I recently took a look at a new book written by Rabbi Barry Freundel, Contemporary Judaism's Response to Modernity. Rabbi Freundel is the rabbi of Kesher Israel, an Orthodox synagogue in Washington DC. His book contains 31 chapters dealing with many of the primary issues that Orthodox Jews face during their daily lives. It is well footnoted, each chapter containing much source material from which one could discuss any of his presented topics.

However, I feel that the book is lacking in two areas.

1. Rabbi Freundel sticks to "standard" Jewish sources. One of the methods for Orthodox response to modernity, and this might be a more general problem, is that there is a need for a more diverse read of Judaism. It is not enough to rely heavily on Maimonides or Heschel. There is a need to evaluate other thinkers like Cordovero (Tomer Devorah), ARI Z"L, De Vidas (Reishit Hokhmah), Ramchal, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, Habad Rebbes, other Hasidic rabbinic courts, and modern thinkers like Levinas. While I am not expecting the work to be academic, it would have been helpful to have a had better range of sources from which to choose.

2. While I do see his book as an introduction to Orthodox Judaism, it is hard to see it as a response to modernity. While most books do have trouble handling Judaism and Modernity sufficiently, one book which does provide a more rigorous philosophical read is Rabbi Wurzburger's G-d is Proof Enough , which I mentioned in a previous post. While one could argue about the lack of alternative sources in his work as well, I found it a somewhat more satisfying book about how we can look at Judaism through modern thinking.

I do recommend that people take a quick glance at the book for there are some chapters more worthwhile than others. However, don't expect it to be a "true" Orthodox response to modernity.