This selection of essays and commentaries tells the story of Jews in America through the perspective of contributors to First Things, a publication of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, which furthers Jewish-Christian dialogue. "It is not possible to speak of the role of religion in America without paying close attention to Jews and Judaism," writes Neuhaus, the journal's editor-in-chief, who borrows Abraham Lincoln's phrase, "an almost chosen nation," for his title. The authors, almost all of whom are Jewish, tackle a broad array of contemporary questions and disputes—theology, philosophy, law, psychology, history, anti-Semitism, Messianic Jews, black-Jewish relations, church-state issues, proselytism, intermarriage, public policy, Israel and interfaith relations. The fact that their viewpoints do not always represent conventional wisdom boosts the interest quotient of this anthology. For instance, writes Edward Shapiro, blacks and Jews diverge on a host of issues, and it is "demeaning to both... to argue that each must reflexively support the other's agenda in order to avoid antagonism." Neuhaus wisely offers two sides of the same issue in several cases, thus presenting a well-rounded range of topics and contributors. However, he includes only two women in this volume, a particularly glaring omission in light of the book's internal debate over God and gender in Judaism. Still, Christian readers will find here an "introduction to a Jewish world of discourse marked by energy and intelligence," while Jewish readers can answer an "invitation to join in arguments that are ever old and ever new." (May)
