Where We Are

by Leona Fein

Book by Fein, Leonard This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060915641
• ISBN13: 9780060915643
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Thoughtful and well-reasoned

This book delves into the Jewish experience in America. On every topic the author tries to be coherent, moderate, and sympathetic rather than overly critical, and I think he succeeds. The result is that the reader has a tendency to appreciate Fein's points rather than be overly critical in response. Fein points out that it is unlikely that the American Jewish community will survive "except as a community organized around values." He discusses topics such as antisemitism, the role of Israel, and neoconservatism. And he has plenty of thoughtful things to say. Still, I think that he ought to have been able to better define the line between constructive criticism of Israeli policies and counterproductive support of antizionist enemies of Jewish rights. Given that he reminds us, quoting Hillel, "if I am not for myself, who will be for me," I think he has accepted as a test for himself the following question (posed by Edward Alexander, who is highly critical of Fein): Do you refuse to demand for yourself the rights you demand for others? I think Fein does not pass this test when it comes to Israel. It is not that Fein fails to realize that being generous to one's enemies threatens one's friends: he does discuss the sense of betrayal that some Jews feel when their co-religionists attack Israel in apparaent concert with those who genuinely wish Jews ill. Nor is it my claim that Fein ought to change his political views. I simply think that Fein missed an opportunity to explore how one can refuse to support the government of Israel without risking being thought of as a traitor.

understanding liberals

As a Jewish Republican, I've always had difficulty understanding why so many Jews are liberals. But after reading this book, I have a better understanding of what motivates them -- the sense of fair play, the feeling that even the poor and the stupid should have some rights and some stake in society. And I am a bit more sensitive to how that sense of fair play comes from the Bible.Am I completely persauded? No. But maybe its not a coincidence that as I have started to pay more attention to religion, I've become a little bit more moderate.