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Getting Our Groove Back
"Scott Shay offers a wake-up call to the Jewish community, but
goes beyond. In this remarkable work, the author concretizes the thinking
of much of today's Jewish leadership. While many either focus on the
diagnosis of Jewry's ills, or offer partial prescriptions to address
partial cures, Shay takes a global approach to diagnosis and prescription." "Anyone - lay or professional - concerned with the future of
Judaism and Jews in the United States will profit greatly from this
provocative and sensible book." "Scott Shay believes unabashedly that Judaism's fundamental
purpose is to impact humanity positively. But to do this, there need
to be Jews, including American Jews. In this book brimming with ideas,
Shay bravely and persuasively tackles the demographic demon so that
Judaism can fulfill its noble purpose." "A must read for all who seek to strengthen Jewish life. Remarkably,
Scott has synthesized state of the field research, knowledge of "best
practice," and his three decades of experience--as a volunteer leader
in multiple settings--to offer wisdom on how we can seize this historic
opportunity to revitalize Jewish life." "Getting Our Groove Back
is a book that every Jewish leader ought to read. Scott Shay lays
out an agenda for strengthening Jewish life that pulls no punches
- it's passionate, provocative, and practical. Whether you agree or
not with all of his ideas, the challenges he puts before the Jewish
community are real and unavoidable, and his proposed solutions represent
the kind of focused and creative thinking we will surely need to meet
those challenges successfully. The author is not reluctant to tackle
controversial issues and no camp in the Jewish community escapes critique.
But, this is not an indictment; it's a call to action, and one that
wide sectors of the community can rally around. Above all, this is
a deeply Jewish book - infused with a powerful commitment to Judaism's
values and the Jewish people's historic mission. Shay argues persuasively
that the world continues to need a strong Jewish community; he wants
to make sure that it has one." "In Getting Our Groove Back,
Scott Shay expertly weaves research, analysis, and his own personal
experiences into an innovative program to reinvigorate American Jewry.
His passion and commitment to the Jewish community come through in
lively prose, and his fresh thinking on the familiar problem of demographic
decline will benefit every reader - from synagogue rabbis to Jewish
federation presidents to casual observers of the Jewish community." "Scott Shay has written an exceptionally thorough description
of the present situation of American Jewry with his own view of how
the Jewish circumstance in America can be improved and indeed, revitalized.
He deals with American Jewry in an extraordinarily comprehensive way
and from the current malaise has a variety of recommendations that
touch upon perhaps all the major problems presently faced. Anyone
reading this book must come away knowledgeable in general and must
benefit whether one agrees or not with Shay's many provocative recommendations.
A serious addition to contemporary Jewish thought."
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