Scribner Trade Hardcover
0-6848-0389-5
September 1997
What would happen if the world woke up one day and there were simply no Jews left? Would the world be worse off? In Does the World Need the Jews? Gordis suggests that on the eve of the twenty-first century, one of the chief sources of malaise among contemporary Jews is that many cannot answer this critical question. Though many Jewish community leaders now speak of an American Jewish continuity crisis,  Gordis sees a very different problem. The issue, he argues, is not continuity, but identity. American Jews simply have no conception of why they matter or what their tradition stands for. In this sure-to-be-controversial book, Gordis argues that by assimilating so thoroughly into American culture, Jews have lost their distinctive voice. What emerges is a dramatic and compelling agenda for American Jews who want to believe that Judaism still has a reason to survive.

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A passionate, persuasive plea for loyal Jews to become serious Jews.
Rabbi Harold Kushner, Bestselling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good PeopleDaniel Gordis has a rich and variegated mind, the sort that makes stunning and otherwise ignored connections.
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy and Jewish Wisdom

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