once and for all to abandon any claim to religiosity and deny arnprivilege, within Jewry, to Judaism. Philanthropists devote tensrnof millions of dollars to sustain the secular option. Secularistsrnwish to define themselves wholly as an ethnic group: “no rules,rnjust right,” “have it your way,” and other current slogans servernto define matters. The other side points to a return to the religion,rnJudaism, as the guarantor of the Jewish future. These positionsrnare currendy represented, respectively, by Alan M. Dershowitzrnin The Vanishing American jew: In Search of JewishrnIdentity for the Next Century, written in response to his son’srnmarriage to a Gentile, and Elliott Abrams’ Faith or Fear: Howrn]ews Can Survive in a Christian America, which insists that thernJews will die out if their religion is marginalized. Neither bookrnhas any bearing on the religion, Judaism, in which Israel formsrna generative category but defines no end in itself. But the reasonrnDershowitz and Abrams fail is not theological but, appropriately,rnsociological: for the half or more of American Jews whornpractice “being Jewish” outside of the organized Jewish communityrnand the synagogue, the two positions share the singlerntrait of monumental irrelevance.rnNor does the Torah have any stake in the outcome of this debate.rnFor we should look in vain in the Torah, encompassingrnnot only Scripture but the entire oral tradition, for anyone whornwould concur that the purpose of the Torah (a.k.a. Judaism) isrnto secure the continuity of the Jews as a group (“the Jewish People”)rn. Nothing happened to Spinoza’s model after him. Forrnoutside of the synagogue and its enduring life in the service ofrnthe One God, and absent militant anti-Semitism, no secularrnmodel—Jewishness without Judaism—has ever served to sustainrna diaspora Jewish group for much longer than a generationrnand a half. And in the nation-state of Israel, issues are drawnrnstill more sharply. But that is another story. c-rnGREAT TOPICS, GREAT ISSUESrnTHE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY—rnOctober 1997—Patrick J. Buchananrnon Mr. Lincoln’s War, Samuel Francisrnon ttie demise of checks and balances,rnLlewellyn Rockwell on the evils of thernexecutive branch, and H. Arthur ScottrnTrask on Franklin Pierce and thernfight for the Old Union. PlusrnMarian Kester Coombs on the NewrnNew Math.rnEDUCATION AND THE AMERICANrnELITE—September 1997—rnJohn Lukacs on schools and civility,rnGeorge Watson on elitism and education,rnJ.O. Tate on “red diaper” babies inrnthe academy, and Herb London onrnparietals then and now. Plus RichardrnWilbur on discipline and the arts, andrnScott Southworth on the forcedrnfunding of student radicalism.rnTHE MEANING OF DEATH—rnAugust 1997—Bill Kauffman on therncosts of war, Michael Hill on things worthrnfighting and dying for, Allan Carlson onrnthe new euthanasia pill, and Barry Baldwinrnon the case for capital punishment.rnPlus Frank Brownlow’s review ofrnAlias Shakespeare by Joseph Sobran,rnand Justin Raimondo’s report onrnGeorge Soros.rnNATIONAL SUICIDE—July 1997-rnThomas Fleming on learning a lessonrnfrom the Czechs, Curtis Cate on thernFrench debate over immigration, R.J.rnStove on Pauline Hanson’s influence inrnAustralia, Justin Raimondo on the ftjturernof the Pacific Northwest, Wil-rnUam Murchison on why Mexico lostrnTexas, and Gregory McNamee on thernstate of Native Americans.rnMANIFEST DISASTER—June 1997-rnThomas Fleming on the new imperialism,rnSamuel Francis on globalism and its consequences,rnJoseph Sobran on the case forrnanti-Americanism, Srdja Trifkovic onrn.A.merica’s role in the Balkans, andrnJames George Jatras on benevolentrnglobal hegemony. Plus Justin Raimondornon David Horowitz and thernex-communist confessional.rnUTOPIAS UNLIMITED—May 1997—rnThomas Fleming on the world ofrnW.S. Gilbert, Thomas Bertonneau onrnthe death of science fiction, Jesse Walkerrnon the cult of Philip K. Dick, and ScottrnP. Richert on the X-Files. Plus SamuelrnFrancis reviews the latest biographyrnof H.P. Lovecraft, and AugustrnDerleth’s last editor recalls thernfounding of Arkham House.rn1 to 4 issues $7.00 each; 5 to 9 issues $5.00 each; 10 or more issues $4.50 eachrn(postage and handling included). To order by credit card call 1-800-397-8160, or mail check to:rnCHRONICLES * P.O. BOX 800 * MT. MORRIS, IL 61054rn24/CHRONICLESrnrnrn