Agents of Change : American Jews and the Transformation of Israeli Judaism

Author

Adam S. Ferziger is Professor and holds the Rabbi S. R. Hirsch Chair in the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel, and is Co-Convener of the annual Oxford Summer Institute on Modern and Contemporary Judaism, University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of Beyond Sectarianism: The Realignment of American Orthodox Judaism, winner of a National Jewish Book Award.

Description
The rise of moderate Orthodox Judaism in Israel and the key role of Americans in its emergence
The conservative ultra-Orthodox and redemptive "Kook" camps hold sway over religious matters in Israel. Yet from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, a small cadre of American immigrants arrived in Israel and established or led a range of educational institutions that trained thousands of advanced students and laid the ideological foundations for an Israeli moderate religious stream. In Agents of Change, Adam S. Ferziger highlights the parts played by these Americans in promoting the rise of a transnational community of moderate Jewish Orthodoxy.

Analyzing the novel outlooks that have found expression in central areas of debates, from women’s engagements in religious and public life and approaches to the gay and lesbian community to interactions with non-Orthodox denominations and attitudes toward academic Jewish studies, Ferziger illuminates both shifting religious dynamics in Israel as a result of this rise in moderate Orthodoxy, as well as the changing relationship between Israeli and American Judaisms, challenging current understandings which see the Jewish co­mmunities of the two nations as drifting apart. Though a minority in Israel, this vocal Orthodox community with a more moderate take on key issues is significant in potentially paving the way for social change. Increasingly, their influence is being felt. Shedding light on the impact of American migration in forming a burgeoning moderate religious direction in Israeli life that has challenged the hegemony of the long dominant direction within Religious Zionism, Agents of Change offers a fresh perspective on the multifaceted collaboration of ideas and practices that exists between Israel and America.

Praise

An essential contribution to our understanding of the state of Judaism in the Jewish state as well as the rich spiritual interaction between American Jews and Israelis. If you are looking for an affirmation of hope in Israel's future, this book is a good place to begin. ~Yossi Klein Halevi, author of Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation

How did Orthodox Jews overcome their suspicion of Zionism as a secular movement and come to love the State of Israel? In this fascinating and highly original book, Adam Ferziger, a renowned scholar of modern Orthodoxy, describes the blossoming of a moderate Orthodoxy within Religious Zionism, a formidable political power in Israel today. ~Susannah Heschel, Dartmouth College

Amid the debate about distancing between American Jews and Israelis, Ferziger’s important book focuses on a critical counter-trend: American visionaries who have been influential in shaping Israel. With his rich, nuanced understanding of the Jewish landscape, Ferziger demonstrates that these leaders didn’t just come from America: America went through them. ~David Makovsky, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy