And They Shall Be My People: An American Rabbi and His Congregation. - book reviews

AMONG American Jews, rabbis of the Conservative movement (which, unlike the Reform variety, theoretically upholds most of Jewish law) face a quandary. While many find themselves at a level of ritual observance approaching Orthodoxy, their congregants tend to be every bit as disaffected from Jewish religious life as the mass of liberal Reform Jews. And because rabbis are hired and fired by congregations, their lives are a constant tightrope act of cajoling and accommodating that leads to multiple frustrations. Paul Wilkes, a Catholic, captures the dilemma well, having spent a year with a Conservative rabbi in Worcester, Massachusetts, while the rabbi tried to sweet-talk his flock, and sometimes shame them, into a more spiritual way of life. While Mr. Wilkes maddeningly allows intriguing issues to pass by without comment or amplification, it is to his credit that he reports faithfully and fully what he sees, allowing the reader to draw his own conclusions about this very American brand of Judaism.

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