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Summary: The Inside Scoop on the Rabbi "Biz"...
Review: As a "state of the nation," this book is a touchingly honest reflection on many contemporary Jewish realities -- or, at least, *Conservative* Jewish realities, since I'm not so sure the situation described here could have arisen in either an Orthodox or Reform congregation.This book plunges the reader into the midst of a typical American Jewish community as it searches for a leader -- and for an enduring identity for itself and its movement. You learn who's who and share all the gossip -- perhaps even a little too much of the gossip, as Fried reveals the intricate star system of "hot" rabbis and pulpits around the country. Along the way, Fried takes his own baby steps towards finding a grown-up spiritual identity. This "memoir" side of the book is honest without being navel-gazing, a relief after some other recent books which go too far in the introspective direction. Most authors' spiritual quests are NOT worthy of a book in themselves, and luckily, Fried seems aware of that fact. This book will inevitably draw comparisons with Paul Wilkes' "And They Shall Be My People: An American Rabbi and His Congregation" -- indeed, Fried mentions Wilkes' book at one point! -- and like Wilkes, Fried doesn't really offer any big answers about where the Conservative movement is going. But for those who have already written the movement off as a vital force, both books will make you think again... at least briefly. Conservative Judaism ain't dead, yet, and with fine authors like these on the pulse of the movement, it'll probably be beating for some time to come.
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Summary: synagogue straight talk
Review: As a former Philadelphian living in the mid-west, I've long been a fan of Stephen Fried for his work at Philadelphia Magazine. As a Jewish professional, I was of course interested in the subject, but concerned that it could be "gossipy". Fried came through again with straight talk on the politics of congregational life. I enjoyed the story of Har Zion's search for a rabbi and have recommended it to several friends.
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Summary: The whole story, warts and all..It's not pretty..mesmerizing
Review: Author Fried purports to tell the story of how a large and wealthy conservative congregation on the Philadelphia Main Line went through the process of replacing its retiring rabbi. It's actually quite some time before he gets into the essence of the story, and I found myself thinking, when is he going to get to the search? But he gets there and leaves no stone unturned. It is a truly ugly story and it made me feel grateful that I didn't belong to that congregation.
My own congregation recently went through a search for a new rabbi when ours left for a promotion after 14 years with us. This book is more than just the search for a new rabbi. It is a look at the inner workings of the conservative movement and the politics involved when this congregation decided to play hardball with the movement powers that be. I will not detail the end of the story (which, unfortunately is not in the book), but I will tell you it is not a pretty story, but I could not put the book down. Anyone who cares about this sort of thing should find the book endlessly fascinating as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Well-written, but violates candidates' privacy and dignity
Review: Fried's coverage of Har Zion's search for a new rabbi to fill the significant shoes of Rabbi Gerald Wolpe provides an engaging read and an excellent specific example of some of the more general issues affecting contemporary Judaism in America. Also, Fried does a fantastic job in describing his exposure to the Har Zion and greater Philadelphia-area Jewish community and how it paralleled his own spiritual search following some life-changing events.
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Summary: Fascinating case study of a sensitive process
Review: Having sat on a rabbinic search committee in my own shul, as well as three cantorial search committees, I found this book fascinating and on the mark. Our synagogue is much smaller than Har Zion, but the political travails, the ego clashes, and the resulting ruffled feathers seem to be the same across all sizes and denominations of synagogues. Fried has an easy literary style which places you in the middle of the action. Sharing his own personal insights and experiences may annoy some readers, but I found that they made the story more accessible. Hands down, I recommend this book, particularly to those who are active in their congregations.
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Summary: Well-written, but violates candidates' privacy and dignity
Review: I agree with all the other readers who have posted comments here that the book is well-written and very engrossing. But no one else seems to be bothered by the fact that Mr. Fried commits the unconscionable and inexcusable sin of using the real names of the unsuccessful rabbinic candidates. They had every reason to expect that their interviews would be confidential. The Acknowledgments section makes it clear that not all the candidates gave permission for their names to used, or that Mr. Fried even thought it necessary to ask them. A footnote tells us that the name of a millionaire trouble-maker has been changed. But what does it tell us about the author that he felt no such need to conceal the names of rabbis who have now been embarrassed in print and in public? The book would have lost none of its force if those names had been changed. Shame on the author!
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Summary: a guilty pleasure
Review: I did find this book compulsively readable, although I'm not sure I can say why. The book has more human drama than intellectual enlightenment, and by the time I was done I wondered whether it was an efficient use of my time. But there were a few ideas that did grab me, though I suppose most of them were just common sense- being a pulpit rabbi involves a wide variey of tasks (including not just sermonizing and hospital visits, but also fundraising), an educated congregation gets more out of teaching Torah than of general sermonizing, etc. I'm moving to Philadelphia soon, and the book did give me a better feel for the city (even though I won't be living near the book that is the subject of the shul, I will live 2 blocks from the author's "home shul" in Center City- and I'm happy to say that he makes it lot a lot more attractive than the shul that is the subject of most of his book). (P.S. As of 12-02, the "new" rabbi is now the ex-rabbi).
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Summary: We want the rest of the story
Review: I got a copy of this the day it came out. Our Synagogue was going through a looking for a rabbi crises at the time and the title caught me. It really helped me to see that we were not alone in our angst. It was an interesting and revealing read and I hope some people see themselves in the people in the book. I met someone earlier this year from the congregation and when I mentioned the book - it was OY VEY! No, no, no. Apparently there is more story there and I hope the author revisits and writes the rest of the story.
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Summary: The New Rabbi - A congregation searches
Review: I loved the book. It reads like a mystery, so that you can't wait to find out what happens next, as the decision making process takes unexpected twists and turns with every chapter.
As a Catholic accustomed to pastoral appointments, I finished the book with a sense of awe at the responsibility and spirituality within the process.
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Summary: Insight into sociology of religion
Review: I picked up this book primarily because I am fascinated by the way people choose different occupations, manage their careers and get selected for positions over their lifetime. Along the way, I gained a unique perspective on contemporary religion. Fried is a masterful, professional journalist -- fanatical about accuracy, novelistic in style. He does not serve up composite people: everyone is real and only a few names are disguised. His gift is to keep the pages turning as we wonder, "How will this dilemma get resolved?" His writing offers entertainment, particularly through his use of fresh metaphors and analogies. Repeatedly he refers to the retail level of religion -- a particularly apt metaphor, because the world Fried describes is unabashedly a business. As other reviewers have noted, the process resembles choosing a new corporate leader or (I would add) a university dean. Image matters: the committee dismisses one rabbi because he lacks a sense of style in the way he wears his head covering! And the congregation, which includes a healthy share of Philadelphia lawyers, does not believe any governing body can deny them the rabbi they want. Anything is negotiable!
to differentiate Anthropology teaches us to differentiate between dogma religions (such as Catholicism and most Protestant sects) and tribal religions. In the latter, religious customs are developed and maintained to unify the participants and mark them as different from others. Without this understanding, much of what Fried describes would have been baffling. Fried presents a membership that resembles a community not of believers but of heritage. People know each other. They went to camp together. They're more than friends. And we learn a lot by what Fried doesn't say. As an outsider, I found myself wondering, "Where are the women? the single people? the non-traditional lifestyles?" Women can serve on committees but the real power remains with the men. Single people are mentioned only briefly in the context of "mixers." No one in Fried's world seems to believe that someone might choose to live alone, or with a same-sex partner, or without children. And no one moves, loses a job, faces financial disaster, or even lives with the aftermath of divorce. Membership is described by numbers of "families." No loners here! Fried describes a group of people who have education and wealth and know how to maximize their resources. They contribute money to charities but their own troubles cause only embarrassment. Health problems are tragic but these people do not stand in line at HMO's. The only names not revealed are those of "Landis" family, whose child uses a religious ceremony to insult her mother. The matter is treated like a gaffe at the Junior League, not a reason to delve deeper into the mission of the organization that produced the dysfunctional family. Fried writes an insider as well as a journalist, and the book has qualities of a memoir. While we gain some insights to his own psyche, we lose the context of the bigger picture: why is this important? Insiders don't ask -- but not all readers are insiders. Fried devotes less than two pages to examples of friends who turned to religion as adults -- and these were anecdotal, random stories. We get a sense of an institution run by middle-aged, wealth white males, mostly for the purpose of maintaining a tradition. Fried does a good job of explaining the dynamics of the synagogue and its search for a new rabbi, but I would have liked to see him place the question in the context of American -- and even global -- society today.
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