To the Editor:

I want to commend Charles S. Liebman on his insightful notes on American Jewish life [“American Jews: Still a Distinctive Group,” August]. I cannot help noting that Milton Yinger in 1970 sensed a similar phenomenon when he characterized Judaism in America not as a denomination but rather as an “established sect.” He noted that, like the Quakers, Jews formed an accepted subgroup in America who served an adversary role against many of the presuppositions of the majority society. Both Mr. Yinger’s appraisal of Jewish sectarianism and Mr. Liebman’s four examples of Jewish opposition to the general culture suggest that Jews have been institutionalized in American life as a quasi-official prophetic voice. Their position in America is analogous to what Peter L. Berger has called “the social location of the Hebrew Prophet,” i.e., that of a creative marginality preserved by the host society to enable flexibility and change. Such a sociology of Judaism may have the theological consequence of reviving the old idea of a “mission” to the Gentiles.

S. Daniel Breslauer
Department of Religion
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey