Defenders of the Faith

“In this book, Judith Bleich, a professor of Jewish history
at Touro University, delineates the history of the relationship between the
Orthodox and Reform communities in Germany, France, the US, and elsewhere in
the 19th and 20th (and 21st) centuries. … The foundations of the
relationship set during this period of contention between the two groups
continue to influence and shape the current situation between them. Bleich
expertly demonstrates this by using many references and footnotes to connect
current developments to the historical record she analyzes. … This book is
recommended for academic libraries that want to deepen their collection of
materials dealing with the development of Reform and Orthodox Judaism,
spirituality and religious history, religious studies, Zionism, and other
topics of interest covered in the volume.”

—Eli Lieberman, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
Religion, AJL Reviews

“Prof. Judith Bleich, masterful teacher and distinguished scholar of modern Jewish intellectual history, revered rebbetzin in the New York Orthodox community and beyond, is an eminent authority on the emergence of the modern movements of Orthodox and Reform Judaism and the history of the polemics between those movements. A selection of her published essays in the latter area appeared recently as Defenders of the Faith: Studies in Nineteenth-and Twentieth-Century Orthodoxy and Reform. Every essay is characteristically erudite and repercussive, of essential importance to scholars in the field. All, as always, are authored with meticulous attention to historical detail, rigorous analysis of primary and secondary sources, and elegantly crafted prose.”

—Tradition Online