The group will first engage in a study of Steve M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen's book, The Jew Within: Self, Family and Community in American.

From the jacket:

Rocked by reports of soaring inter-marriage rates, rampant assimilation, and diminishing population, the American Jewish community has been concerned with issues of Jewish identification and continuity. What factors shape, nourish, and sustain Jewish commitment? What leads some Jews to place Jewish commitment at the center of their lives, while others consign it to the margins? What matters most to American Jews and why?

Through in-depth interviews with Jews across the country, Steven M. Cohen and Arnold M. Eisen, two of the keenest observers and analysts of American Jewish life, probe beneath the surface to explore the foundations of belief and behaviour among moderately affiliated American Jews. Among their thought-provoking conclusions are that the construction of Jewish meaning in America is personal and private and that communal loyalties and norms no longer shape Jewish identity as they did several decades ago. The rich and moving personal narratives presented by the authors, accompanied by insightful analysis, raise important questions for all those concerned with the meaning and future of Judaism in American life.

The second book will be New Essays on Zionism edited by David Hazony, Yoram Hazony, and Michael Oren.

From the cover:

The first volume of its kind, New Essays on Zionism presents the efforts of a new generation of Israeli thinkers to defend Zionism, philosophically and historically, against today's deepening skepticism of the national state. Going beyond mere critiques of post-Zionist trends to offer positive and constructive works of enduring value, these featured authors are now at the vanguard of contemporary calls for a revival of classical Zionist thought.

Persuasively argued and elegantly written, New Essays on Zionism is vital reading for anyone seeking an intellectual framework from which to address ideological opposition to Zionism and the Jewish state.