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Book <strong>Review</strong>s 223<br />
ones in that the author includes "only Orthodox leaders who are no<br />
longer aliven(ix). Does this approach imply that one cannot find<br />
<strong>American</strong> Orthodox leaders, rabbis, and rosh yeshivas living<br />
among us who "have made their mark in recent times" or continue<br />
to do so? If so, why is Orthodoxy different from Reform and Con-<br />
servative? Undoubtedly, this was a conscious decision which, in<br />
my opinion, the author should have explained. In addition, from a<br />
geographic standpoint, the author refers to America and not North<br />
America. However, surprisingly, he includes several rabbis who<br />
never lived in America, such as Rabbis Graubart (81-3), Ochs<br />
(159-60), and Rosenberg (178-80).<br />
Sherman does not give us a clear explanation about the method-<br />
ological guidelines that led him to include certain figures and ex-<br />
clude others, except for an amorphous statement about those "who<br />
have made contributions to <strong>American</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> life in general and Or-<br />
thodox Judaism in particularV(ix). For example, it could be easily<br />
argued that the impact of Rabbi Gedalyah Silverstone (1871/2-1944)<br />
on <strong>American</strong> Orthodoxy in general, and the <strong>Jewish</strong> community<br />
in Washington, D.C., in particular, was far more significant than<br />
that of Rabbi Album of Chicago (17-8), who is known primarily<br />
due to his dispute with the Ridbaz. It is curious to note that Rabbis<br />
Ebin (55-6) and Schwartz (192-93) are included, whereas central<br />
rabbinical figures such as Abraham N. Galanti (1876-i936), Yoseph<br />
M. Levin (1870-i936), and Abraham M. Shershevsky (1867-1927)<br />
are missing. This also seems to be the case when examining Ortho-<br />
dox newspaper writers and reporters, where the absence of people<br />
like Hillel Melakhovsky and Ze'ev (Wolf) Schurr is noticed particu-<br />
larly when Bondi (35-36) or Gelman (74-75) are discussed.<br />
Interestingly, influential Orthodox cantors were not at all discussed<br />
in this volume, even though some of them, such as Minkovsky and<br />
Rosenblatt, had immeasurable impact on <strong>American</strong> Orthodoxy.<br />
Printers and publishers, such as Benjamin Moinester, and many<br />
other influential personalities in this field do not appear. Several<br />
Hasidic rabbis, such as the Kloisenberger, have been overlooked.<br />
One cannot help noticing the omission of Ephraim Deinard from<br />
the biographies and, more surprisingly, the bibliographies. Finally,<br />
on a different level, the Degel Harabanim organization was not
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