Strife In the Sanctuary: Religious Schism in a Jewish Community

I found this story fascinating. A real community drama. The author did an excellent job introucing the members of this Jewish coimmunity, laying out the conflicts, interviewing them for their own personal perspectives, and showing the deep divides that can arise among contemporary Jews. There was a lot of acrimony on both sides...but also a lot of humanity. This wasn't simply boring sociological analysis -- a real story, with drama and intrigue. One of the best studies of contemporary Jewish life I've ever read.

When I first picked up Zuckerman's "Strife in the Sanctuary", I was a little dubious, not having much of a background in either religion or sociology. I quickly found that the story Zuckerman is telling is truly interesting, and that his presentation and writing style make complex issues and academic theories relevant and interesting to those of us without a great deal of background in these issues. One of the book's main qualities is the author's ability to delve into the humanity of the people and conflicts he is describing, and the reader gets an excellent sense of the tensions and struggles of factional strife. I have just read Zuckerman's new edited compilation of W.E.B. DuBois's writings on religion, am again very impressed with his work, and look forward to reading more of his insight and analysis in the future.