as a community that has yielded to capitalist influences, losing touch with its roots. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityZionismIsraeli PoliticsAmerican JudaismLiberal JudaismHaredi CommunityJewish ActivismOrthodoxyJewish FutureNeo Reform Judaism

Places mentioned

Brooklyn, New York, United States
"In late summer, a Brooklyn bookstore canceled a discussion of Joshua Leifers Tablets Shattered at the last minute because the events moderator, Rabbi Andy Bachman, founder of a group for unaffiliated Jews called Brooklyn Jews, was a Zionist."
New Jersey, United States
"Born in 1994, Leifer grew up, he writes, in a mainline affiliated community in New Jersey, where he attended a Jewish day school through sixth grade."
Gaza Strip, Gaza, Palestinian Territories
"his adolescent rebellion blossomed into full-fledged activism over his perspective on Israels activities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip."
Israel
"Still, as someone who lives part time in Israel, he remains committed to what he calls the Jewish struggle with Zionism and the State of Israel."

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Retrieved 2024-11-12 05:30:59 UTC
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