"free" alternatives and a liberated sexual atmosphere. Divorce and unhappiness are the gravestones that pockmark the open fields of the free society (Lamm xiii-xiv).
The Jewish community is as affected by these forces as any other, and Lamm clearly feels a need to reiterate the important themes of love and marriage that have been promoted by and that have in turn supported the Jewish community for centuries, with the hope of strengthening the institution of marriage and the community as a whole.
Lamm states in fact that his book will describe the traditional Jewish view of romantic love, premarital sex, homosexuality, interfaith marriage, and extramarital affairs. All of this is done with reference to history and to the doctrine on which the traditions are based:
The religious values that people must bring to marriage are old, tested, rich--and nearly forgotten. But they encourage both durability and excitement in marriage. The Jewish way needs to be articulated today because it is the Jewish concept of marriage which was, and can again become, the foundation of the family in Western civilization (Lamm xiv).
Lamm proceeds in a logical fashion through the different aspects of love and marriage, relating Jewish custom and law to the specific actions of seeking a marriage partner, deciding who is and who is no
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