TABLETS SHATTERED

A damning assessment of the present and future of Judaism.

Highly critical of Jewish structures, the U.S., and Israel, Leifer, a member of the Dissent editorial board, concludes the present era is “the autumn of American Jewish culture.” He continues, “What is left of American Jewish culture appears to have lost its distinctiveness and its bite, devolved into mere kitsch and cliché: no more Saul Bellow novels, only Seth Rogen movies.” The author explains that many 20th-century Jews, escaping oppression in Europe, aligned their Jewish identity with their newfound American identity, seeing what was good for America as being good for Jews. However, Leifer argues, “American Jewish integration and upward mobility accomplished the wholesale destruction of older forms of life, organizations, languages, and cultural memory.” While acculturated Jews thrived in America, many uncritically supported Zionism and the actions of the Israeli government and military, even as injustices mounted against Palestinians. The author views the current form of American Judaism as composed of a separatist Orthodoxy, a minority core of anti-establishment activists, and “a mainline affiliated Judaism sunken into indifference, satisfied with its shallowness, and unaware of the extent of its own religious ignorance.” He sees Judaism in Israel as similarly tainted by its American ties, whether financial, political, religious, or military. In his view, the October 7, 2023, attacks and resulting war are culminations of geopolitical mistakes going back to the administrations of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. In a work replete with personal reflections and opinions, the author does not shy away from blunt criticism of numerous politicians and personalities who have shaped his own sense of dissent and stirred the anger of fellow young progressive Jews—an anger that only grows as the present conflict continues to claim thousands of lives.

In a candid, intellectual, often pessimistic book, Leifer pulls no punches.