Frontiers of Jewish Thought: B'Nai B'Rith History of the Jewish People

There are several attempts at originality in this collection of essays by scholars in religion, philosophy and Jewish studies; but by and large these pieces, written specially for this volume, are platitudinous surveys of Jewish life or restatements of well-known positions. Thus, for example, Sidney Goldstein tells us that low fertility rates and high levels of intermarriage may--or may not--signal dire consequences for the future of the American diaspora, while Shlomo Avineri rehashes the left-of-center Israeli position on the West Bank and Gaza. Among the more adventurous, if unconvincing, contributions is an attempt by Daniel Landes to place the threat of nuclear destruction within cabbalistic and halachic frameworks of a ``broken reality'' and the need to repair the world. More successful are Michael Rosenak's analysis of the surprising centrality of Israel in the lives of modern, emancipated Jews; Susannah Heschel's succinct, well-written review of the Jewish feminist movement; and David Feldman's essay on abortion and birth control, which while superficial in its look at modern fertility methods is excellent in its discussion of the Jewish perspective on abortion. Katz is a professor of Jewish studies at Cornell University. (June)