Kvelling about The New Rabbi

"Fascinating ... illuminating ... compelling ... Beneath the story about synagogue politics is a novel-like story about loss and love between fathers and sons, and its religious resonance."
---New York Times

"Brave ... remarkable ... a book about leadership [that] you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate ... I don't know Fried, but I can tell you for certain that he's great company--a thoughtful explainer of difficult concepts ... unafraid to tie together intellectual threads and, above all, an able storyteller."
--Philadelphia Inquirer

"Compelling ... extraordinarily valuable ... intertwines a personal search for religious meaning with a communal search for continuity ... Fried hoped to shed light on the future of the rabbinic profession -- and indirectly, on the future of Judaism and of organized religion in America ... and [he] gets it absolutely right."
--Washington Post Book World

"A nonfiction work with the intensity and character exploration of a novel. I never would have thought that the search for a spiritual leader could be told with such verve and in so compelling a manner. THE NEW RABBI is a moving book that has important things to say about Jewish life in America today."
--Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Jewish Literacy

"Guided back toward faith by his father's death, Fried follows leaders at Philadelphia's Har Zion Temple through their agonizing and at times controversial search to replace their beloved rabbi ... Through Fried's exhaustive reporting, countless interviews and eloquent prose, the search for a new man with just the right amount of saykhel expands to a national examination of the ongoing struggle for the heart and soul of Judaism."
--The Forward

"A book full of wisdom, written with a lot of clarity and a healthy dose of humor ... its lessons can be appreciated by any reader who is interested in organized religion."
--Tampa Tribune

"Compelling ... investigative reporter Stephen Fried gets inside the congregational mindset the way no other writer has ... [his] approach is altogether serious, although leavened with a breezy writing style."
--The Jewish Week

"Compelling...dramatic...juicy...Fried's intensely personal yet broadly detailed perspective should interest both Jewish and non-Jewish readers who are curious about what really goes on behind the lectern."
--Publishers Weekly starred review

"Writing with clarity, candor and wit, Fried uses the case study of a rabbi's retirement and replacement to learn what organized religion means to a suburban congregation and its leaders."
--Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen To Good People

"The book contains many wise passages about the state of Judaism in this country, but the clergy search it describes should be familiar to many Christians ... if we can ever get past the politics, such searches can be tests of faith, spiritual journeys for both the searchers and the candidates"
--John Railey, Winston-Salem Journal

"The word 'rabbi' derives from the Hebrew term for 'teacher,' and in THE NEW RABBI Stephen Fried teaches us all about the personal, intimate, human side of religious leadership. With acute observation and breezy, readable prose, he shows real life on and off the pulpit, from theology to public relations, mourning to fund-raising, communal bonds to piercing isolation. Whether you kvetch or kvell about your own rabbi, you'll want to be with Stephen Fried as he introduces you to the new one in town."
--Samuel G. Freedman, author of Jew vs Jew:The Struggle For The Soul of American Jewry and Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church

"Don't let the lackluster subtitle of this excellent memoir/investigative report deter you. The New Rabbi is a surprisingly engaging chronicle of Jewish life at the turn of the 21st century, with a spotlight on one of America's most influential synagogues and the delightful characters who inhabit it. The book's most compelling strand is the convergence of two men's spiritual struggles over the deaths of their fathers--the author's and the brilliant rabbi Gerald Wolpe's. Wolpe's richly charismatic voice, as well as his willingness to publicly share his internal battles with God, have made him famous. His imminent retirement, on the other hand, reveals the fissures in American Judaism. Fried proves himself to be ambidextrous in drawing an affecting and humorous story of rabbis and men, while also revealing the behind-the-scenes political, financial, and emotional workings of American synagogue life in a time of generational change. Or, as he puts it, the 'drama of the intersection of the divine and the secular, the battles between God and man and American culture, the searches for spiritual awakening and the perfect bar mitzvah caterer.' This is fun and enlightening reading for Jews and non-Jews alike.
--Lesley Reed, amazon.com editorial review

"A literary delight ... Using all of his considerable journalistic skills, Fried delves into every nook and cranny of the 1,400-plus family Har Zion Temple with the sort of obsessive thoroughness and persistence I wish more reporters would bring to their coverage of government institutions."
--The Jewish Exponent

"Exciting, and I mean excitingly juicy ... this book is Paul Wilkes' "And They Shall Be My People" on Viagra ... Yes, some readers may wince at the mention of high holiday services being "fashion shows" to be seen at, but this is the real world, blemishes and all, and a congregation has the right to choose the leader that is right for it, whether s/he be a scholar, a schmoozer, or schmaltzy."
--MyJewishBooks.com

"Exciting ... Should be required reading at all seminaries."
--Library Journal

"For those with an interest in modern religious life, this book offers rich
rewards."
--Providence Journal

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